Lorren

Five

He had healed her the best he could manage without damaging or losing himself in the process. He healed her body without any problems over the past few months, but when it came to healing her mind, he had almost lost himself. He remembered bringing down her mental barriers brick by brick, which were thicker than any city wall, and opening her mind to him. Her powers had fought him the entire time, trying to rebuild the mental barrier as quickly as he tore it down. Finally, he was able to slip through a crack and begin his work. He laid bare her memories, her fears, her wants, her needs, which quickly became his. Her secrets were now his secrets. He experienced her life of pain and suffering as if it were his own, saw all the blood that was shed by her delicate hands, equally felt her losses and minimal gains. He saw the destruction that followed in her wake, but also saw that the destruction was not entirely her own doing. He could feel her heart ache after each act of violence, his heart crying out for hers. She was being led, controlled by a higher being. He could feel the fear she felt when she even thought of running and hiding from the one she called “Master”, her fear flooding his mind. Her hatred for him doubled in Adan’s heart. He knew her deepest and darkest secrets – the ones the Imperials had captured and tortured her for. The ones he would keep for her until the day he died. He knew her like no one knew her, like no one would ever know her. He knew her, and he cherished her. She was forever a part of him.

As he untangled and mended the mangled mess of her mind, his fondness for her grew. She was no delicate flower that wilted in the shade of life. No, she was fierce, wild yet disciplined, strong and determined. And yet, under all of that, there was still a little girl who was insecure and unsure, unloved and fearful of what life could mean outside of what she knew. She didn’t like killing, didn’t like using her powers to hurt others for someone else’s gain. There was a gentle and tender, untouched and untainted-goodness in her that was buried deeply under the avalanche of her life’s violence. Deep inside was a small girl-child craving love but too fearful to put a voice to it.

“Aran, I know she has been through a lot. I pulled her from that hell hole… You think I don’t know? I didn’t drag her from the bed; she got up on her own, moved on her own. I know you saw everything, brother, and it kills me inside to know that, to not be able to see it for myself. It makes me feel pathetic and weak to think that she has to carry this on her own. She is innocent, and those monsters shouldn’t have been able to touch her.”

“That’s just it! You don’t know, little brother! Just because you took her from the Imperials doesn’t mean you know what she went through. She is no innocent, Etan. She is a trained killer. She is not Ledia, so stop treating her as if she was! She is Lorren of Silverthal, Etan. Do you even know what that means? It means that she is smarter, faster, more powerful, and more hunted that you can imagine. Her entire existence is nothing but one big mess of violence. Silverthal is nothing but a nest of highly trained thieves and assassins, and she is pretty much their princess. You’d do best to remember that,” Aran said darkly, his instincts screaming that he take Lorren from his brother’s arms as he saw the possessiveness shine from Etan’s eyes.

“And you will do well to remember, brother, that I am the one that found her in the first place. She may not be Ledia, but she is the closest thing I have to her right now, and I am not going to let anything get in the way of that, or let anyone take her away from me. Least of all, you, Aran,” Etan said through gritted teeth, his grip on Lorren tightening with each word.

“Calm down brother, before you squeeze what little life she has left out of her. You called me in here to look after her, now leave and let me do my job,” Aran said, shoving his brother away as he took Lorren’s small form from him and gently placed her back into the bed, sitting down next to her.

“Remember, Aran, she is mine,” Etan said from the doorway, an unspoken warning icily lacing his words.

“Remember, Etan, you’ve a bride,” Aran responded, not bothering to look back at his younger brother as he focused his energy on Lorren. I’m sorry, Lorren, he spoke into her mind as he began searching for the cause of her faint, Etan is just overly protective of those he cares for, as am I, and you are eerily similar to Etan’s bride, Ledia. We cannot seem to help ourselves when it comes to you, it would appear. Aran sighed as he found the problem; a dark mass of energy viciously gnawing away at the mends he had created when piecing her mind back together. He began removing it, pulling at it like a weed, gently tugging and shaking, so as not to tear the “roots” of the energy, which would allow it to grow back and cause further harm if not removed entirely.