Chapter 5: The Runaway
1259 Words
Aria watched her mother burn to ashes as she stood there, frozen and terrified. She made a quick glance at Rose, who was smiling at the scene.
The villagers scattered to their various homes as Rose and the rest of the Lord Wilder household stood up to leave as well. Aria remained the only one at the Town Square, still in shock at what had just happened.
Rose sneaked out from the rest of her family as she walked up to Aria and pulled her to walk alongside her.
They got into her room and shut the door, shielding themselves from the remnants of the commotion.
“Rose,” Aria called out softly.
“Yes, Aria?” Rose answered.
“What just happened?” Aria asked, her voice still low and soft.
“What do you mean?” Rose asked, confused.
Aria turned slowly towards Rose as she locked eyes with her. “You know very well what I’m talking about.”
“No, I don’t,” Rose argued.
“My mum is dead,” Aria said, her voice louder than before as she walked slowly towards Rose.
“Okay? And what do you want me to say about that?” Rose shrugged.
“No one else knew my mum was here, only you," Aria said as she pointed at Rose.
“What are you talking about, Aria? You’re scaring me,” Rose said, her face expressing concern.
“You know exactly what happened,” Aria said as she got closer to Rose.
“I... I don’t—”
“Who did you tell? No, why did you report about my mum being here?” Aria said, now standing face to face with Rose.
Rose trembled, swallowing her own saliva as she tried to look away from Aria, who was standing right in front of her face.
“Aria... Ari,” she said, her voice cracking as she tried to get a hold of herself. “I didn’t want her to take you away from me.”
“You. What!?” Aria said, her voice loud and fierce. Her palms folded into a fist.
“You said you didn’t want to leave, and I gave you my word that no one would take you away from me,” Rose said.
“You killed my mother,” Aria whispered as she slowly turned away from Rose, taking little steps away from her. “I can’t believe my mother was right all along, and now my careless action has taken her life.”
“It’s not your fault, Aria,” Rose said.
“Yes,” Aria agreed as she paused and turned slowly towards Rose again. “Yes... It’s not my fault. It’s your fault.”
Aria’s rage turned into a palpable force, making the air in Rose’s room vibrate with tension. Her eyes blazed with fury, and for a few seconds, they glowed with an eerie red light. The atmosphere in the room grew heavier, as if the very air itself was thickening in anticipation of Aria’s magic.
Rose, sensing the ominous energy building around her, tried to step back, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot. She could feel Aria’s power coursing through the room, making her skin prickle with unease.
Then, in a voice that sent shivers down Rose’s spine, Aria spoke the words of the spell.
“Levitas et Constrictio!”
The air seemed to erupt around Rose, lifting her off the ground with an unseen force. She felt herself being squeezed, her breath being slowly choked out of her. Aria’s magic had her in its grip, and Rose knew she was at the mercy of Aria’s rage.
“I can’t believe I was so naive to think you were my friend. I should have listened to my mum,” Aria murmured to herself.
“I did this for us,” Rose struggled to say while still being hung in the air, suffocating.
“There is no us.”
Rose struggled as Aria gripped her even tightly with her spell. As she saw it was impossible to talk to Aria to let her go, she decided to do the next thing.
Rose gathered a little bit of her remaining strength as she threw her legs around, hitting the door as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Witch. There’s a witch in my room. Witch,” she yelled.
Suddenly, some guards busted into her room, all stood in shock as they saw the condition of Rose in the air and Aria casting a spell on her.
“Get the witch!” one of the guards shouted as the others followed and ran towards Aria.
But Aria fought back, throwing them off their feet using her current spell. But she was strong enough to fight everyone at once. So, she eventually fell to her knees, weak, but still managed to hold Rose in the air until the guards reached her and pulled her arm.
Rose immediately fell, hitting the ground with a loud thud as she watched the guards drag Aria out.
Aria was dragged outside, in front of the Lord’s manor. Rose and the rest of the household rushed outside to see Aria.
Rose walked up to Aria, grabbed her hair, and pulled it up as she whispered words that only she and Aria could hear.
“I saved you at the town square but here you are now. About to suffer the same fate as your witch mother,” she said as she pressed Aria’s head to the ground with a smirk on her face.
“That’s enough, Rose,” Rose’s mother called out.
As rose stepped back joining the rest of her family, her father the Lord, walked closer to Aria.
“You must be that witch's daughter,” he said, but Aria’s head was still bent in silence. “Take her to the town square and let her suffer the same punishment her mother faced.”
As he turned to walk back inside, the gates opened, and a man riding a horse came in. The man stopped the horse’s track right beside Aria’s weak body as he came down and walked over to Lord Wilder.
“Lord Wilder,” the man bowed. “I bring sad news.”
“What sad news?” Lord Wilder asked.
“I hate to be the bearer of this sad news,” the man said as he lifted his head up.
“Will you speak up? What is this sad news?” Lord Wilder asked again.
“Your brother, King Charles, is dead.”
The news hit Lord Wilder and his family as they all let out a collective gasp. Lord wilder stood still as if he was still trying to understand what had just been said, while his wife fell to her knees as she burst to sudden tears.
“But—”
“He just collapsed while he was having a meeting with his cabinet,” the man continued. “He was hearty before this happened. I was sent to tell you this because you’re needed at his palace right now.”
“I... I don’t understand,” Lord Wilder said, his voice soft.
The man bowed his head again. “I must leave now.”
As he turned to leave, he was immediately left dumbfounded as his horse was nowhere to be found.
“Where’s my horse?” he asked.
Everyone turned their attention to him as they let out another collective gasp. His horse and Aria were nowhere to be found.
- Writer
