Ruins And Royalty

Dreams with Meaning - Chp 10 Part 3

An ominous yet warm sensation washed over me, comforting, though tinged with something… off. In the distance, the soft strains of a harp drifted to my ears. I opened my eyes, only to squint against the sudden brightness that made the air itself seem to shimmer. I sat up, disoriented, trying to take in my surroundings. The grass beneath me gleamed like spun gold under the light, and the foliage around me seemed to glow. Butterflies floated gracefully from flower to flower, and tall palms swayed along the edges of the oasis as if in silent dance. My head felt fuzzy, everything radiated an almost angelic brilliance, and the edges of my vision blurred like a half-remembered dream.

A thin, crystal-clear stream spilled into a lake tinged with gold. My gaze followed it and froze on a figure in the water. He had his back to me, only his shoulders and head visible above the surface. I stared, captivated, until he turned. Golden strands of hair caught the light, swirling with the motion, and his emerald eyes met mine, shimmering. My breath hitched.

“Prince Zander?”

He offered a soft, sideways smile, then fully turned, lifting his upper body from the lake. Sunlight fractured through the droplets clinging to him, scattering a spectrum of colors across his skin. There was a warm, ethereal glow about him. Had Prince Zander always looked so… divine?

“Aaron,” his voice drew me from my trance. The lake, and the young Prince of Yarrow, suddenly felt impossibly close. He tilted his head slightly, letting out an amused huff.

“Come, join me for a swim, Aaron,” he said, lifting his arms gracefully, beckoning me forward. My throat tightened at the invitation.

“I-I thought you were still angry at me? You never sent a letter back.” My words came out in a croak, and I mentally scolded myself for the humiliating tremor in my voice. This had to be a dream. There was no way I would truly lose my composure in front of him after all this time.

He chuckled, pivoted, and flicked water over his shoulders, droplets sparkling like tiny prisms in the light. A soft, sweet melody escaped his lips before he spoke.

“I was angry… but then I got lonely. I craved seeing my Prince again.” He pouted at me, and my mind immediately spiraled. A sudden, burning blush crept across my cheeks. Had Zander always been this bold… and teasing? And why did it make my chest feel so strange?

“Aaron, come here.” His hand lifted in a gentle beckon, and this time I obeyed. I waded forward until the water reached my hips, stopping directly in front of him. His green eyes held mine, unwavering, dark and penetrating against my own deep blue. My heart hammered in my chest.

His gaze lingered, drifting down as if measuring me, before slowly rising to meet mine once more. At that moment, I told myself it had to be a strange dream, a dream of a friend. Yet as Prince Zander inched closer, our bodies almost touching, reality, or something like it, felt impossibly near.

He reached his right hand out and rested it upon my shoulder. It doesn’t stay there long as he slowly moved his hand down, dragging over the distance to rest on my left pectoral. Sparks echoed through my chest from the touch and I can feel myself becoming more and more breathless. His eyes broke away from mine to follow his movements, searching for the next place to touch. Then his hand moves further down over my abdominal, his fingers gingerly tracing the individual muscles under my skin. My stomach tensed every time he rubs his fingers over it and I let out a soft and nervous sigh. He moved once again, this time extending his other hand out as well and rests them both on my hips, his thumbs rubbing circles in the dips. My eyes slip shut and I let myself melt into his touch. After training so hard for so long, my body really needed a gentle and soothing touch. Although I’ll never openly admit it, I don’t want Prince Zander’s hands to stop.

The Prince moved to the side and walked around me, creating circles in the water. His left hand never leaves my body as it brushed up and over my abdomen and chest to rest at my shoulder again. This time he was standing behind me, his now free right hand snakes between my arm and side to brush over my chest. I could feel his breath on the nape of my neck...

“Aaron” he whispered my name, sending a pleasured chill down my spine.

He lifted his head and set it upon my shoulder, lips touching the shell of my ear before he whispered again.

“Aaron, I know you are enjoying yourself. Do you like it when I touch you?”

I took a sharp breath, not knowing if I should answer or keep my focus on his touch.

“Uhm… I-” I struggled for words.

“What would your parents think if they saw you like this?” The blonde stated abruptly. I furrow my brows, trying to decipher his words, but his fingers running through my hair renders my thoughts incoherent and I decided to just feel and not think too much.

His lips lightly traced along my jawline as he kept whispering my name.

“Aaron… Aaron…” I leaned back against him as his hand moved again to my lower stomach.

“AARON!” A low, menacing growl tore through the air, but it didn’t come from beside me. Not from Prince Zander. The warmth of his body vanished, and my eyes snapped open. The world around me had turned crimson. The young Prince of Yarrow was gone. In his place, large, glowing eyes fixed on me with a predatory glare.

The decapitated head of the chimera I had slain years ago hovered above the now-blackened water. Thick globs of blood dripped from its severed neck, staining the once-angelic oasis. My stomach churned as it opened its mouth, voice low, husky, and unnatural.

“Blood will stain the ocean. The skies will darken, and the ground will tremble beneath your feet. Existence will crumble to dust as the earth splits open.”

The world shook violently. Palm trees and flowers toppled and withered in an instant. The ground beneath me cracked, black water seeping into the widening rifts and vanishing into an endless void. I lost my footing, flailing helplessly as I fell, the creature’s voice echoing after me:

“You are the key…”

My body jerked violently, ripping me from the nightmare. It had started so beautifully… why did it have to end like that? Cold sweat drenched me, and my head throbbed. I lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch my breath, to make sense of the vision.

First of all… why had I dreamt of Prince Zander like that? Bathed in sunlight, radiant in all his glory, his soft hands exploring me.

Second, why had the chimera appeared, and what was it trying to tell me? My thoughts drifted to the druid. Had she really been telling the truth? And why did everything have to come wrapped in riddles and metaphors?

I finally sat up with a frustrated huff. Truth or lies, something was definitely happening. If I didn’t investigate, it would keep gnawing at me. Or worse, what if the dream had been a warning, and something truly terrible was about to unfold?

I closed my eyes, recalling the beginning of the dream. A deep blush crept over my cheeks. The last time I’d seen Prince Zander, we’d argued, and he hadn’t replied to my letter. That dream had been absurd… impossible, even. It was best to forget it. There were far more pressing matters demanding my attention.

Yet one detail lingered, refusing to be dismissed. The chimera had said I was the key. But to what? I wasn’t ready to open doors to the unknown. I longed for the simpler ambition I had fought for all these years, to cut and kill my way to victory in the Game of the Gods, to earn my place among the deities in Atlas… though, truth be told, that hardly counted as “simple,” either.