Loss of Nobility

[OnyxTigress]

Aurora:
( Credit goes to Jonathon Bowser for the art.)

The young woman walks into the room, her feet barely making any noise as she steps onto the carpet. She takes a look around, her dark grey eyes surveying her surroundings. The room was small, really too small for two people to live there. But she was happy. She makes her way over to the bed and plops down, pulling a pin out from her hair to let the curls spill down her back.

She takes another look around the room. It was so entirely different than what she grew up with. Her room at the castle was huge, two times the size of the one she was currently in. All her furniture had been imported from other lands, and her sheets were of the finest silks. She runs a hand along the current sheet, feeling the coarse material of the wool. She can't help but wrinkle her nose at it.

The small meeting with her sister the previous night still made her choke up whenever she thought about it. Her sister had not been there during the meeting she had with her father, but she still felt the need to rub it in her face. Her sister, who was still just as prissy as ever. She felt the need to tell everyone who she was standing with of the loss of her title. No matter, she was sure it was going to be announced to the rest of the land soon enough. After that, she would probably never be allowed in her home to see her family again.

Would she care, though? Thinking about it, she stands up from the bed and walks over to the small desk, tapping a finger to her chin. She would miss her family. Her father the most. Because of the loss of her mother, she was close to her father. Her time away from school put a distance between them, and then her meeting Hastian completely broke it. With the thought of Hastian, she looks down to her ring, smiling as the gems glitter from the candle light.

She would mourn the loss of her family, but she will now embrace her new title of wife. She was no longer Aurora Van Hellstrom, but now Aurora Sanneset.

[OnyxTigress]

(I have forgotten the name of the artist to give credit to).

To some, she supposed her former nobility was a curse. Even now, she still found herself sticking her nose at those she used to call "common." She remembered the fight she had with the one named Rolan. Farmer Boy is what she referred to him. They fought inside the Second Wind, slinging insults back and forth. She had been close to killing him then, and would have done so without a second thought. She had only stopped herself due to the large crowd, and not wanting to spill blood inside the inn.

Even after the incident where she fled from her family home to marry Hastian, she still treated the man like her lesser. She dreaded the thought of when he would find out of her lost title, she knew he would rub it in her face. The mere thought of it made her wince.

Still though, she could not merely deny that she still held the air of nobility even now when she spoke with others. She recalled her recent conversation that she held with Shepard the previous night.

"You're quite the bitch, aren't you?" He asked her, giving her a heated look. She merely laughed at the statement, brushing back her black curls off her shoulder, her dark grey eyes staring at him with amusement.

"You would not be the first to call me such, nor will you be the last," She responded to him, her lips curving up into a coy grin.

The talk itself did not go well, and she didn't care to think further on it. She moves back over to the small bed that lies in her small room, and she lays back against it. A few moments of her laying there, her breathing grows steady and her eyes closed. Not long after that, her husband walks inside.

[OnyxTigress]

She remains awake sometime after they went to bed, thinking on their conversation. She rises on her elbow after some time, peering down at the sleeping form of her husband. Even in sleep, she could not draw her eyes from him. She was disappointed that it was too dark to see him clearly. Though she could see that even in his sleep, he still held the hint of his mischievous grin. The only thing that would finalize the look would be the amusement shown in his dark green eyes.

She was pleased that they were together, but now she was almost drowning as she tried to find her place in life. He had found a place for the time being, a sorcerer among the Hands of Mundus. She had witnessed his skill in the arcane, and she knew why the Hands wished to keep an eye on him. He could defeat a hunting group of the Mossdale orcs on his own, and was able to defend himself single handedly against the skilled members of the Veritas rebels.

She knew that her own skills were nothing to scoff at. She could easily hide within the shadows, and strike down a foe before they even had a chance to yell for help. And she was pleased at the fact, enjoyed the thrill it brought her when a blade tore into the flesh of another, their blood spilling out onto the ground below. But she was not truly happy with what she did. She felt no remorse in her actions, and she knew she would likely do it again. But it was not her purpose.

What was that purpose? She couldn't say for now.

[OnyxTigress]

Aurora sits on the cliff overlooking the ocean, her husband seated behind her. They were sharing stories, he finishing telling her of how he joined the Hands. He then asked her to share a story.

"Do you wish one from my childhood, or from my studies in Waterdeep? I'll tell you now, I was quite the troublemaker as a child."

He gives her an amused look, staring at her with those deep green eyes. "You, a troublemaker Aurora? I would never have guessed."

She gives him an innocent look. He responds with that cock eyed smile that she loves to see, and tells her. "Tell me a childhood story."

She nods, "Well, when I was a child I was able to get away with pretty much anything I wanted to. I am the youngest in the family, and did not have the responsibilities that my elder siblings did. My father coddled me, and I often got away with things that I should not have." She pauses a moment, brushing her curls back behind her ears. "I will tell you a story of where I tortured the poor cook. You see, she was terrified of dogs..."

The young girl enters the kitchen, being as quiet as she can be. Her bare feet barely make any sound of the stone floor beneath her. The sun had not even rose yet, and everyone was still asleep. In her hand, the small girl held an object. She looks around the kitchen, ducking behind the stove a moment as she spots something from around the corner. Her heart beats quickly, and she watches, her dark eyes wide with fear. After a moment, she realizes it was only her imagination. With a small sigh of relief, she stands up once more.

She glances to her hand, looking to the raw meat she holds. She grins to herself, and makes her way over to where she knows the cook stores her apron. The young girl moves with confidence, a smug look on her face. She quickly stores the meat inside the pocket of the apron, then exits as quickly as she came in, the smug look remaining.

On her way back to her room, the girl walks to one of the back doors, and opens it slightly. She knows that there are often stray dogs that wander around the castle, hoping for scraps of food. When the deed is done, she returns back to her room and goes to sleep.

Not long after, she is woken up by a loud scream. The scream continues, and she rushes out of her room towards the kitchen. Inside the room stands the cook, surrounded by three stray dogs. The cook herself holds a broom, swinging it at the dogs. The dogs don't pay attention to the hits, as they continue to try to get close to the woman for the hidden meat. Aurora covers her mouth with her hand, containing her giggles. She watches as guards are needed to come help the cook, and lead the dogs away.

"The whole ordeal was eventually blamed on one of the servant boys." She pauses, her cheeks reddening as she finishes her story. "I am sure my father knew it was me, because I received many looks of disappointment for a few days. But he never said a word to me."

The grin remains on her husband's face, and she grins back in return.

[OnyxTigress]

The torn poster was in her hand, and she offered it out to Hastian for him to look. He takes it, and after he reads he looks at her. "What about it?" He asks, sitting on the chair in the room they share at the Sundren Comfort.

"I am considering going for it." Is her reply, and she watches him to await his reaction. He looks shocked at first, then angry, "Do you know anything about Thayans, Aurora?" He asks her, going off on a small tangent about them. She shakes her head, "No, which is why I am coming to you first about it. So you could tell me what you know."

They chat amongst one another for a long while, he expressing his dislike of her idea to go through with this. "I need to do something, Hastian. I need purpose." She explains to him. She emphasizes this with her hand movements, her dark eyes studying him. He was still angry, she could see the anger in his deep green eyes. "I am not going to tell you no, Aurora." He says, though she can hear the annoyance in his voice. She gives him a look of uncertainty and leans in for a kiss. He does in fact kiss her, but she can still feel the tension in his body.

She speaks softly against his lips, "I would not do it if you told me no, my love."

"I am not your keeper, or your father, Aurora." He tells her. She lets out a soft sigh. She had almost hoped that he would tell her no. She knew that if she went through with this, he would be unhappy the entire time. After their conversation was finished, he declared he needed a drink so they both went down to the bar.

She remained quiet as she watched him down almost the entire drink, and he studies her, "What's wrong?"

"I know that you will not be happy if I do this." She explains, holding an apple in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

"Them's the breaks," He tells her, giving her a grin. She rolls her eyes and returns the smile.

---

Later on Aurora arrives to the Enclave, on her way to speak with the Knight Commander Lauan about the flier. She is guided towards where the other woman currently is, and finds her quickly. They speak greetings at first. Aurora introduces herself, moving to take a seat across from the tall amazonian woman.

"Sanneset?" Lauan asks her. "I thought you were a Hellstrom."

Once again she is reminded of the loss of her family, and she feels a small twinge in her chest at the mention of it. Even now, even after all she had been through she still missed her family. The two women chat for a while, discussing her skills. "I am very skilled in finding and disabling traps, and also unlocking doors and other things." She pauses, "I am also trained to fight, but I fight best when hidden in the shadows."

The red hooded woman writes down on the paper in front of her, asking some other questions. Aurora is then in turn able to ask her own questions, but receives very little in the way of answers.

"If you are hired, you will receive a missive. If not, then obviously you were not picked." Lauan says. Aurora refrains from giving the woman a curt reply, instead telling her where she could be found. They exchange goodbyes, and Aurora leaves. She is unsure of what this job could be, but a part of her hopes she is picked.

Purpose.

[OnyxTigress]

The night grew still, the sounds going quiet. It had become a familiar thing for Aurora, but it still alarmed her each time it happened. Her eyes immediately went to Hastian, waiting for the familiar look of pain to finally appear on his face. But it didn't. In fact, it happened to the person she did not expect, the Thayan who also stood at the Crossroads. The gasp of pain was loud, and the discomfort was clear on his face. The shadows of the night grew even more dim, and seemed to focus upon the Red Wizard.

Aurora reaches out to grab the robes of Hastian, the ones that marked him among the ranks of the Hands of Mundus. Her knuckles turn white as she grips the robes tightly, her eyes focused on the bald wizard. She doesn't notice when the young man Erik speaks a spell invoking Selune's name and steps towards her, her full attention on Ramza. Red light appears around the mage's body, the shadows even more intensified. Her husband curses low under his breath, moving towards the mage. Aurora follows suit, a worried look on her face. A warrior, Rolan, moves to dive at Ramza. As he does so, the tattoos on his bald head flicker and he turns ethereal, causing Rolan to fall flat on his face on the ground below. Aurora lets out another curse, and suddenly finds herself swept into the ethereal plane as well as Hastian murmurs a spell.

Finding herself disoriented and in another plane, she looks to her husband. His form is hazy, and the colors are dull and lifeless. A confrontation occurs with the Red Wizard, and it ends up with him dead, the deed done by Hastian with a spell. A sound of alarm escapes her lips, and she looks to Hastian with a wide eyed surprised look. She watches as he kneels down next to Ramza, and proceeds to take out a dagger and cut off his left hand. Then after a brief investigation, the right hand too is cut off. She watches the mutilation in front of her, looking shocked.

"You deal with it," She tells Hastian, motioning to the body. They exited the ethereal plane once Ramza was killed, needing to be in the material one to retrieve his body. She leaves, not waiting for him to respond. After some time, and a few glasses of wine later, she returns to their room. She finds him there, along with one of the Arch Magus' of the Hands. They have a small conversation, but then get interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Aurora? Hastian?" A voice calls out, the person knocking fervently. "Who is it?" Hastian calls out, looking to the door. "It's me, Erik. Mara saw what happened, and if she doesn't hear from you in two days she is going to make a report to her commander."

"I'll speak with Mara, Erik." Hastian replies, his jaw clenched. Erik accepts this answer, and tells the two he will be waiting downstairs. The conversation with the other Hand is quickly finished, and the Hand poofs away with a quick spell. Aurora had entered the room with a bottle of wine in her hand, and the bottle was now half empty. Hastian gives his wife a look of concern, and takes the bottle of wine away from her. "Speak your mind," He asks her, knowing that she is upset.

She watches him with a blank expression, then looks to the door. "We shouldn't keep Erik waiting," She answers.

TO BE CONTINUED