“You do know Lac Taal is completely infatuated with you?”  Elumin looked over at Aurelia as they walked towards their private gardens.

“Of course I do.  It makes him work harder to please me.  Why do you think I addressed him directly?”

Elumin trailed his finger along Aurelia’s arm before linking his fingers with hers.  “It was your cruelty which first attracted me to you, you know.”

As Aurelia tilted her head and looked up at him she was careful not to change the expression on her face.  Her heart ached because he thought her cruel.

Elumin chuckled as they entered their private scented glade.  He flicked out a spell to shield them.  A sigh of relief escaped Aurelia as she relaxed her hold on the control she had been grasping to so firmly.

Now, where ever her feet touched the ground, little tendrils of ground cover coiled verdantly as star-like flowers opened with the sound of bubbles popping.  The air was filled with the scent of restraint released.

The couple stopped at the lake where a picnic was set out for them.  They settled themselves and leaned into each other as they began to eat, sometimes feeding each other absent-mindedly.  Neither one spoke.  They savoured the tastes and textures of the meal.

Aurelia’s thoughts began to drift and she wondered if they had all been taking the Days of Splendour for granted.  She’d wanted so much for them to forget the Then – live in the Now.  She wanted such brilliance for her people.

When her populace was reduced to dust in one flick of a hand, the rebuilding took a great deal of time and energy. She’d held the sparkling particles in the palm of her hand and refused to let them drift apart.  Her father’s final Weave shielded her, kept her safe and her duty to save them all was weft into the fabric of being.  And she had saved them.  At least she thought she had.

Funereal lilies began to sprout around the picnic area and their sorrowful scent permeated the air.  Blood red poppies, oozing rust coloured liquid from their hearts, clustered where any part of her body touched the ground.  Aurelia felt as though she were choking on the heavy odours.  How she wanted it all to stop.

“Aurelia, come back to me my love.”  Elumin blew a steady stream of orange zest perfumed breath at her.

Aurelia blinked and breathed deeply.  She looked into his eyes and felt her love for him like a tsunami off the coast of Irenea.   “I’m here.  I’m back.”  Her smile made the lilies and poppies disappear and a profusion of sunflowers burst towards the heavens.