Bridge of Worlds ( On Hold)

Chapter 13

Kiran

Burnemarr walked me to my room. He paused at my door.

"I don't suppose I need to lock you in anymore."

He pointed to the door next to mine.

"I sleep there. Wake me if you're up before I am."

He moved to enter his room but I stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Thank you."

He turned in surprise. "What for?"

"For being you," I replied simply before opening the door to my room.

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Silver's eyes had dark circles under them when I saw her the next morning. She was still having a hard time with my revelation. I, on the other hand, felt so much lighter to have shared it with her and found she thought no less of me. And nothing could dampen my spirits now that I had the freedom to be with her almost all the time. Being able to share the bond freely, without filtering, was also a great relief. A ridiculous grin occupied my face for most of that day.

I had not minded having chores before, exactly, but now I positively enjoyed them. I liked being productive, helping Silver in any way, even if the help was as indirect as milking. It still was her house I worked for, and if it benefited her house it benefited her. And on other things I got to actively help her. I followed her as often as I could to lend a hand with anything I could. Being in her presence was such a gift.

I wondered if my bond with her was different than most. Did every Match feel this intense? I would die without her- but I knew that was true of most Matches. I loved her- that was also true of most Matches. But did they all feel this way, the way I felt for her? I was in love with her, and that, I believed, was uncommon in a Match.

What would my life be like from here on? I wondered. Back on Llyador, I had tried to envision what my life would be like after Matching, but I just hadn't known enough about Attaliesia.

Now I had to wonder if I would always be treated as something lesser on Attaliesia. In the minds of many Attaliesians, Llyadorans were just animals. Yes, they needed us, but we were still beneath them. That didn't sit well with me. It didn't sit well with any of the Llyadorans, but I was the only Llyadoran that could speak Attaliesian. As such, it was on my shoulders to remind Attaliesians that Llyadorans were as intelligent of beings as they. You are a bridge between worlds, the Keeper's words echoed in my mind. How? I wondered. What was I supposed to do? I had barely gotten myself any safety. How was I supposed to make everything better for all Llyadorans? The weight of such expectation seemed overwhelming. I would worry about that later, I decided. For now, I would just enjoy what I had.

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Silver

Silver felt guilty. What right had she to upturn Kiran's whole world? He'd been pulled from his own land to a place of creatures entirely different from where he lived. He was forced to learn their language because no one spoke his. He was placed in basically a servant's position and guarded like a prisoner. He was separated from his friends and rarely had any free time. Then, to compound insult with injury, he was physically harmed. He'd been mistreated in so many ways.

How selfish her people were, she realized, to live off the lives of these Llyadorans with no gratitude for the sacrifices they made.

How could he even love her? she wondered. Until he had arrived she had never once thought of what the Llyadorans gave up for her people. What they did was basically slavery. The Llyadorans may have entered into it voluntarily at one point but things had definitely gotten worse for the Llyadorans since those days. Nowadays Attaliesians had little respect for the other race that kept them alive.

What would it be like to know that at any moment you could be pulled away from your life and dropped into a new one with no hope of ever returning to your home? Every Llyadoran lived with that, she realized. It was amazing, really, how little they resented it. Some did, of course. But the majority accepted it as how life was. Kiran had told her that many were honored to do it, to save lives. What a marvelous race. She knew, better than most, how much their lives depended on the Llyadorans.

"I miss you, Mom," she said to the air.

Something about the arrival of Kiran made her think about her mother more. Partly it was because of the way her mother had died. She had never Matched. She had not been strong enough to survive without the Match. What would life have been like if she had Matched?

She also wished her mom could have met Kiran. Silver was really very alone. She was surrounded by servants that she could never let down her guard to. She was the strong one, she was the one in charge. Her father was so distant and Kellor seemed to be following in his path. Darrin was the only person she was truly close to, but he could rarely stay serious for more than a few minutes and she just wouldn't know how to talk to him about Kiran. He was a boy, after all.

It was also all the firsts her mother had never gotten to know about. Her mother hadn't gotten to see her Matching. Hadn't gotten to meet Kiran. Would never hear about Silver's first kiss. Because yes, she wanted Kiran to kiss her. What would it be like? She imagined it to be perfect. She had never been kissed, so she was a little unsure of the mechanics, but she thought they could figure it out. Kiran probably didn't have a much better idea. How did that work for Llyadorans? she wondered. They were basically born of magic. Was love even possible for them? She was fairly certain Kiran had never kissed anyone. Wasn't that better though? For it to be the first for both of them. It would be unforgettable. And she knew she didn't want to kiss anyone else.

She noticed Llyadorans more now. They were everywhere. They were intertwined through their lives in so many ways that they were commonplace. She had taken no more notice of them than the clothes people wore. Now she thought about what a pity it was that she could never have a conversation with the Llyadorans she met. Even if she learned Llyadoran, she would never understand them. And she realized that she was missing out on so much, a whole world. All these creatures, these intelligent minds. These potential friends that she would never actually be able to have.

She also knew how blessed she was to have Kiran. No one else had the chance that she did. No one else could actually speak to their Match. Perhaps it is human nature to not be content with what you have. This was perhaps the most idyllic time of her life. Why did she spend it in guilt and regret and wishful thinking? Yet the world would never improve if not for the dreamers. Being content with something that is actually wrong is an evil of its own. And so many people lived their lives not even thinking about the plight of Llyadorans.

"What are we going to do?" she asked Kiran.

"I don't know, mai corian," he sighed.

He knew just what she was talking about. They were both wondering. They were best suited to fix relations between Llyadorans and Attaliesians. But where to start? How could they change two worlds? But if they didn't, who would?

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Okay everyone, three years and this is all she wrote! From now on all content will be new, instead of me just needing to edit what I have. So, apologies if I don't post regularly.
Since I know all three and a half of my followers are eagerly awaiting the next installment. 😝