Summoned

Chapter 16

Aaron stood in the lush green meadow behind the palace. He looked at me and smiled, so I began running towards him. My skirts felt like silks as they brushed against my calves. I smiled brightly, my bare feet hitting the plush grass lightly.

I was only a foot away from him, and he took me into his arms and swung me around. I felt like I was flying, and it was amazing. When he put me down, he brushed the hair out of my eyes and pushed his lips agaisnt mine. They were soft and sweet, and the kiss was gentle and kind.

He pulled away suddenly, and I opened my eyes and frowned. I furrowed my brow as his smile evaportated and his expression darkened immensely. He suddenly screamed and dropped the embrace to fall to his knees yelling.

"Aaron, what's wrong?" I asked frantically, trying desperately to help him. Blood started pouring through his white dress shirt, and I pressed my hands agaisnt the wound to make it stop bleeding. "Aaron!" I called repeatedly, trying to help him.

"Why can't you save me? You like me, don't you? Don't you want to help me?" his voice was distant, and he closed his eyes and his body went cold. Tears fell from my eyes, and I wept over his body. I pulled myself of the ground and turned around to face several people.

Queen America, King Maxon, Marlee, Olivia, Danielle, Lilly, Kiara, and the rest of the selected stood there shaking their heads and crying. "Why couldn't you save my only son?" America cried.

"Why couldn't you save him, Elisa?" the selected chanted in a ripple.

"You're not worthy to be a princess," Danielle sneered.

"Aren't you good enough for him?"

"I thought you loved him, Elisa."

"Why are you so weak?"

I dropped to my knees weeping uncontrollably. Tears flowed from my eyes steadily. "Stop, please stop!" I pleaded. "I tried! Please try to understand, please.."

The voices faded out and so did my vision. I jerked myself awake with a cold bead of sweat across my forehead, and America and Marlee stood above me with worried expressions written across their faces.

"Elisa, are you ok?" Marlee asked. I didn't matter right now. I could come later.

"Is Aaron ok? He is still alive, right? How long has it been?" I asked frantically and tried to sit up.

"He's fine," America responded assuringly. She pushed me back down on the cot gently. "It's been about 14 hours. Would you like to see him and tend to his wounds?"

"Yes, please," I nodded. I stood up and winced when I walked because of my ankle and my cut feet, but I pushed the pain out of thought. Aaron was top priority right now.

America left me to tend to Aaron, and they had found an emergency medical kit with sanitary wipes, gloves, anti-depressants, healing salves and creams, bandages, pain relievers, and fever reducers.

I took Aaron's temprature, and it was still above average. It had come down a lot, but he was still quite feverish. I gave him a fever reducer, and he was still unconcious so I had to be gentle while pouring water down his throat to keep him hydrated. I spilled a little water onto a cloth and laid it across his head in an attempt to bring it down.

I undid his bandages and cleaned his wounds. I put on a light coat of the healing salve and rebound it since that was about all I could do with a lack of medical tools. It was healing well for what we had though.

I did the same procedures to his knee, but since it wasn't healing as well as his chest, I applied a heavier coat of salve to his knee. I wrapped it up and checked his head again. He was shivering, so I covered him in two of the thin blankets. I kissed his forehead affectionately before walking over to Marlee.

"Thank you," she said as I sat down.

"What for?" I asked, taking a sip of bottled water. It soothed my parched throat as the water slid down.

"Saving me brother," she smiled. "We were really close before the selection, and I don't really see much of him anymore. It's kind of sad, and I couldn't imagine how the palace would be if he was gone."

"Any of us would have done it."

"But they didn't. It was you," she pointed out. "Stop being so modest about it. Were you having trouble sleeping earlier?"

I shuddered at the thought of my nightmare. "I had a nightmare. It was horrid."

"I'm sorry," she frowned. "You kept saying 'please stop' and 'I tried'. Mom and I were really worried."

"I'm really sorry. Aaron died, and it was my fault. Everyone was there and they kept yelling at me." Tears pricked my eyes as I retold the memory.

"If he did die, it wouldn't have been your fault," she comforted. "So anyway, why did he look at you when he was late that one morning?"

My face flushed beet red. I swallowed the lump in my throat before speaking. "We stayed up talking the entire night, and I guess he fell asleep before coming to breakfast," I laughed.

She started laughing hysterically, and I began sushing her while trying to contain my own laughter. "Stop laughing! You're going to wake up the other selected!" I giggled.

Conversation drifted from the selection to the Spring Ball, which the selected still participating in the competition. We were discussing what type of dress to wear. "But what color," I asked.

"Well the Royal family always wears gold for spring, violet for summer, blue for autumn, and white for winter. Everyone always wears purple, pink, and green to the spring ball, so none of those."

"I don't know what else to wear then," I said.

"What about blue? Nobody ever wears blue and you'd look good in it," Marlee suggested.

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "I love blue, though."

"Then wear blue," she chuckled.

"I guess it's settled then," I smiled.

"Do you want to come with me for my dress fitting? It gets a little boring with just my mom and Livy," Marlee offered.

I was shocked she'd invite me to something that important. "Sure," I said happily. "That would be fun," I said genuinely.

Marlee was going to say something else, but a guard opened the bunker door. "You're majesty, the rebels have seceded. You're free to leave."

"Soldier, if you would, please escort the Queen, my son, and Lady Elisa to the hospital wing. Marlee and Olivia, please help the selected settle back into their rooms," King Maxon ordered loudly.

"Your majesty, with all due respect, why would you need me to go to the hospital wing?" I asked curiously.

"They need to be aware of the surgeries performed," he said cooly. I nodded my head and helped America lift a semi-conscious Aaron off the table where he laid.

"He's lying," Aaron muttered. "It was because I said so," he laughed with a smile.

"This is becoming a thing," I sighed as we went up the steps.