The Selection - Aarmau

Chapter Twenty Four

One week later.

"Be safe, alright? Safe flight, and if it doesn't go according to plan, you come right home, you hear me?" Sylvanah says, wrapping a scarf around her daughter.

Aphmau decided the evening after Aaron left that she would go to Angeles. He had extended an invite, so she accepted it.

"I will, Mom. I promise."

"Good. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." she says, and Travis hugs her, along with Terry.

"Good luck."

Aphmau nods, and walks out to door into the cold.

She gets in the cab waiting for her, and pulls out the box Aaron had given her, it was in her pocket. She hadn't opened it, she was scared for some reason.

The cab begins driving to the airport, and she puts it in her coat. The necklace given to her by Queen Rachel was around her neck, and the gems and pearls were cold on her neck.

It was dark, nearly 8 PM, and there weren't many people at the airport. Her flight to Angeles didn't have many people on it, just her and a few others, all dotted around the airplane in different places.

She pulled the box back out of her coat pocket, and opened it, finally, revealing a diamond ring.

It took her breath away.

...

She must have stared at it the whole flight, questioning what it meant. When they landed, she felt a familiar anxiousness that always floated around seeing Aaron.

It wasn't a bad feeling, no. She just felt, anxious.

It was the early hours of the morning when she arrived at the palace, and no one really, was awake. A few maids, and guards, maids awake and making sure everything was ready to go for the day. She remembered Cassandra saying she was always up at 5 AM, no later.

And guards were on high alert, after the attack. Nearly all of them were up right now, and plenty of them bowed to her as she walked through the doors.

"Oh, Lady Aphmau, we missed you so!" Cassandra said cheerily, rushing over to hug her. "Please, let me take your things, lets get you up to your room, I'm sure you're tired."

"It was a long night, that's for sure."

"I'm sure, I believe it."

Cassandra carried the stuff up the stairs, and Aphmau noticed the carpet had changed. It wasn't blue anymore, it was purple, and the banisters of the stairs had different carvings on them.

The room hadn't changed. It was exactly the same as she had left it, and she went right into the bathroom, wiping her face with cold water. She was exhausted.

"Does Aaron know I'm here?"

"No, miss. Not yet. No one has told him, he's asleep. Do you want him to know?"

"No." she said, smiling. "Sometimes surprises are better."

"You're right. Do you need anything? Water? Food?"

"I think I'll be alright, I just need some sleep. Could you take these books to Aaron's room, though? He had asked me to read them, and I did, so I figured I should bring them back."

"Of course, of course. Get some rest, Lady Aphmau."

"Thank you, Cassandra."

...

When Aaron woke up, it was bright and sunny out, and his watch said it was 8:30.

Melissa burst through the door to his room without a knock, and that's what woke him up. "Gooooooood morning!"