The Darkened War

Ch.13

When Adrien peeked into the training room, he had to admit Brutus had done it again. On day one he couldn't have imagined Alyssa could improve—she already seemed to show perfect skill. However, Alyssa had failed to assassinate Adrien for a reason—one being her lacking control over her magic, and the other was hesitation—both were better now. Not long ago Brutus, like himself, did not know magic existed, and yet somehow in the time he was given Brutus was helping Alyssa control hers. Currently, she was working on levitating medium sized objects. After measuring the speed, and the time it took for her to get it in the air, Adrien was dumbfounded in how her results compared to last weeks.

The entire time, Adrien's eyes were glued to Alyssa and especially her powers. Before Alyssa, he had never seen magic, but watching her now the beauty of the art blew him away. It was simple magic, but it didn't take much for the room to be filled with a supernatural presence; and it made his skin tingle. Adrien grinned in awe every time she raised something new till the time she dropped it. How was it possible, he wondered, for a person to be born with the gift to defy gravity?

Every time Alyssa began to lose concentration, Brutus would pin her with a stare that forced her back into it. She knew Adrien was watching and evaluating her--she could see him standing in the doorway from the corner of her eye—and that made focusing harder. Alyssa feared disappointing him and longed to encourage him with her progress. His eyes seemed to bore into her, and the objects dropped. Brutus shot Alyssa a frustrated look, but she ignored it, voicing her need for a break. Though reluctant at first, Brutus finally agreed.

When Alyssa left the training room she grabbed a flask and downed some water. The cool liquid running down her throat not only cleansed her thirst but her mind as well. She almost relaxed, if a voice cut her short. "Well done today, Alyssa." Adrien.

"Forgive me if I say I'm a little anxious after that performance." Alyssa muttered, and Adrien frowned. Before he could respond, Alyssa said quickly, "I'd better head back before Brutus becomes impatient. We don't have time to waste."

"Overworking can be just as damaging as not working enough," Adrien smirked at Alyssa, his eyes so mischievously bright that Alyssa no longer worried that she'd disappointed him. "And today is just too lovely for once that I'm afraid, as king of Effulgence, I must demand you not to waste it." Alyssa almost protested, if it hadn't been for the sun shining through the crystal glass calling her, and the grin on Adrien's face. Slowly, she grinned back.

The young King of Effulgence held out his hand, "Shall we?"

The typically empty Effulgence streets were crowded—no citizen had taken the weather for granted. Laughter filled the air, and Alyssa felt the grimness that had been hovering over her the last few weeks. For once the world was peaceful, and worries of war were momentarily set aside to enjoy the sun. Hope filled Alyssa as she watched the people gathered in the town--if everything went well, maybe this kind of day would be normal.

Alyssa rarely went outside. In Rayland, she had spent her time behind the windowless castle walls—whether it was raining or not, and eventually became used to it. At first it all seemed to close in on her—then it became normal. In Effulgence, she had just been too busy. So Alyssa ran through the streets, soaking in the joy radiating off of the people around her, and captured the rarity of this perfect moment in her heart.

Alyssa saw Adrien pull up his hood and didn't need an explanation—Adrien couldn't go anywhere without a way to avoid drawing attention. If this adventure was to remain private, Adrien could not be seen—and for a minute, Alyssa pitied him for him. Adrien seemed to notice and shifted uncomfortably, and immediately Alyssa was ridden with guilt. She knew how Adrien felt about that. But the silent conversation didn't last more than a second before Adrien pulled Alyssa over to a food stand and pulled a bag of coins out of his pocket. The boy running it looked to be about the age of 16, and stood beside an older man who appeared to be his father. They seemed thrilled at the line of customers, and the boy hurriedly put a couple apples in a bag and handed it off to Alyssa, while his father collected Adrien's money. Alyssa smiled sweetly at both of them, before she noticed Adrien had already walked away, and chased him down the crowded street.