Aide Me

Epilogue

[Music by: Adele - Make You Feel My Love]

Two months later...

Emaia felt the nervousness bite in her stomach as the big doors opened. Her heart started to pound heavily, and jumped up into her throat. Her mouth felt dry. So many emotions passed through her as she stepped into the marbled foyer.

A small squeeze in her hand made her turn her head and look up at those crystal eyes. It immediately calmed her heart, when his lips softly turned upwards in a reassuring smile. "Breathe, Mahlah. It will be fine."

Emaia gulped down a lump and took a deep breath. He was right. Whether they would approve, this was happening. They were here, so there was no turning back. They were doing this.

She stopped up in the middle of the foyer. She looked around to all the decorative armors that stood along the walls, and the paintings of all her predecessors. All of them men, with white bushy beards and holding the city key in their hand. They looked so diplomatic. She had grown up looking at them, wondering if she would ever sit on that wall too.

Emaia then turned when the sound of footsteps on the marbled staircase echoed throughout the foyer. She felt a suction in her stomach when she saw her parents coming down, and squeezed Aide's hand tightly. He squeezed back.

"Emaia?" Her mother's voice chided, when she laid eyes on her daughter after so long. "Sweetheart! Oh, my baby, you're alive!"

Emaia nervously smiled at her mother when she ran down the stairs with tears in her eyes, only to stop dead a few feet away from her, when she noticed Aide. Her face paled.

"Oh my God," She whispered and glanced frightened up at him. "Henbane! It's one of them! Oh God, it's true! They're alive! Call for the guards, ring the bells—"

"Mom," Emaia cut through her hysterical rant. "It's okay, he's not dangerous, none of them are."

Her mother stared hyperventilating, just looking at Aide. He calmly looked back, not even the least bit offended by her strong reaction.

Her father finally caught up with her mother, and stopped up next to her. He was painfully silent and had a rock hard look on his face. There was no sign of emotion as he glared at Aide, and then at her. His eyes dropped to their hands, narrowing them, when he noticed their fingers were intwined.

Emaia gulped nervously. "Hello, dad."

He didn't answer. He just kept glaring at their hands, before glaring up at Aide. His face was unreadable.

- Her mother, on the other hand, was having a fit.

"Why have you brought that creature here?!" She screeched and looked at Emaia. "When we heard you were coming home we thought—we thought you had finally come to your senses!"

"Mom, I don't want the Rochess legacy," Emaia strongly replied. "I've never wanted it. You and dad were forcing me into marriage, and I didn't have a choice in the matter. That's why I ran away. I needed my freedom."

"Sweetheart," Her mother cried. "We did it for your own good! It's normal to feel anxious about getting married, but running away? Do you know how many days I cried, when all I found was a note that morning!"