Timeless

10

They come to a door that leads outside guarded by two guards. When they see him they snap to attention. "The lady wishes to see the fountain, I need a cloak please." One of the guards immediately hands over a cloak from a peg cleverly hidden on the wall.

Grey opens the door and leads Ari out. "The gardens aren't in yet I'm afraid." Grey says with regret. The courtyard is a riot of color in the summer months, but still in early spring the greenery is hard to find.

But Ari is thrilled by it all, she's like a little child seeing things for the first time and all excited by it. She finds the tips of the perennial flowers a promising sign and takes hope at the sign of rebirth. But when they reach the fountain all other thoughts leave.

She walks over to the fountain and catches the water. Her giggle catches Grey off guard. He's enjoying her enjoyment but doesn't know what could make her giggle.

"They tickle Grey." Ari says holding out her hands to him.

"What tickles?" Grey asks coming up to her and cupping his hands like she had hers. She dumps the water in his hand and he sees the lights floating and flashing.

"The lights silly, don't you feel it?" Ariele laughs at him when he just shakes his head no.

"Oh, well they tickle me." Ari goes back to the fountain and gets more water or tries to but she gathers lights only instead.

"Oh, look they like me!" Ari truly is delighted as the lights fly up and dance around her head. They form a light crown and settle it on her head. Grey thinks that is very appropriate and bows to the queen.

Ari laughs in pure delight. Grey has never seen anything more enchanting than her playing with the lights. And has never heard anything as beautiful as her laughter.

He watches her play with the lights until the cool spring air starts to make her shiver. Reluctantly he says, "That's enough Ari, it's time to go."

"Very well. Thank you Grey." Ari says and continues playing with lights as she joins him and he escorts her back into the castle.

"I've never seen lights stay this far away from the fountain before." Grey says as they walk slowly back to their room.

"Oh, these aren't from the fountain. I made these." Indeed now Grey notices the colored lights mixed in with the white ones.

"You made these? Knowledge on how these lights were made was lost long ago. It is said that the first Lady of Healthhome created them but failed to pass on her knowledge to her daughter before she died." All the Ladies off the castle tried to make the lights and not a single one of them had been able to.

"It was easy Grey. They told me how." Ari says innocently enough and is too busy to notice that Grey stopped still in front of her. She runs into him.

She gasps in horror. The flowers that Grey had made her and the beautiful gowns were everywhere or at least pieces of them were.

"You can fix them right?" Ari asks a stunned and angry Grey.

"If they were in large pieces strewn all over then I could but this..."pieces of fabric were still floating in the air. "I wouldn't even know where to begin.

Ari turns and runs out of the room with Grey right behind her but this time she runs to Anna's room. The guards didn't even try to stop them and even opened the door so they wouldn't have too. Everyone turns their attention to the distraught girl as she rushes over to Anna and kneels down and starts crying on Anna's knees.

Anna although startled starts stroking the girls head and looks at Grey in inquiry. "We left after the attack. We just got back to our room and found all the flowers and gowns that I've given her strewn about and destroyed."