Chapter 3 | Urban Myths

~Aurelia~

Dark struck upon us as we headed home. I was a shaky mess wanting to say too many things all at once.

"He saw me, Callie!! He touched me too!" My heart was still pounding against my chest long after we left the fighting pit.

"And what did you do? Ran like a scared chicken. How disappointing!"

"He was staring at me with those intense blue eyes. What would you do if Dylan got hold of you and studied you for a good minute or so?"

"I would jump into his arms and kiss him deeply."

"Yeah, right! You would have fainted on the spot."

"Whatever! How did he... uh, why did he approach you? Do you think he saw us stalking him and Dylan?"

"You make it sound so terrible! We weren't stalking, we were observing secretly."

"Same difference, ladies," Marlo chuckled, "We've arrived."

"Oh, shit!"

"What now Aurie?"

"What's the Prince doing on this side of the palace? He's right behind that pillar," I pointed at two men talking intently, concealed behind a massive stone pillar.

"Turn around!"

We snuck into our room after a few small hiccups along the way. I quickly changed into my work clothes and washed off all the makeup.

"I'm starving, will see you in the kitchen," I told Callie who was still in the bathroom.

I barely stepped out of the room when Prince Argus grabbed me by my arm.

"Where the hell did you go?"

"Ow, Argus!" I freed my arm and scowled at him.

"Answer me, Aurie. Where were you?"

"Nowhere. I'm getting tired of your controlling..."

"Controlling? Where the fuck were you?"

"Just around, in the t-training grounds."

"You take me for a fool? How many times have I told you to not pull a stunt like this? Have you any idea---"

We heard Callie coming out of the room and he scrammed.

"Was that the Prince?"

Callie was Argus's handmaid, and she wanted to be back from our mini-excursion before it was time for his dinner. 

"Yeah, he said he doesn't want dinner tonight. If he yells at you, remind him that he asked me to tell you so. He's pretty forgetful these days."

"Forget about him. Let's eat! I went hungry this afternoon so that my stomach didn't stick out of that tight dress."

"You are ridiculous!" 

***********      

It was a beautiful sunny day today. The storm last night brought a lot of rain and cooled a hot summer day to a pleasant one. After what seemed to be months, I was in the mood to paint today.

I grabbed my art supplies and headed to the garden to set my stuff up. The kids in the palace got a day off from the pedagogue today, and they were in the main hall waiting for old nana and her legendary stories.

While they were waiting, Callie took over. If Callie was a man, she would have made a really successful jester in the king's court without trying.

I forgot about my painting plans and sat down next to the kids to listen to her ruin all the beloved fairy tales. She did a funny take on almost everything.

"Children! Today..." She said in a dramatic, funny tone imitating old nana, "We are going to talk about the bloodthirsty beasts, the werewolves."

A few kids gave out scared gasps.

"Are they really real?" A five-year-old boy asked in fear.

"Oh, yes. They are! And if you aren't a good boy and trouble mama's handmaid too much, a werewolf will be sent to steal you into the deep dark forest at night."

The little boy burst into tears, sobbing loudly.

"Who was the first werewolf?" The Prince's nephew, Evan, asked.

"King Lycaon of Arcadia. He was cursed by Zeus."

"Why?"

"So one day, Zeus was bored of hiking up and down Mount Olympus. So he paid Arcadia a visit. He was like, 'Hey! Just checking in, what's up? I am the divine almighty here and y'all need to respect me.' The king and his fifty sons wondered, 'What the hell is he doing here?' 'Is he really Zeus?' 'I don't think Zeus has any power, he just shows off' 'We should get rid of him, Zeus or not.' So after discussing with his sons, the king decides to feed Zeus some human meat."

"Eww, that's gross!" The Prince's niece, Leah, stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"Yeah! Aren't they so smart? Turn someone into a cannibal secretly, for what? Come on, guys! How can that get rid of anyone, let alone Zeus?"

"Does Zeus find out?"

"Of course, and he was pissssed! He burned the whole place down by striking it with a ginormous lightning bolt. And he turned the king into a werewolf."

"That's it?!" Evan asked disapprovingly.

"Hmm... and the transformed wolf king bit people and created more werewolves."

"Do werewolves appear only on a full moon night?"

"No, they appear whenever you ask too many questions."

"Where's nana? We don't like this story. Nana makes them so interesting, like the story with a little girl going into the woods to find her grandma and meets a wolf on the way. Don't you know anything like that?" Leah also gave a look of disapproval.

"Callie, I agree with them. I just wasted my time." I got up when I remembered that I was on my way to the garden.

"What? Those stories are pretty lame, to begin with."

"Not when nana tells them." The kids retorted.

Nana arrived soon to tell a different version of the first werewolf that happened in Egypt where people considered shapeshifting a gift and not a curse. I grew up listening to nana's stories, about demon kings and dragon queens and all things fantasy. My all-time favorite was the story of my mother, except for the part where she dies.

While dwelling on the past, I heard a soft pleasant laughter. Evan ran to meet Prince Argus and... Dylan?!! I grabbed my stuff to rush out of the room while Callie was combing her hair with her fingers and pinching her cheeks in a frenzy.

What was he doing here? Was Dominic also somewhere around? The shakiness from last night returned instantly and my brain stopped functioning.

I was throwing so many flying kisses and acting like a silly crazy smitten girl at the fighting pit yesterday. Didn't realize that he saw me until he got hold of me.

I always wanted to be seen by him, and to do so many things to him. But I was dumbfounded when he actually found me. It was easier to just be invisible and have a massive crush on him. I cleared my mind of his thoughts and found a place in the garden to set up my art supplies.      

I needed a lot of yellow in my painting. The last time I attempted this, I mixed the autumn shades of red and gold but it failed to create that awe-striking impression that I was looking for. This time, I planned to get some ideas by copying the yellow hues from the flowers in the garden. I saw a pretty butterfly with the brightest shade of teal possible and followed it to find out what other colors were on it's fluttering wings. 

After getting caught in the cosmic vortex of digression chasing butterflies and staring at all yellow flower petals, I returned to mixing colors and sat down to start the actual painting.

Whenever I was restless or missed my mother more terribly than usual, I painted until I was interrupted by the princess for this or that. I was glad that she was sleeping in today. I was so lost in my thoughts and was trying hard to blend these colors more naturally that I didn't realize when someone came from behind and pounced on me like a wild animal.

"OW! What the hell?!"

I fell on the floor but my fall was cushioned. Warm breath fanned my skin as I felt someone's body press against mine. I got so mad for messing my palette and pouncing on me that I hit that someone on the face without seeing who it was. 

My hand imprinted a bright yellow on Dominic's cheek. He stared at me with hungry eyes and I melted in his gaze, forgetting to breathe.