by K.N. Lee
Chapter 9
When Anais next awoke, light was streaming in through the studio windows. She took a few moments to remember the events of the previous night and when she did, she quickly turned to Aethelu. The bed next to her was empty. She sat up quickly and scanned the room. Aethelu was nowhere on the balcony. Anais began to worry that she had embarrassed Aethelu last night, or worse, that she had dreamed the whole thing.
“So you’re finally awake, good timing.” Aethelu’s head popped up as she climbed the ladder to the living level of the studio.
Aethelu threw an apple to Anais, which she expertly caught and held on to. As Aethelu pulled herself up to the mezzanine floor, Anais could see she was carrying a bag which she placed on the bed. Aethelu pulled out a couple of Danish pastries, some more fruit and a flask of coffee with two cups. She poured the coffee and handed Anais a cup before pouring one for herself.
Anais found herself smiling, which was echoed in Aethelu’s expression. She was relieved that there seemed to be no embarrassment, although she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She found herself wanting to wipe away a crumb of pastry from Aethelu’s lip, just as an excuse to touch her again. As she looked at Aethelu, she noticed something was wrong. No, not wrong, just different, but she couldn’t tell exactly what it was. She then realised that Aethelu was twinkling in the morning light. Little flashes bounced off glitter on one side of her face. It wasn’t only confined to her face, though, her red jumper and jeans also glittered, although strangely only on one side.
“Why are you sparkling on one side?”
Aethelu looked down at herself and laughed.
“Perhaps you should look in the mirror.” she replied.
Confused, Anais wrapped the sheet around herself, leaving the apple on the bed and walked over to the full-length mirror on the opposite wall. She barely recognised herself. The oil from the bath last night had left a golden sheen all over her skin and hair. Tiny flashes of gold glitter covered her whole body. As she had slept, the oil had smeared all over the sheet which now also shimmered with the dried oil. Patches of skin showed through the gold, so she resembled a patchwork of golden blotches. Her hair had dried in a golden frizz and was now stuck out at all angles. She heard a giggle right behind her and saw Aethelu’s reflection over her right shoulder. She saw the gold had rubbed off her own lips and onto Aethelu’s when she had kissed her in the night. It was like she had claimed a small piece of Aethelu for herself.
Anais was acutely aware of Aethelu’s closeness, the feel of her breath on her neck and the smell of strawberries once again. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, consumed with Aethelu’s presence. She stood only an inch in front of Aethelu, but that space between them was too much of a gap. She would have bridged it if it hadn’t been for the electricity of The Light. She felt so alive, so totally awake and raw that she knew that contact with Aethelu’s skin would overwhelm her. Instead, she turned her head and spoke.
“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you last night. It must have been the champa...”
Her sentence was left hanging as Aethelu kissed her fully on the mouth. Electricity started to course through her once again but was quickly cut off by Aethelu backing up.
“I wanted to kiss you from the moment I saw you. I’m not embarrassed at all. I just wish I’d done it sooner,” Aethelu smiled, “And now I wish I could do it more, I’ll have to get The Light under control.”
“I don’t know; I quite like it!” Anais smiled a soft smile and gazed at Aethelu. Beautiful dark eyes, sparkling with diamond flecks now stared back at her intently, full of emotion.
Eventually Aethelu broke her gaze and spoke.
“You’d better go get a shower and wash all that gold off you. It’s driving me crazy knowing that I’m so close to you but can’t touch you.”
“Me too.” Anais made her way down the ladder with the smudged sheet still wrapped around her, finally discarding it when she reached the shower room, grinning all the way.
After she had showered the gold from her body and hair, she wrapped a towel around herself. Having no clean clothes to put on, she pulled on the jeans she had been wearing the day before and put on a shirt she had found lying around. It was red, so she assumed it must belong to Aethelu. When she climbed the ladder once again, she found Aethelu working on her painting. Not wanting to disturb her, Anais silently made her way back down the ladder and put the oily sheet into a small laundry basket. She found some dirty clothes, which followed the sheet. Deciding to let Aethelu work in peace, she quietly tidied up the studio. It was only when she made her way back up the ladder once more to tidy up there, that Aethelu noticed her.
“That was a long shower!”
“I finished in the shower ages ago. I saw that you were busy, so I did a bit of tidying.”
“Silly! I’ll never be too busy for you. I was only working on the painting so I could look at you as much as I wanted.”
“Can I see it?” Anais was curious as to how she was depicted.
“No, not before it’s finished.”
“Is it nearly finished?” Anais smiled cheekily.
“No. I’ve got your likeness down, but I’ve still got a long way to go before I’ll be happy showing it to you. Perhaps I should just look at you some more to make sure I’ve captured every detail perfectly.” She put down her paintbrush and palate and gazed at Anais.
“I don’t think looking at me more will get the painting finished. You paint, I’ll tidy up here.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s ok, I want to. I want to see the painting soon, so that means you’ve got to keep painting it.”
Aethelu reluctantly picked up her brushes and carried on with her work.
They chatted all the while, about everything and about nothing. Eventually, they both gave up their tasks and had a picnic lunch on the bed. They didn’t move for the rest of the afternoon. Anais didn’t ever want to lose the feeling she was experiencing. She was on a high and she didn’t care that she couldn’t stop smiling. Aethelu obviously felt the same way, as she had the same silly grin on her face. They lay inches away from each other, but not daring to touch because of the magical force Aethelu generated, although both of them wanted to.
“Have you ever kissed a girl before?” Anais was brimming with curiosity.
“No,” She paused and then added coyly “I’ve never really kissed anyone before.”
“That cannot be true!” Anais was incredulous. “You...You’re...”
“Six hundred years old. I know.”
“I was going to say gorgeous, but yeah, you’re six hundred years old.”
“I was very young when we drank the elixir, and extremely shy. I wasn’t a particularly attractive child either. I spent most of my childhood climbing trees with your father. I was always covered in bruises, with dirt on my face and twigs in my hair. I guess you could call me a late bloomer. At fourteen, I was expected to be working, and I did help my mother a little with the healing, although I spent most of my time out having adventures with Ali.
One day, a beautiful girl came to us. I knew everyone in our village, but I’d not seen her before. Her baby brother was sick and needed healing. My mother saw to the baby whilst I talked to the girl. She was around my age and incredibly beautiful. Luckily for her, her brother was not too unwell and my mother gave her a simple potion. I remember wishing he was a little sicker so my mother would take longer with him, so I could spend longer with her. When she left, I followed her from a distance, desperate to know who she was. It turned out, she had come from the next village over. Every day after that, I would make my way to the next village, just to get a glimpse of her. I’d often hide behind trees, just so she wouldn’t notice me.”
“Why didn’t you talk to her?” Anais interrupted.
“I was just too shy. I’d never felt like that before, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
Then of course, the plague came, and you already know th
e story of us drinking the potion. What you don’t know is that I saved a tiny bit for her. I ran to the next village immediately, to give her the elixir.” Aethelu paused.
“What happened?” prompted Anais
“I went to her house and told her everything, about the elixir, about how I’d been watching her, and that I was in love with her.”
“She didn’t believe you?”
“She all but called me a freak. She spat in my face. It broke my heart. The next day we left the village, and I never saw her again. Even though my new life had just started, it felt like it was over.”
“Oh, Aethelu,” Anais’ heart went out to her.
“Arcadia had always been beautiful, so she adapted to her new look very quickly, and the boys were always full of confidence.”
“But you are beautiful, stunning!”
“I didn’t think so until I met you.”
Anais’ eyes were full of tears, full of pain for the fourteen year old Aethelu.
Aethelu laughed. “Don’t cry, silly. It was a long time ago. I’ve not thought about her for a very, very long time. Anyway, tell me about you. Have you ever kissed a girl?”
“I never wanted to before I met you. I never even thought about it. I did have a boyfriend though, back at school in L.A.” Anais admitted.
“I hate him already” Aethelu joked.
“He was nice, I just, I dunno, I didn’t really feel that much. We went our separate ways. I don’t think either of us was that bothered when it ended.
“Sounds like the romance of the century!”
Anais picked up a pillow and hit Aethelu with it, laughing.
“I guess high school was a much longer time ago for you, huh?”
“I never went to school. In the 1300’s children played and when they were old enough they worked.”
“Wow, no school.” It was unthinkable that someone in this day and age didn’t have a formal education, but then, she mused, Aethelu wasn’t from this day and age.
“I’ve got 600 years of life education under my belt. I can speak four languages, including Latin; play most instruments; have passed various tests; and have licences for cars, boats, and planes. Oh, and I can juggle too!”
“Show off!” Anais hit her with the pillow again.
“Five minutes, and already this is becoming an abusive relationship,” laughed Aethelu as she attempted to get her own back, hitting her with a small cushion.
“Who locked who in shackles, now?” reminded Anais.
“Ok, point taken, let’s call it even.”
“Never,” said Anais, whose competitive nature had already lost too many games of chess against Aethelu. The pillow once again went flying.
The afternoon passed in a hazy blur. Anais had never felt so happy’ but more than that, she had never felt so safe. Aethelu made her feel like nothing could harm her.
Eventually, after hours of chatting, of playing, and of enjoying each other’s company, the topic of conversation came around to telling the rest of the family about their relationship.
“What do you think they’ll say?”
“I don’t know, do we have to tell them? Can’t we keep it a secret?” Aethelu was only half-kidding.
“Yes, we have to tell them; what’s the alternative? We spend every day sneaking around and playing footsie under the table, when we think nobody is looking?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
“What will they say?” Anais repeated her earlier question.
“Cadie will think it’s great. She’s always telling me to find a man; I think the shock of me finding myself a girl will delight her. August will be happy if I’m happy and Andrew wouldn’t even notice if we made out on the dinner table right in front of him. His head is full of amazing things, but he doesn’t have much of a clue about real life.”
“What about Alex and Rafe?”
“They will both be gutted. I overheard them betting against each other about which one of them you’d go out with?”
“No way! Really? I heard them arguing over a girl, but I didn’t realise it was me.”
“I guess you are going to let them both down. On the bright side, neither will lose any money over it.”
“I thought Rafe hated me.”
“Na, He’s always like that. He’s a nice guy, really, but he can be so serious. The girls seem to go for it, though. They all say he’s a brooding character; it draws them in like a moth to a flame. I’m not sure I get it myself, but there you go, both he and Alex have always got girls queuing up to date them.
Anais knew what Aethelu meant. ‘Brooding character’ summed him up very well, but she couldn’t figure out what it was that attracted the girls to him. He was attractive, certainly, but she’d seen a mean side to him, too. She guessed some girls must like that. Alex, on the other hand, was much easier to understand. He was as gorgeous as Rafe, but unlike his twin brother, was gorgeous on the inside too, easily likable and a whole lot of fun.
Eventually, they could put it off no more. They descended the ladder and walked hand in hand back to the main house. Aethelu putting her gloves back on first, to protect Anais. Anais had protested at first, wanting nothing more than to touch Aethelu again, but had to agree that now was not the time to master the power of The Light and that they’d have plenty of time for that later.
They didn’t have to worry about the family’s reaction. August was busy in the kitchen preparing another splendid meal. He was rushing around, stirring, chopping and occasionally throwing a scrap of meat to Baker, who was yapping around his feet. He didn’t even notice they were in the kitchen, let alone holding hands.
They found Arcadia on the phone in the Parlour. Gone were the black bob and green eyes. Now she sported long auburn hair that shone as it waved down her back. Eyes, now hazel, glanced over at them. They sat holding hands, waiting patiently for her to finish what was obviously an important call. She was perceptive enough to notice the hand holding; and as soon as she hung up the phone, she ran over and hugged them both, saving them having to tell her the news themselves.
“What a wonderful development! My little Lulu finally has found someone special, I knew it! Darlings! This calls for a drink.”
She picked up a bottle of already opened champagne, which she had obviously been drinking before they had walked in. She fetched a couple more glasses and refilled hers.
Anais wondered if they bought champagne in bulk. They seemed to drink it like a normal person drinks tea.
“How exciting! Now tell me all about it, I want to know all the gory details.”
“Oh Cadie, stop,” Aethelu said, blushing the colour of her top, although she was grinning too.
“Oh, Daddy is going to just flip out. I bet he never expected this when he brought Anais to the house.”
Aethelu started to look a little green.
“Oh, don’t worry. He’ll come around eventually,” Arcadia carried on. “It’s the twenty-first century, besides who could not be happy when you’ve found such a beautiful young person to be with.”
Anais felt strange being called beautiful by the radiant Arcadia. She felt like a dandelion next to a rare orchid in her presence, but she grinned all the same.
Arcadia grilled them for information although she stated that she’d guessed it would happen. When she finally had enough details, she let them go. They decided to help August with the dinner and tell him at the same time. When they got into the kitchen, August was just hanging up his mobile phone. When he saw them, he raised his eyebrows.
“Girlfriends, eh? How very modern.” It seemed all he had to say on the matter, as he went back to peeling carrots.
Anais was dumbfounded.
“That’s the reason I told Cadie first,” Aethelu said quietly.
“The phone call!” Anais caught on. “Arcadia must have called him as soon as we left the room.”
“And now we don’t have to tell anyone else. Cadie will do it for us. She’s the best big sister, but she�
��s a terrible gossip. She can’t help herself.”
Aethelu was right. By the time the whole family gathered for dinner that evening, everyone knew.
Everybody seemed happy for the new couple which was a relief to Anais, as she didn’t want to come between Aethelu and her family. Alex and Rafe both seemed a little subdued, but Anais put that down to both having lost bets. Andrew also seemed a little disconcerted by the announcement, but he, too, smiled and congratulated the pair.
‘For such an old family, they sure do have a modern outlook on things,’ thought Anais. Still, it was nice to be accepted as a member of the family.
That night Anais begrudgingly made her way back to her room on the second floor alone, but not before she had stolen a kiss from Aethelu at the bottom of the grand staircase when no one else was looking. The tingling lips accompanied her off to sleep.
The next morning she was awoken by an urgent knocking on the door. She jumped out of bed and ran to the door wondering what the emergency was. Flinging the door wide, she barely had time to register it was Aethelu before she was enveloped in a huge hug which nearly knocked her off her feet.
