Part 7 - Rise and Shine!

Elian protested again, frowning and turning around.

“I’m not Adira! Get up and get your lazy butt moving!” Elipson ordered again, shaking him, but in a fast movement her wrists were locked in his strong grip and he pulled her down, making her fall on top of him.

“Don’t go … stay …” he murmured, still sleeping, and she couldn’t help laugh.

“Really? Is that a love confession? Be careful. I may just take it seriously. Elian! Would you please just open your eyes?!”

Elian took a deep breath and obeyed, only to close them back right away.

“Ew … so much light …”

“Who told you to go on a drinking spree? Don’t you know you can’t?”

“I didn’t … It was … only … one …”

“Not one, not half, not a sip! I thought last time had been enough for you to understand that. Unless you enjoy feeling miserable first thing in the morning.”

“Aw … please … come on … don’t talk so loud …” he begged, releasing her to hold his head, and sighed deeply. “Why did you wake me …?”

“It seems I didn’t wake you well enough! You’ve got to get up, make yourself presentable and leave here before anyone else wakes up! Don’t think being seen leaving my chambers early in the morning will do much for your popularity.”

Elian instantly opened his eyes, facing her.

“Please … Everyone knows that you and I … that you’re like my sister!”

“And that I’m not. You’re no longer a child, Elian. And I guarantee you, there are lots of people ready and happy to spread the wildest rumors, if they catch you leaving my room,” she insisted, getting up and rearranging her hair, tied up in her usual ponytail.

Elian sat on the bed, holding his head that seemed about to explode, and tried to make sense of his fragmented memories.

“How did I get here, anyway …?”

“That new girl … the one you insist is not your plaything, she brought you here. You know? Darna, I believe is her name?” she went on, the sarcastic tone of her voice unable to escape him even though his brain seemed to have been cut in two, and he stared at her in disbelief.

“Darna …?”

“Yeah. Apparently she found you outside the female dorm and brought you here, since it would certainly be very bad for your image if someone found you this morning, laying on the streets, with a hangover from hell. Were you by any chance trying to peek into the girl’s dorm?” she added, now threateningly, and Elian sat very straight, facing her urgently.

“Peeking?! Me? Elipson … You’re kidding, right?” he pleaded, the recollection of what had happened to the last young man who had been brave enough to attempt such a feat still quite clear in his mind, and Elipson stared at him in doubt.

“I guess … Elian. You trust me, right?” she suddenly asked, changing her tone and, obviously, the subject, and Elian nodded reflexively.

“Of course. You know I do. Why?”

“Are you sure you don’t have anything else to tell me about that girl?”

“Elipson! I’ve told you already! There’s nothing like that between us!”

“I know, I know … And I’m not talking about that. I just can’t stop feeling that she’s somehow … strange. And you know how I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things. Everything about her is … different … The way she looks at people, her smile … even the way she wields a sword. And how fast she’s able to learn new stuff! It’s almost as if her body just absorbs everything he's taught and then simply repeats it, unable to make a single mistake. It’s the truth! You don’t have to look at me with that smug smile on your face. She’s just weird!”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s strange, don’t you think?”

“Well … I’m kind of strange myself, so …”

“It’s different! You are … special!”

“And why is that so hard for you to believe that there may be other special people like me out there?”

“Is that what this is about? Is that why you brought her here?”

“No,” Elian replied with a smile. “I brought her here because she wanted to come. Also I don’t understand why you keep insisting that I have some kind of relationship with her.”

“Because … although I can’t quite explain it, I see you inexplicably close to each other.”

“She’s just a child!”

“No, Elian. That I can guarantee you. She’s not a child. No more a child than I was when I was her age,” she added, smiling, although her smile was bitter and sad now. And because he never knew what to say to her in those occasions, he decided to let the subject drop. He knew that look all too well, and just how painful the memories behind it were, especially for her.

Elipson stood up, brushing away that heavy feeling with a sigh, and he followed her with his gaze as she walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Where else? To get our Knights. Unless you’re willing to suspend the whole bunch of them for being late at their posts. And when I return you won’t be here anymore! Understood? Talk to Adira. She’ll help you with the maids. We definitely don’t need stupid girls whispering around the palace about how the Crown Prince didn’t sleep in his bed! Not to mention the amazing amount of young damsels that would line up, swearing that they had the honor of your visit in the middle of the night!”

Elian shook with dread just from picturing it and Elipson laughed at his desperate expression. There were few things Elian took serious besides the matters concerning the Orders. But nothing could disturb him more than the prospect of ending up in a commitment with one of the court ladies.

“Afterwards you’ll have to tell me everything about that dream of yours,” she added, poisonously, and Elian blinked, still half in shock with the idea of all those court ladies and their possible allegations.

“Dream …? What dream?”

“The one that left you so talkative.”

“Talkative?! Elipson! I talked in my sleep? What did I say? Wait!” But Elipson had already left, closing the door behind her. “I talked …?! What did I say …? And to Allana …?!” he asked himself in dread, still feeling sick, his head filled with cruel, gigantic, noisy hammers. The truth was his memories of the night before were a huge smudge of light, color and darkness …