The everglades
The forest was quiet in that way it always was before something happened—heavy with birdsong and slow-moving light. Rowan stepped between the trees, breath caught somewhere between anticipation and disbelief.
He had just dropped his things at the tower, and head towards the everglades without even a second thought.
Then he saw her.
Auro hovered just above the mossy ground, as if walking was beneath her or simply forgotten. Her hair shimmered faintly in the dappled morning light, and when she turned, her smile bloomed wide and unapologetic.
"You came back," she said, as if they were old friends and not complete strangers. Her voice was music, lilting and soft with something that curled under his skin.
Rowan shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her eyes. "Didn't exactly have a choice."
She floated a little closer, her expreteasing but kind. "Of course you did. You could've stayed away. In your little cottage or something. But you couldn't."
His brow furrowed instinctively. " You make it sound like this is what I want."
Auro laughed—a bright, silvery sound that made the leaves seem to tremble. "It is what you want." She leaned in just slightly, not enough to touch, but enough to make him notice. " You just don't see it yet. Makes this all the more fun."
Rowan looked away, heat creeping up his neck. She was impossible. And yet here he was.
Auro drifted past him, her toes brushing the tops of the grass like ripples on water. Wherever she went, the plants responded—vines unfurling to greet her, flowers turning their faces as if to catch her warmth. A deer emerged silently from the brush, nose twitching, before nuzzling into her hand like a loyal hound. She whispered something to it in a language Rowan didn't know, soft and melodic, and it bounded off again, vanishing into the green.
He didn't quite notice it before, her ethereal presence. It was disarming, but not enough to make him lose his grip on reality.
She eyes his facial features, quite noticably. " So, are we going to play house or...?"
Rowan didn't answer right away. He was watching her, arms crossed, his jaw tight.
"I didn't come back for you." he says finally. "I came to break the bond. The curse. Whatever it is that ties us."
Auro's smile faltered for a moment, but she didn't look away. "I know."
" How did you pass it on to me?" he presses. " What you were before? How did you get the curse?"
She shook her head slowly, drifting back down to sit lightly on a crooked tree root. "Now that I think about it, I don't really remember. I only remember waking up."
Rowan looked away, frustrated. "You said that before. That's not helpful."
"No," she agrees, quietly. "But it's something."
A pause stretched between them. Leaves rustled overhead, and a pair of green foxes darted through the underbrush, chasing each other in playful circles. The forest didn't care for his bitterness.
Something wasn't enough.
"I should leave," he mutters. " I think I need to study. I need to understand the type of curse you have."
"You could," Auro says softly, tilting her head. " But where would I be?"
He looked at her sharply. "Why do you asks that? Where else would you be?"
She smiled gently, eyes glinting with a knowing softness. " You feel it, don't you? The pull. The strength. The way the forest hums when we're near each other."
Rowan said nothing. He hated that he was considering her words.
"I do," she adds, almost wistfully. " Perhaps we need to stay close together." she points to the canopies. " You're going there right? Maybe I should be there with you. To help you study."
He turns and stares at the old tower rising through the trees in the distance. Cold stone, quiet halls. It was the perfect place to figure this all out. With her there, he would never succeed in time for the wedding.
" I promise I won't bother you." Her sad puppy eyes were almost enough to convince him.
He averts his gaze from her. " Most of the people there are gone but there are still a few guards there. And an old man." His voice goes stern. " You cannot be seen."
Her skin and eyes glow a bright yellow. She swirls around him. She wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face in the crook of his neck.
" You won't regret it."
A silent groan escapes his lips, he already was regretting it.
Rowan hadn't ever touched her before, so he wasn't quite sure what he should do with her wrapping around him. " Can you — we get moving now?"
They get to the prairie, where the shadows to the canopies end. He walks past it and realizes Auro wasn't following him.
" What's wrong?" He's voice held concern. "Are you stuck in there?"
She clutches herself tightly, unable to face him as he approaches her.
He immediately realizes she had never been out of the forest. With a sigh he tilts his head so that get a proper glimpse of her face.
" You don't have to be embarrassed. Lots of people have never walked on the prairie."
" Really?" Her voice was disbelieving. " Like who?"
He shrugs, unable to think of a proper lie. "... I'm sure they're are... I've just never got to meet them yet."
She turns from him. " You're a horrible liar."
He runs a hand through his hair. He leans against the tree next to where she hovers. "Well... lot's of people are afraid. It might not be like yours but everyone is different." He crosses his arms. "There's no need to be embarrassed—"
" I can feel it." She speaks over him in a low voice. " I've been out here before, and I don't remember it. I don't know when or what I was doing. I've never been able to leave the forest at all, I've never even been this close."
A feel of pain washes over Rowan. It was happening again. That overwhelming sadness was seeping into him and it wasn't from empathy.
Without a second thought he holds her hand. The cool mist from her light blue, glass skin seeps into his. She turns to him in surprise.
" I can't promise that'll I'll fix this." His tone falters slightly. " But I promise that I'll try to help you, and we'll get you're memories back."