Page 55 of Uprooted

Elowen

“Come check this out.” Kiera invites me over with a pat on the seat next to her. I sit down next to her, the three of us huddled together as Kiera flips through images on a yuriOS.

“Look! Heto!” Kiera exclaims when she comes to a picture of a white, fluffy animal. It’s her, as a child, standing next to a waist-high rabbit with floppy ears. “I loved him so much!” She gushes over the image of her pet.

“That thing was a menace. It left droppings all over the house that your father would always seem to step in.” Rameera sounds less nostalgic about the animal.

“He’s cute,” I tell Kiera.

She flips through a few pictures of Aro and Kiera smiling brightly with their arms around each other, posing in front of a beautiful home surrounded by tall trees.

The farther she swipes, the younger everyone appears.

She pauses her scanning on a picture of Aro as a young teenager, tall and gangly.

“Has he told you how I used to beat him up?” Kiera asks.

“Actually, he has. Although I didn’t fully believe him until now.” I snicker at the image. “He told me it took an entire battalion to teach him how to defend himself.” I peek over at Kiera. She looks proud of herself.

“He was such a softy he would always let me take the upper hand, even though he was always bigger and stronger than me,” Kiera says.

“Aro has always been our bright light. That’s what his name means and it’s suited him from the day he was born.” Rameera has a soft faraway look in her eyes .

“And Kiera means dark one. I’ve been proud to carry that mantle from the day I was born.”

“My parents named me Elowen after a type of tree back on Earth. Not as eloquent as ‘light and dark one,’” I tell them.

“I was quite captivated by the little trees on Earth. They were so cute and dainty.” Rameera always has a nice comment about Earth on hand.

I can tell she is making an effort to connect with me.

She is just being kind. There is no comparison between Earth and j'Tilak.

This place is superior in every possible way.

“What is light without the darkness? As a child, Kiera was always ferocious about any perceived injustice. Especially toward Aro. One year, Aro came home to visit during his basic training. During his absence Kiera had grown up and Aro became the ferocious one. Aro glared at anyone she brought home. He was utterly intimidating.”

“Remember that time I didn’t speak to Dad for 3EMs because he was mean to Aro?” Kiera laughs at the memory.

“You were so determined to give him the silent treatment. I thought you’d never forgive him,” Rameera adds.

“There was only one time that my father raised his voice at Aro, and I would still be holding the grudge if Aro didn’t tell me to drop it,” Kiera tells me.

I suspect I already know the origins of this story.

That moment when his father accused him of avoiding his responsibilities stuck with him.

A new understanding of that story hits me.

It was a king urging a prince to grow up.

My heart breaks a tiny bit for that young lanky kid with a smile too big for his face.

He’s got a tough outer shell, but the more I get to know him, the more I see how deeply he feels things.

* * *

“Look who finally showed up!” Aro says as he steps off the aeroglyder.

“I’m not here for you. I thought we should ignore your desperate attempt at getting attention,” Kiera says back to Aro.

“I hope they haven’t scared you off,” he says and pulls me into his side.

“How did it go out there?” I ask .

“Tauros is safe. We were able to get there in time,” he says without going into detail.

“Were you able to…” I trail off, not wanting to say the words in front of everyone. He has been so private about his struggle to summon his battleform.

“No. We can talk about that later,” he says and kisses the top of my head as we walk to the barracks.