Page 10 of A Touch of Iron
I narrowed my gaze. “For my mother’s freedom and my own, I have no choice.”
I uncapped the vial, the blue-green contents jostling slightly. Without giving myself a chance to back out, I closed my eyes and chugged the contents.
6
VIOLET
Irubbed my eyes with a groan and slowly opened them, my head swimming with an unpleasant cocktail of confusion and nausea. I slowly sat up from the bed I was laying in and cautiously surveyed my surroundings. The one-room cottage was small, consisting only of the twin-sized bed I was currently occupying, a fireplace, a tiny kitchen area, and a dining table with two chairs. There were two doors and an open window that allowed a cool breeze to tickle the hairs along my neck.
I scratched my head and tried to remember how I got there. When that didn’t work, I tried to remember where I was. When I continued to draw a blank, I tried to rememberwhoI was.
Nothing.
A sharp stab of anxiety squeezed my chest and made it hard to breathe. I scrambled to my feet, slid into a pair of woven sandals beside the bed, and darted to one of the doors. When that opened to a bathroom, I cursed and ran to the other door, which opened to reveal a wooded lot. A trail separated the mass of trees on either side where a woman was chopping wood.
Even though I hadn’t made a sound, the woman stopped what she was doing and straightened. Her pearl white hair was pulled back into a messy bun, the sun glinting on the luminescent strands. She turned and her piercing lavender eyes met mine.
“Aurora, you’re awake!” She wedged the axe into a large log and headed my way.
Confusion must have been clear on my face. “Aurora?”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s your name.” She tilted her head, the smile still on her face as she observed me. “Did you lose your memory after your fall?”
“After my fall?” I repeated slowly. I looked around and tried to make sense of my predicament. We were high up in the mountains, deep within a forest. The air smelled crisp and clean. But unfortunately, I had no idea where I was.
“Yes.” The woman nodded. “We were climbing the mountain when you took a nasty fall and hit your head.”
My hand instinctively went to my temple, searching for a bump or sensitive spot, but felt nothing.
“You must have healed faster than you thought!” She smiled brightly. “I’m Calypso, leader of the Air Village where we live. You’re an air elemental,” she added, “in the Unseelie Court.”
“And my name is Aurora?” I asked again, still unsure.
She nodded. “Yes.”
I turned back to the small cottage behind me. “Do I live here alone?”
“Yes. Your house is on the outskirts of the village, but don’t worry, you’re not a recluse,” she added with a kind smile. “I can help you fill in the blanks until you regain your memory.”
I stared at the house behind me longer than necessary, then turned back to Calypso. I should have been freaking out. I mean, I’d lost my memory and had to depend on a total stranger to tell me who I was. But for some reason, a steady calmness took over my senses. The woman exuded serenity and I didn’t sense she meant me any harm. I decided to ride the wave wherever it took me.
“If I’m an air elemental, why don’t I feel any magic within me?” I felt empty inside. A vacant void existed where my elemental power should be.
“Hmm … you may have forgotten how to use your element,” Calypso suggested. “I can help you with that, too.”
I slowly nodded, accepting her answers as easily as a child. I didn’t have any reason to doubt them.
“Why don’t you take this wood inside and start a fire?” Calypso walked with me to the pile of wood she’d chopped. “I was lucky enough to catch a boar while I was hunting earlier. It will make a fine dinner.”
Without hesitation, I collected the wood and carried a bundle inside, placing it in the fireplace.
* * *
The next morning,I woke with a slight headache. I wondered if it was because of my head injury. After a shower, I got dressed and headed out to explore the area. Calypso said I wasn’t a recluse, which meant I was acclimated to moving around and visiting with people. I decided to head into the village and talk to others who might know who I was.
There were two trails that led in opposite directions, but I didn’t know which one led to the village so I guessed and took the one that forked to the left. The day was sunny and mild. The canopy sheltered me from the sun’s rays while a cool breeze kept me from getting overheated.
The sandals I wore were incredibly uncomfortable, almost as if my feet weren’t used to this type of footwear. But that was preposterous – the shoes were beside my bed in my cottage, after all. Maybe they were new. I winced from the cuts on my feet and limped my way through the woods. I spotted a lake just over the next rise and veered in its direction. Reaching the pebbled shore, I sat on a large, flat rock, removed the cursed sandals, and grimaced as I dipped my blood-soaked feet into the cool water. My feet were tender, as if I’d never walked along the rocky paths. I cleansed away the blood and gravel as gently as I could, shaking my head.
