Azura

"My name is of no consequence to you. Therefore, I will not waste time in telling it to you. Age, as I always believed it to be, is nothing more than a state of mind; and so I will also spare you that information. You see, dear friend, identity is a feigned reality which can be changed in the blink of an eye with the correct amount of money. So why bother ourselves with such trivial things? Lovely.

"If not me, you must be wondering, what will we discuss today? Your first guess is wrong. As well as your second and third. For you see, I know all about you. And you have nothing to learn of me. Consequently, we will not discuss what brought you here. It is of no importance to me and, by the same token, of no importance to you. The events of the past of are to be left in distant memories. What we will dicuss is the present. And, should you be fortuante enough to see it, the future. Any questions?"

I shook my head, too afraid to object this man.

Mother said he could help me. She and Papa saved for months to send me here, to him, to seek help for my condition (as they often refer to it as). I am told my aunt had the same ailment. Unfortauntely, it caused her to kill herself after she'd gone mad. My grandmother is just like me. But no one's seen her for years. Mother never speaks of her. Papa says it's too painful for her. I wish I had had the chance to know her though.

"Now," he said as he stood and walked towards me. Well, I suppose walk is the wrong word. He seemed to glide as he approached me. The long black robes he wore swished about his feet making it hard to see if they touched the ground at all. "When did you first notice your...condition?"

I swallowed. I felt as though I were nothing more than a specimen being examined by this man. "Nearly three years ago. Just days before my twelfth birthday...sir."

A slap met my face. Hard. Then another on the opposite side. I held a hand to my burning cheek, holding back tears. I wanted to ask what I had done to deserve such, but feared I would meet the same answer.

"You are to remain silent as I speak. You should be listening. The first was to remind you of that. And the second--well, as I told you, the past is irrelevant now. Understand?"

I nodded.

"Excellent. I know all about you, Azura. Named for your eyes, no doubt. They're quite stunning."

"Thank you, sir." I said quitely.

He raised his hand again to strike me. I flinched. Much to my surprise, he didn't slap me again. He only smiled. Something about that smile terrified me. "You're learning," he said backing away from me. He seated himself at a large desk with many envelopes arranged in straight lines. My name was written on one of them. He opened the envelope and began to read. "This condition is common among your family, no doubt. First your grandmother, then your aunt and now...you. But not your mother, correct?"

I shook my head.

"Obviously, it must pass through the females of your line. And you have no uncles? That is to say, your grandmother beared no male heirs? Interesting. And you say you noticed this around your twelfth birthday. Same for your aunt? I see. I wonder..." He cast the envelope aside and began to stare at me again. "Could you show me?"

I could feel the blood pound in my ears. My hands began to shake. "I don't think it would be wise. My...condition is--"

"Come now," he said locking eyes with me, "I must know before I can help you."

He was right. I inhaled deeply, gathering all the energy about the room. Staring directly into the center of his eyes, until I sensed his heartbeat. It was slow and calm. I stared until our hearts beat as one. I stared into his eyes, through them. My mind was racing. But not with thoughts of my own. They were all his thoughts and memories.

"Well... Anything?"

I shook my head. "No, sir. There is nothing." He must have expected me to fail because he smiled.

"Very well. I shall call for someone to lead you to your quarters. Your training will resume in the morning. I can see we have a long way to go."

There was a knock on the door. A very large man wearing a dark blue jacket entered and stood beside me. I soon found myself following him down the long corridors lined with fine art, tapestries, and doors. The large man knew his way around this large manor. He made very sharp turns at a moment’s notice and I stumbled to follow him closely. Soon, he stopped at a large door. Pulling key from his jacket pocket, he unlocked the room and let the door swing open.

I heard him shut the door behind me. Then the lock clicked. I couldn't stop thinking of what I had just learned of the mysterious man behind the desk: He'd lived in this house a very long time. Alone. Never married, no children of his own, either. And, most importantly, his name was Hadyn.

.:~o*'Kaylyn'*o~:.