Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Nix Year 4004
Flose stepped backward a slight dizzy expression crushed her face.
“What happened.” Her thick Aliud accent seemed to blot out the important syllables. Her hair and skin color, similar to Lux's, should have told me as much but only after I heard her voice clearly did I realize she must have hailed from the neighboring kingdom, Aliud. She looked around, brown eyes alight for the first time in what I suspected was 20 years. I watched as she realized she was free, and the Opulentus house was gone. “Thank you for saving me, but how did I get here?" Lux glanced at me before taking her my the arm and leading her to the river bank to explain. They sat down on a washed uptreebranchandIturnedaway. leaningagainstatreeto watched the river flow slowly north.
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Pushing off from the tree, I waited for Lux to walk from the
river toward me. I glanced at Flos sitting on a log, watching the river a few inches from her feet. She was wringing her hand staring at the tiny white caps splashing up from the rocks. Lux took a deep breath and let it out.
“I told her everything. I thought it would be the best for her.” I nodded. She flicked a few strands of hair from her eyes. The small motion reminded me of someone I used to know. Someone with blond hair and green eyes.
“Good." We stood in a moment of silence, floating, suspended in quiet pure stillness.
"We should head back up to the cave, it is getting dark.” Lux said to me, her face inches from mine. I stared at her, looking at the spot in the middle of her lips, the light pink skin slightly parted. I turned blocking out my thoughts telling me not to. Looking back at Flos who was now getting up from her log I felt a rush of regret.