Thawing His Heart

Nuada stood out front of the BPRD. The emotional surge he had felt from his sister earlier had left, but he couldn’t just dismiss the event. He thought about sneaking into the compound again but if his sister was in distress she would be happier if he rang the front bell.

As he approached the front gate he could see the guards shifting towards him and making calls on their headsets. He laughed at their attempt, there was no way they could stop him from getting in.

“I’m here to talk with my sister” Nuada told a guard.

The guard put a hand to his ear and made a quick comment into his wrist.

“You’ll have to wait here till someone comes to get you” The guard said with a shaky voice.

Nuada glared at the man and thought about just slitting his throat to save time but he figured Nuala would be very upset to find him with a dead body, so he waited.

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“Nuala, your brother is at the front gate” a guard said from the door of the library.

“Oh!?” was all Nuala could think to say. She knew he could get in here without the hassle of the guards so she wondered where the uncharacteristic courtesy was coming from.

“He wants in….should we….” The guard was hoping she wouldn’t tell him to get rid of Nuada; they didn’t have the man power to convey that message.

“Yes, sorry, of course I will see him” Nuala stuttered.

After the guard had left she peered over at Richella. She had passed out after the emotional uproar. Nuala didn’t want her waking up alone, but she knew she wasn’t going to have many opportunities to have Nuada here at the compound. She was shocked he had come back at all.

She slowly left the room and closed the door behind her.

“No one is allowed in here and if she tries to leave tell her to wait for me” Nuala told a nearby guard.

He seemed very proud to be keeping watch over Richella and Nuala had a flash of what she had just seen. There was so much her friend had overcome she was dumbfounded how well adjusted Richella was.

Nuala could see her brother pacing at the front gate. She smiled a little to see him so uncomfortable. Then it hit her. Nuada was here because he felt her weeping earlier. He must think something is dreadfully wrong. The wheels in her head started turning.

“Hello brother” Nuala said in a soft tone, hoping he would misinterpret it as sorrow.

“Something is wrong.” Nuada said aggressively.

“No” Nuala said unconvincingly.

“Sister you know your heart is not a mystery to me. I felt your grief.” Nuada said more tenderly.

“It’s nothing of concern for you brother.” Nuala sighed.

“Everything to do with you concerns me.” He answered.

Nuala turned to walk onto the grass, suggesting Nuada should follow her. A few guards moved to follow them but Nuada spun his weapon once and they got the hint to stay back.

“It’s just that after you left……it was so nice to have you around” Nuala was being vague on purpose. She has hatched a plan on her way down the front walk, a plan she hoped would convince Nuada to stay and give him and Richella a chance to….well whatever.

“You wept over me leaving?” Nuada asked suspiciously. That wasn’t his sisters normal response to being away from him, in fact it was the exact opposite.

He could tell her body was tense, like it usually was around him, but she was trying to give the impression of being relaxed. He thought it probably would have worked for anyone other than him.

“We have been apart for the greater part of our lives. I just wondered what it would be like to have you around, more than just from time to time.” Nuala pouted her lips and wrinkled her forehead.

“And I find myself asking again, you wept over me leaving?” Nuada pushed.

“STAY!!!” Nuala yelled out.

Nuada felt like he had been hit by three tons of feathers. The wind was knocked right out of him and he coughed to get the fuzzy feeling out of his lungs.

“You could work with the BPRD. Richella is doing great work to get more rights for our kind, you would work with her.” Nuala ventured.

Nuada peered at his sister. He knew when she was up to something but Richella’s name suddenly put the air back into his lungs. He immediately cursed the effect she had on him. He wanted to run away from here with every bit of speed his muscles could muster but he stayed firmly on the ground.

“I have an assembly in a few days, I can stay till then” Nuada said flatly.

“Oh!!!” Nuala yipped

“On one condition.” Nuada continued.

“Anything brother ANYTHING” Nuala didn’t have to fake her excitement, a few days was plenty of time for him and Richella to talk.

“You tell me what this is REALLY about” Nuada sneered.

“I….I don’t…” Nuala swallowed.

“Yeah, I can tell you’re not going to be truthful with me now but I WILL figure it out” Nuada fumed. He pushed passed his sister towards the compound.

Nuala had to keep herself from skipping behind her brother. She was so proud of her match making skills; this was going to be a snap.

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Richella woke up from a deep sleep. The invasion of letting Nuala see so much of her past had worn her out. She could feel the imprint of the sofa on her cheek and the remnants of wetness in her eyes. She sighed and sat up, she was thankful the library was empty.

Now that she was awake the memories and emotions were rattling in her skull. She reached for the bottle of wine on the table but it was dry. With another deep sigh she pushed herself from the sofa and walked to the door.

When she reached for the door handle it opened by another force and Nuala was suddenly in her face.

“Hey you’re awake!!” Nuala grinned.

“yyyyyess” Richella answered. She was confused and concerned about the overly wide grin on her friends face. It was so opposite from the way she was feeling it felt wrong, but Nuala just stood there smiling at Richella.

“You’re creeping me out, and I want to get something to eat” Richella said and tried to push past her friend.

“NO No no….I’ll get you something you relax…HERE” Nuala pushed Richella back into the room and shut the door behind her.

Richella thought she heard a lock click but she was too strung out to worry about it. She sat back down on the sofa and ran her fingers through her hair. This was going to be the worst week ever. Now that Nuala knew her past it was going to be awkward, heck she was already acting weird. Did Nuala think she was too much of a hazard to get her own food? Ugh she should have kept her in the dark.

Her skin was crawling just sitting and waiting. She tried reading a book next to the sofa, but after reading the same line 5 times she gave up. She decided to go help Nuala gather some snacks. Although when she got to the door the handle wouldn’t turn. She tried a few times rattling the knob in its casing.

“What the…” Richella said softly.

Then the lock clicked and the door swung open and Nuala stumbled in with a tray of food and a bag hanging from her arm.

“I didn’t know what you wanted so I brought…” Nuala started.

“The pantry?” Richella interrupted and helped Nuala steady the tray.

Nuala sat the assortment on the table and began spreading it out in front of her.

“The door was locked.” Richella said calmly.

“What!?” Nuala asked in a high pitched airy tone.

“I can tell by the tone of your voice you knew about it” Richella glared.

Nuala tried to find some words. She needed Richella to stay here till her brother was settled into the room down the hall from Richella’s. As she searched for a good excuse she heard a quick intake of air and a slow sobbing.

“You think I’m dangerous! Don’t you?!!!” Richella screamed through the sobs.

Nuala was pushed back a few more notches, she had no clue where her words had gone but she needed some soon to calm down her friend.

“I don’t tell people these things for exactly this reason! So they don’t feel like they need to watch me. You know how hard it is to be normal with men throwing themselves at you. To have to keep reminding your self that they don’t SEE YOU they just…..HAVE TO!!!” Richella’s eyes had dried up and she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Nuala couldn’t think of words but she could comfort her friend. She wrapped her arms around her friend and sat her on the couch. She smoothed her hair out and rocked her back and forth till her words came back to her.

“Ella I don’t think you’re dangerous” Nuala said softly.

“Then why did you lock me in here!?” Richella sobbed.

“My brother is here.” Nuala sighed heavily.

Richella shot up and out of Nuala’s arms so fast the separation hurt her arms.

“WHAT?!” Richella gasped

“He’s just staying for a little while. To…um…see me” Nuala explained.

“Are you insane!!!? You saw what happened!! I can’t let him...you…I just can’t” Richella paced.

She thought Nuala had truly lost her mind. She could see how Nuala could act so nonchalant about the One True Love curse before she knew the extent of it, but not now. Nuala saw what happened to the men Richella had fallen in love with; she felt the love that had been shared and then the pain after they…died. How could she doom her brother and herself to such a fate?

Richella paced the room more, filtering out the pleas Nuala was no doubt firing off. She cursed under her breath for letting herself get swept away by Nuada’s good looks. For being so angry that he had left her bed afterwards. If she had remembered herself she would have done what she always did, pretended she was unaffected and didn’t care what he did. Then no one would think she cared about him and he would lose interest like all the others. Why couldn’t she just remember herself? Even now….


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So this has been a rough few months for me. I had my heart broken pretty badly by a guy I was never really involved with and I couldn’t bring myself to even think about relationships let alone write about them. But I have been having some pretty vivid dreams lately and I need to get them out of my head some way. So I’m turning to my old therapy of writing. I apologize for keeping you guys hanging for so long and apologies in advance if I find this hurts too much to continue.