Probing Dreams

Aylin trotted along the corridor until she reached her destination. Now standing in front of Andromeda's door, she knocked on it.

"Come In!" Andromeda's voice rang out from behind the door, and Aylin opened the door and stepped in. Immediately, her eyes caught Andromeda sitting on one of the armchairs in front of the hearth, reading a book.

The sound of the door opening drew Andromeda's attention away from her book and she looked up at Aylin, a smile lighting up her face.

"Aylin! You are here," She set the book aside, and motioned for Aylin to come over.

Aylin quietly closes the door and made her way to Andromeda. "You called for me," she said and Andromeda nodded.

"Indeed I did. Sit down beside me," Andromeda gestured for Aylin to take a seat opposite her.

Aylin sat down in the chair and glanced around. Andromeda had a lot of books. There were arranged neatly on the shelves.

"You must be wondering why I called for you. I called you here because there's something I need to tell you." She said and Aylin nodded, urging her to continue.

"We've found out that there's a lot of black witches who practice forbidden magic in Arcelia so we are going to start looking from there."

Aylin's brows furrowed together. So fast? She would have never thought that Andromeda would have started looking for the black witches.

"What are you thinking about?" Andromeda tilted her head.

Aylin hesitated, "I never thought you would have started looking for —"

"Why won't I? You have been upholding your part of the deal, it's only normal that I do my part." Andromeda replied as shrugged her shoulders.

"I have...?" Aylin asked skeptically.

"Hmm, you and Kian have met a couple of times and I'm sure that you exchanged words right? Well, that's a start. I'm happy," Andromeda answered with a smile.

Yeah, we did exchange words, though I doubt that those words improved our relationship in any significant way. Aylin thought to herself.

"I see..." Aylin trailed off. She turned her head to see Selena walk into the room holding a tray with two tea cups. She stepped forward and placed the tray on the table before giving a bow and walking away.

"I know you must be tired so I asked Selena to brew some calming tea," Andromeda said and smiled as Aylin thanked her.

Aylin picked up a teacup and took a sip of the tea, enjoying its taste. A warm feeling spread through her body. She felt relaxed and comforted instantly.

"So, tell me about yourself. I realized that I don't know much about you," Andromeda said after setting the cup down.

As soon as Aylin heard what Andromeda said, her hold on the teacup tightened. She wasn't used to telling people herself. No! She hated talking about it. She hated the emotion called pity people would give her, she didn't want it but not everyone was the same. Besides, she didn't have any choice because Andromeda had a right to know everything about her.

Aylin set the teacup on her lap and looked down at it, "Yes, you are right, you don't know much about me." She paused and shrugged before continuing, "There's not much; I'm an orphan, grew up in an orphanage, no family members or close friends. The only person I took as family died when I was twenty years old." She finished and looked up at Andromeda who stared at her intently.

Why was she staring at her like that? Aylin wondered.

She couldn't tell what Andromeda was feeling right now because her eyes showed nothing.

Andromeda traced her thumb over the edge of the teacup she held, "That is..."

"Lonely?" Aylin asked and sighed before continuing, "I wouldn't say lonely, I would like to believe that my life is relatively simple but at least I have a job I love and my cat who keeps me company."

Andromeda smiled and nodded while Aylin raised one of her eyebrows and questioned, "That's it? Won't you ask about my parents or why I don't have close friends?"

"No. I think I have asked enough." She shook her head and took Aylin's hand in hers. "You know..." she trailed off and shook her head again. "Forget it. Just drink the tea before it gets cold."

Aylin stared at Andromeda for some time before finally nodding, "Okay," She said and sipped the rest of the tea, enjoying how cool and refreshing it was.

"So, how was your tour around the market? I hope there were no mishaps?" Andromeda asked as she raised her brows, a small smile lingering on her lips.

Aylin paused, "No, there were no mishaps. In fact, it was interesting." she stated, remembering how Rhea insulted Cora and how she called Trevor cute.

Unknowingly to Aylin, a smile bloomed on her face as she remembered the day's events, and Andromeda noticed.

"It must have been very interesting."

"Hmm," Aylin hummed and continued to drink her tea.

"Aylin," Andromeda called, her serious tone making Aylin snap her head towards her.

"Yes?" Aylin answered.

"I know I told you to be careful of Rhea and I know that you must be wondering why I said that because Rhea hasn't done anything bad or hurt anyone. But I must make it known to you that I have my reasons for telling you to steer clear of her." She paused, "You see... Rhea kind of attracts trouble wherever she goes and I don't want you to get in any type of trouble. However, I see that she has changed a bit but just be careful and can you please try to make her not cause problems or do anything stupid?" Andromeda asked with a cute smile and Aylin nodded.

"I will try," was the only thing she could utter since she was also a magnet for trouble.

...

Aylin sighed one more time as she thought of what Andromeda said, about upholding her end of the deal.

Seriously, she didn't understand how the woman knew they met last night but then Aylin remembered her saying that she knew everything that goes on in the mansion. Which means Andromeda was watching her.

Pushing the door open, she found Dahlia arranging her clothes, shoes, and jewelry in the wardrobe.

Right. After The duke and Trevor left, Rhea dragged her to another jewelry store and then a shoe shop.

"My Lady! You are back," Dahlia said with a smile.

"Mhm," Aylin nodded, went over to the bed, and threw herself on it.

It was comfortable as always.

She loved this room. It was big and the decoration was tasteful. And most importantly, there was a balcony where one could relax on sunny days.

As she stared at the top of the bed, the incident at the Jewelry store came to her mind.

Shape-shifters; creatures that can take the shape of any human or animal. Aylin wondered what other creature she would get to see while staying here. She had only seen a witch who seemed nice but if a black witch was the opposite of a white witch, Aylin probably didn't want to meet any.

"How was your outing? Did you have fun?" Dahlia asked curiously, cutting through Aylin's thoughts.

"I wouldn't say I had fun but it was interesting," Aylin replied as she spread her arms wide.

"That's good to know," Dahlia said before turning again, her eyes lighting up as if she remembered something. "Oh! Milady, would you like something to eat?"

"No, thank you, I'm good," Aylin said as she rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in a pillow.

She closed her eyes, tiredness overtaking her as she drifted into a not-so-peaceful slumber.

A dark silhouette stood on the edge of a cliff, her hand reaching out for Aylin, who dangled from the edge. Her hand grasped Aylin's wrist and drew her closer, revealing a pair of dark eyes filled with rage and Aylin felt it, the sensation of being pulled under, engulfed by darkness.

Aylin woke with a gasp. Her breathing quickened and she saw Dahlia standing in front of her.

"Are you alright My Lady?" Dahlia inquired.

Aylin gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

No, she wasn't fine. Her heart was beating like crazy.

Aylin reached out to touch the bracelet that was wrapped around her wrist and tried to relax by taking deep breaths.

She recalled the dark figure she saw and the anger in her eyes.

What exactly was that? Was it a nightmare?