The final chapter

I stared forward in utter disbelief, she looked exactly like me. Long flowing golden hair and light green eyes that held a unique kind of warmth. It was the warmth of a mother and it filled my whole body. Suddenly I remembered being six again and falling asleep under the stars as she'd sing me songs and stroke my hair. I remember sitting beside her and patiently watching her paint, my eyes lighting up in awe at the way the colours mixed. I remembered the mundane things like her braiding my hair and making me breakfast. I didn't realize how much I missed that. She approached me slowly, unsure as to how I'd react. Tears gathered in my eyes as I threw my arms around her and chocked back my sobs. She stroked the back of my hair, tears coming down her own cheeks.

"You've been so brave my little girl, there's nothing more to fear. I will protect you and so will the king. You have the protection of the wolves. All will be solved." She let me go and gently smiled at Isaac behind me before she walked up to join the king. I stared in bewilderment as she took her rightful place beside the king and I realized something

The reason she had never come back was not because she was destroyed by a ruthless world. It was because she shared the same fate as her daughter. The king was her mate. My mother, a forest nymph, was the werewolf queen. Isaac took my hand in his, gently rubbing pattern on the palm of my hand. Even Esme and Finn stared at her in complete and utter shock.

Elder Moe glared at her, his eyes following her in a bitter rage. She smiled brightly at us all before she began to speak.

"I was thirteen when I first left the city of Arden. I had learned so much from the outside world from books and secret conversations. I fell in love with the prospect of freedom and a world much bigger than the one I knew. In Arden, you marry who you are told to. You give birth to as many children as you can and you die a blissful ignorant death. Some may be happy with this, but I was not. My spirit was not born to die in such a way. I was born with the desire to see outside the box in which we lived."

Elder moe slammed his fist down on the podium. "We gave you everything."

She smiled then, but it was a sad smile.

"Yes, you gave us everything. Everything but our freedom. Even when I had companionship and food, where the sun shined every day and everyone seemed so cheerful. My soul yearned for more knowledge. So I snuck out of Arden and arrived in the city. I was fourteen. I had enough human money to take a bus into the royal capital which was my goal. I walked the streets and fell in love with the atmosphere. I tried strange foods and saw so much more than the same open fields I'd stared at day after day. Then as I stood at a market stall to buy apples, I felt it. The unyielding gaze against my back. I turned and felt this earthshattering pressure beat down on my body. I was terrified. I didn't realize what the mate bond and even after the king was so kind and patient, I was so scared and overwhelmed that I ran. I took the bus back to the village and ran back through the trees. The elders however, had noticed I was gone."

Her eyes went cold as she spoke. "I was locked in a holding cell for three weeks, endlessly interrogated and denied of my human rights. I was fed once a day and given the minimum to survive. My act of recklessness had scared the elders and I paid for it. After weeks of crying and begging for my release, I told them nobody had seen me and that I had only walked around for a few hours. Satisfied with my answer, they finally released me. I was watched 24/7 for the next six years. I was not allowed to attend festivals or gatherings for the first two. I was denied any privacy and all my jobs were stripped off of me. I had no goal, no motivation. Nothing. I was to be married to Aurora's father and eventually, I grew to love him. I pretended to lose interest in the outside world and after years had passed and I was expecting a baby, the elders finally relented and my life went back to the way it was before. But I stumbled across a book explaining the mate bond when Aurora was six. I immediately knew that's what I had experienced. When I read that my mate would die within the first few years of meeting their mates if they are apart, I was devastated. I loved my husband but I couldn't bear the thought of killing someone who was supposed to be my soulmate. I left Arden with the intention of returning. I wanted to find a way to break the bond if my mate was still alive. Six years after meeting, I finally met him again. " her eyes found mine, glazed over with unshed tears.

"I didn't understand the gravity of the mate bond. I fell in love and realized if I returned to Arden, there was a chance I might never leave again. I.. I was selfish and I stayed. What I did was the hardest thing I ever had to. I left my husband with the child and I somehow managed to get a note to him, explaining my situation. I asked him if he'd ever consider leaving Arden so that, even if we were apart, we could still act as a family for Aurora. He wrote me back declaring that I was dead to him. I was so devastated over losing my child that I tried to enter Arden one more time and reason with the elders. What didn't realize is that first time I had snuck out when I was fourteen, as penance the elders stripped me of the enchantment cast on nymphs to enter. I could no longer enter my home. I cried for weeks. I thought I'd never see my child again.

But there are things I've realized while being in the outside world. It is not the evil world that the elders convinced us it was. It is one full of love, magic and wonder. The elders are so set in their ways that they can't even consider that the era of war has passed. The species are at peace and hold a council together. We work together to find resolutions to problems. What the elders thought us is wrong. They have no reason for trapping us in their paradise other than fear. Fear of what they don't know.

If nymphs are restrained to Arden, we will never advance as a species. We're denied the right to decide our own fates and our own futures. I cannot stand behind the elders and overlook them stripping the youth of Arden of the right to see the world. There exists so much more than we were led to believe."

"Ridiculous!" Hissed Elder Moe, glaring at my mother and the King.

The king spoke, his voice carrying authority and power. "We will set up a new council in Arden. One that will allow the youth to leave Arden if they wish. I'll leave that council to see up the rules and regulations of the new council. The members have been recommended by my mate and other nymph. I will now list the members of the new council.

Ferrah, Aurora, Alice, Noah, Finn and others in the village.

A loud cheer rang out and I turned in surprise to see the entire new council flood into the room. Ferrah hugged me tightly as Alice ran up to Finn and hugged her son. Elder Moe stared in shock as the world he had known for so long started to unravel.

The king spoke again.

"The nymphs have the protection of the wolves. It is up to you whether you would like to formally address your existence or not. The new council will run things differently. There will be no more oppression. You are all free."

Freedom

After all this, I had finally managed to attain it. A bird could only see if its trapped from within its cage. I had left the cage and gotten my freedom. It was addicting. And now, It was the start of a new era for the nymphs and for Arden. An era of freedom and knowledge.

-\--\-\

Later that evening, as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed something odd. The day I had ran from the village and into that little bookshop. I had spoken to an older women and hadn't even realized that I had taken the travel book all the way home with me. It had been clutched in my hands then, as I stared at all the different places in the world. I had spent hours that day getting lost in the pages of different cultures, languages and societies. I fell in love with Paris. The pages were creased by the amount of times I had run my hands over them. I longed to see the Eiffel tower at night, or walk the champs Elysees. I longed to taste the baked delicacies and see the Notre Dame. Now the book lay open on my bed, with two plane tickets heading to Paris tomorrow night. There was a hand written note lying beside it.

To my little nymph. You are a wanderer, a spirit who longs to see the world. I hope to explore every inch of it with you.

Isaac.

Then and there, I started crying.

Darkness fell over the city as I walk along the Seine with Isaac. Behind me, a woman whistled outside of her café as she swept the floors. She smiled at us as we passed, her brown eyes glinting in the dim light cast down by the moon. I smelt the sweet scent of rose perfume and handmade crepes and breathed it in. It was something I'd never get bored of. I had seen the Notre Dame in all its glory and spent hours wandering the streets of Paris, getting lost in the city and the people. I watched everyone who passed me with awe and wonder.

I saw the Eiffel Towel up ahead. I held my breath as I watched the lights glimmer in the dark. We walked the streets, without any traffic. I reached out to touch the cool steel and felt it beneath my fingertips. Slowly, we headed for the stairs. I wanted to take the stairs tonight. All I heard is the clang of my red heels on the metal stairs echoing. Finally, I arrived at the top. The entire city of Paris stretched out around me. I watched the lights of the city with wide eyes. Everything in my heart and soul felt complete. I'm mesmerized, lost in the view of the city. Lost in the moment.

Isaac coughs. There is nobody else here.

I turned slowly, to see him mere inches away. He captures my lips with his without hesitation. I relish in it, trying to capture this moment, this memory. He smells like pine and cigarettes. I'm left breathless at the end as he pulls away, staring in my eyes.

He kneels down and pulls a box from his pocket. I see the glint of a diamond as a ghost of a smile works its way onto his face.

"Aurora, will you do the honor of marrying me?"

The end.

I hoped you guys enjoyed.

I'm so sorry it took me so long to complete but here it is. Its 4am so your girl is gonna sleep.