Early one morning, Amaranie rushed into the gardens, desperately trying to escape the dream which had awoken her. For once, it had not been one of her cryptic dreams of what could be. Instead, she had dreamed of what she'd seen in the Arches she'd passed through not long ago, a scene from her own past which she'd fought for many years to forget. The Accepted collapsed onto a bench which was shaded by a large tree and surrounded by large bushes. Her eyes were already beginning to water with unshed tears, and she blinked, trying to force them away. Her left arm lay in her lap, and the first finger of her right hand traced up and down the scar that marked the arm, over the white wool of her sleeve. Amaranie sniffled, trying to focus on the beauty of the flowers around her instead of her terrible dreams, but it was no use. She couldn't stop her memories from coming back to her, and the tears in her eyes began to fall. Her mind drifted back to the time the Arches had forced her to relive.
Amaranie stood near the front door of her own home, staring down at the arm she'd injured earlier. It bore no sign of the wound now except a thin scar that could have been there for years. She knew what had happened, no matter how badly she wished she could deny it. Her brother, Keegan, had touched the One Power to help her, and now the Children of the Light had arrived to arrest him. Amaranie knew the law, knew what Keegan had done was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself from asking why that was so. She simply did not believe that her own brother was the evil their own parents claimed he was. When Amaranie opened her mouth to protest that Keegan hadn't hurt her, that he walked in the Light, the Arch had opened, and she'd had no choice but to go through without coming to her brother's defense.
She cried harder as she tried to remind herself that the Arches were not real, that she had spoken up, but she found no comfort in that knowledge. Nothing she'd said had stopped his execution. She didn't want to think about that, but it came back to her anyways, how she'd stood still in the middle of the crowd, eyes squeezed shut while the people around her cheered the death of a Darkfriend. Amaranie's face turned red as she continued to sob, tears dripping down her cheeks and onto the front of her dress. She moved a hand to wipe the tears away, but they continued to flow, and she felt powerless to stop them.
Amaranie stood near the front door of her own home, staring down at the arm she'd injured earlier. It bore no sign of the wound now except a thin scar that could have been there for years. She knew what had happened, no matter how badly she wished she could deny it. Her brother, Keegan, had touched the One Power to help her, and now the Children of the Light had arrived to arrest him. Amaranie knew the law, knew what Keegan had done was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself from asking why that was so. She simply did not believe that her own brother was the evil their own parents claimed he was. When Amaranie opened her mouth to protest that Keegan hadn't hurt her, that he walked in the Light, the Arch had opened, and she'd had no choice but to go through without coming to her brother's defense.
She cried harder as she tried to remind herself that the Arches were not real, that she had spoken up, but she found no comfort in that knowledge. Nothing she'd said had stopped his execution. She didn't want to think about that, but it came back to her anyways, how she'd stood still in the middle of the crowd, eyes squeezed shut while the people around her cheered the death of a Darkfriend. Amaranie's face turned red as she continued to sob, tears dripping down her cheeks and onto the front of her dress. She moved a hand to wipe the tears away, but they continued to flow, and she felt powerless to stop them.