Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 3 (19 page)

He is not
here
; Aradia thought to herself,
he is not here. He did not come. But why? Why
didn't he come? He knew this would be the night where I would make
my choice for my consort. Why wouldn't he come? Is it because he
didn't want to or is it because he doesn't want me!

She tried hard to restrain
her sobs as she dwelled on that last thought. Temporarily calming
herself, Aradia argued with her subconscious that he was probably
on his way, and so she decided to wait for him. She quickly found a
chair and table all for herself that was out of the way of the
crowd. She then sat down and waited. She waited, and waited. The
hours ticked away and although boys approached and asked to her
dance, Aradia refused them all. She also tried hard to fight back
the urge to run to the bathroom crying.

"Whatever is the matter Rai
of sunshine?" a familiar voice asked her from behind her as he held
out a white handkerchief for her to use.

Aradia's head shot up, not
daring to believe it was really him.

"Dax, is that really you?"
Aradia asked.

Dax laughed and said, "Well
it sure as hell not the bloody king of England."

Aradia laughed, and stood
up.

She was still mad at him, he
was very late and a part of her wanted to be cold to him for the
rest of the night, but she decided that it did not really matter
because he was here now.

Still she could not help but
ask, "Why were you so late?"

Dax shrugged and said, "My
tux was at the dry cleaners. It took a while to get it and put it
on."

Aradia laughed
again.

For a while, the two of them
stood facing each other in silence.

Until finally, Dax remarked,
"So tonight is the night huh?"

Aradia nodded
nervously.

Dax sighed and began
awkwardly, "So..."

Aradia interrupted and said,
"Dax no matter what happens I just need to know one
thing."

"What is that?" Dax
asked.

"Can I trust you?" Aradia
asked.

Dax, at bit taken back at
first, nevertheless looked at Aradia straight in the eye and said,
"Of course you can love."

"I mean really trust you
about everything. You will always be honest with me and never lie
to me?" Aradia pressed.

Dax paused before saying,
"Yes. Of course."

Aradia nodded and said,
"Good! I just needed to know."

Dax said nothing and
smiled.

His bliss only lasted for a
few minutes before he sighed.

He then looked back to the
expectant hidden crowd and said "You ready?"

"Not really, but I am going
to do it anyway," Aradia said with a smile.

Dax laughed, stood aside,
and then whispered in her ear. "Go do your thing Aradia the first
Witch Queen."

Aradia laughed aloud before
she continued on her way.

The first boy she approached
was Jayce who was dancing with a petite yet curvy blonde who Aradia
rightfully presumed was his girlfriend Crystal.

"This will only take a
second," Aradia assured Crystal after she had tapped on Jayce's
shoulder.

Crystal shot her a dirty
look, but still let Jayce be led away.

However, Aradia only led him
away a few feet before whispering in his ear. "For what's it worth
I hope you both end up happy whether it's together or not. I hope
you and Crystal both end up living happily ever after."

She then gave him a quick
hug before walking on.

Jayce, at first, looked
puzzled as he stared after Aradia. It was when he looked back at
Crystal when her words settled in.

This was when he nodded
slowly with understanding and called out after her. "Hey
Rai!"

Aradia turned back to look
at Jayce who just feebly shrugged before asking, "We still friends
right?"

Aradia laughed before
saying, "Definitely. We are definitely just friends
Jay."

He smiled before his facial
expression melted into an awkward one, and then changed to one of
him laughing.

Crystal, however, did not
look amused as she walked to Jayce and asked, "What was that
about?"

"Nothing honey," he said as
he took her back in his arms. "Nothing at all."

The next guy whose shoulder
she tapped was Lamont whom she found dancing with two
girls.

"Course," she
muttered.

Lamont turned to look at
her, and tried to untangle himself from the girls.

"Hey Rai what's up?" said
Lamont.

"I just wanted to let you
know something really important," said Aradia.

Lamont's eyes lit
up.

"And that is," Aradia began
teasingly, "Hanging out with you was truly the most fun I have ever
had. I also want to let you know as long as you are okay with it; I
am always going to be your friend."

Lamont's mouth dropped
open.

"Look Lamont," Aradia said
losing her teasing tone and becoming more serious. "I do like you
and I do think me being the last witch was only half the reason why
you were into me. But either way it doesn't matter because you and
I both know you are not ready to settle down."

Lamont started to protest,
but one long serious look from Aradia forced him to agree
reluctantly with her reasoning.

"Still," he argued, "If I
was serious about settling down do you think..."

"Maybe," Aradia interrupted,
"But you are not right now but hey one day you will be and if I am
single at the time give me a call!"

Lamont laughed, and hugged
Aradia.

"You are so awesome you know
that right?" Lamont whispered in her ear.

"Totally!" Aradia whispered
back while giggling.

Finally, there was Tristan
who stood smiling and looking confident as ever in his tuxedo.
Everyone held his or her breath as she approached him, and soon the
air became thick with tension as Aradia came closer. Soon she was
only two feet away from his smiling face.

Her countenance did not
change though at least until she leaned in closer to him, and
whispered, "Not even in my nightmares Tristan."

His mouth dropped open as
Aradia smiled, and started to move past him. Quick as a flash
Tristan's hand shot out, and grabbed her arm.

"Don't be stupid Rai," He
muttered angrily in her ear, "A lot of women would kill for a
chance to be with me."

"Good then you will have no
trouble getting over me," Aradia quipped as she quickly tried to
move away.

His hand still gripped her
arm. "Don't you do this! No one does this to me! If you really go
through with this, and humiliate me in front of everyone I can
promise you the punishment will be most severe!"

"Yes well," Aradia quipped
yet again. "That's a risk I am more than willing to
take."

She finally wrenched her arm
away from Tristan's grasp, and quickly moved away from him leaving
Tristan to gaze after in silence.

Roy was dressed in a
traditional tuxedo but with a new haircut, clean-shaven face, and
he looked even more handsome than he usually did. He was busy
dipping marshmallows into the chocolate fountain when Aradia found
him. At first when he turned, and discovered her standing there, he
was thrilled.

"I knew it!" He began to
say, "I knew you would choose me! I knew..." but he trailed away as
Aradia continued to stare at him.

His then once happy face
changed to that of a look of disappointment.

Quickly he tried to say,
"But Rai-Rai we would be so good together. We could make it work. I
love you."

"No you don't," Aradia
interrupted flatly causing Roy's mouth to drop open in surprise.
"You don't love me. You like me I know that you do, but the thing
is Roy the feelings you have for me it isn't love but most of all I
don't love you. I wish I could because you are such a sweet guy but
although there's a lot of things I can control I cannot control my
heart."

Roy was silent after
Aradia's speech until all he could say was, "But why? Why don't you
love me?"

Aradia sighed before
explaining. "Roy, surely you feel it as well as I do. Our love
would be like a fire. Fire burns brightly and beautifully, but only
for a while. Eventually it dies out, and leaves many destroyed
things in its path. I do not want us to end up like that Roy. I
don't want to end up hurting you."

Roy tried to protest one
last time. "But you wouldn't. It wouldn't be like that."

"Yes it would Roy. Trust me
on this," Aradia said taking hold of his face. "Roy I have never
lied to you once so I wouldn't lie to you now. So please trust me
on this, but most of all trust that I could never hurt you and
being with you and thinking about someone else that would
definitely be hurting you."

To this, Roy had nothing to
say, but Aradia did. "And trust me when I say I wouldn't be giving
you up if I didn't know I was losing you to someone who deserves
you more."

Roy looked confused, but
Aradia just turned and nodded in the direction where an African
American girl with long black braids stood looking at them
both.

"But she doesn't want me,"
Roy began.

Aradia shook her head. "No
Roy believe me she does want you and I know you want
her."

"But you don't," Roy argued
pouting.

"Because I don't deserve
you," Aradia argued before nodding once more in Melina's direction.
"But she does."

Not wanting to argue
further, Aradia hugged Roy, and then moved on until she came
straight to Dax.

"Like you didn't see that
one coming from a million miles away," Titania muttered before
claiming Tristan as her own and walking to the dance
floor.

The other hiddens seemed to
agree since they all now shuffled away and back to their dancing or
mingling positions. Aradia, however, just stood in front of Dax and
stared at him.

The two of them said nothing
until finally Dax asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Aradia shook her head and
said, "Not really. But at this point I don't care because the fact
is this Dax I love you and I want to be with you."

Dax just stared at her
shocked.

Aradia shifted uncomfortably
on her feet before hastily adding, "That is of course if you want
to be with me if you don't I'll understand really I
would."

"No one has ever said that
to me before," Dax whispered softly.

"What?" said
Aradia.

"Those words 'I love you' no
one has ever said that to me before," Dax spoke now more boldly,
"No one except my mum of course."

Aradia smiled.

Yet another awkward silence
passed between them where they just stared at each other just like
in the days where they had first met, completely entranced.
Suddenly, the DJ stop playing music and everyone turned to look at
him extremely curious. Sweating unstoppably, the DJ announced that
the prom was almost over, but as an extra treat and good send off
to the prom-goers, they were going to have a live performance.
Nobody said anything and so the DJ continued by announcing the act
as none other than Melina and Roy! Melina who was dressed up in a
dark blue clinging dress with her long black braids woven with
white rhinestones that made her look more like a sexy lounge singer
and caused a few guys in the crowd to whistle. The only guy Melina
noticed, however, was Roy who she looked at longingly.
Unfortunately, he did not return the gaze. They continued with the
act though, and began to sing Could I Have This Kiss Forever by
Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias. They sang the lyrics that
were in Spanish and English with perfect pronunciation. It was as
the song went on and Melina began to impress everyone with her
amazing voice that Roy finally started to stare at her with the
once familiar affection returning to his eyes.

Aradia did not notice though
she and Dax drew closer and started to circle one another. Slowly,
Dax took Aradia's hand and drew her into his arms. As Melina and
Roy sang they stared into each other's eyes, and Dax drew Aradia
even more closely.

Once he let, her head rest
upon on his shoulder he said, "You know Aradia there is no
guarantee that this will turn out right and that I will make you
happy."

Especially after I tell you
what I need to tell you, he thought trying to hide his grim
expression.

"I know there is no
guarantee Dax," Aradia murmured, "But there are certainties such as
knowing who I am in love with and I know I am in love with
you."

"And I know I am in love
with you," Dax whispered as he pressed his lips to her hair and
then lifted her chin to make her look him in the eye. "I love you
so much Aradia Preston my love, my life, my queen. I love you so
very much."