Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)
Chapter Forty-Four

The weeks of travel flew by faster than any other. It was nice to finally not be on the brink of death fighting away Nyra’s presence. They were stocked with food and water, still had half of their supplies unused by the time they reached Lefernen. Tatianna thought the Elven city would be like Avalla in the sense that the buildings would be huge, and the streets packed but it wasn’t. Lefernen seemed just like a larger version of Sylfin. The houses were moderately sized, each one encompassing nature into its design. There were a few more people, but not enough to make anyone feel claustrophobic.

She looked over towards Freya who had a smile on her face. Even Riley managed a grin when staring at the city.

“We made it,” Freya rejoiced. Yes, Tatianna thought, they had, but not all of them. She touched the necklace on her neck. A reminder of what was missing.

Tatianna got off Ida, placing her feet firmly to the ground. “Is there anywhere we can put the horses?” she inquired.

“Yes, there is an Inn at the heart of the city,” Kayter said. “I will lead you to it.”

Every person they passed looked on with curiosity at the humans being escorted through the city. Some lingering their gazes on Tatianna’s eyes then hurrying away. Some things never change, Elves or humans they all feared her eyes. Feared her without a single conversation. They all kept a distance from the travelling party. Tatianna felt Nylif rub against her leg, fiercely looking at every stranger as if telling her the wolf had her back.

Every house was littered with flowers and every person wore thin clothes fitted for the summer’s heat. It was hotter here than anywhere else she had been, even the wind was warm. The thought of dunking her head into cold water had never been more appealing to her.

She started to smell the pungency of slat the further into the city they got. “Is the ocean nearby?” she asked.

“It’s not particularly close. A day’s ride,” Kayter replied.

“So that you can answer,” she rolled her eyes in annoyance. He didn’t respond to her frustration and they entered the Inn. It wasn’t like the other place she stayed at which helped in repressing the memories. There was no bar filled with alcohol, no men and women lurking around in the shadows. It felt alive. Alive…she remembered her last stay at an Inn. The intimate moment she shared with…she sighed and continued her pace.

Kayter led them towards a few rooms after conversing with one of the Elves that she presumed was the owner of the small Inn. She tried to listen to the conversation but she couldn’t understand what he was saying, despite hearing every word. “What language was that?” she asked on Kayter’s return.

“Nature’s language, also known as Elvish,” he answered, “I have gotten three separate rooms. You guys deserve a nice bed and a long rest. It will help with the injuries as well.”

“I am tired of hopping around with these things,” Freya complained referencing her crutches that supported her weight.

Tatianna could imagine how frustrated she would be having to walk around with such objects, another reason she was glad to be an Elf. Even if there was such a great cost to it. She walked into her room and looked at the large bed in the center. She collapsed on it, closed her eyes yet sleep never came. Being without her blue blanket hurt at first, but she got used to it. Being without him…she knew it would take longer to adjust. She hadn’t slept properly in weeks, evident by the dark marks beneath her eyes. She stared at the ceiling and started counting up. 1, 2, 3…10…15…it was no use. She rolled over on her side and tried to keep her mind from drifting off to other thoughts.

A moment to herself was not what she craved. She needed distractions she need anything to pull her out of her mind. For the mind was a pile of cobwebs, once she fell in she wouldn’t be able to get back out.

After over an hour of tossing in turning she decided to get off her bed and let Nylif sleep in peace, her movements had constantly woke Nylif and the wolf wasn’t all that happy about it. She knocked against the wooden door of the room next door to her own. A few seconds passed then the door swung open, revealing Freya’s frost blue eyes that stared at her in surprise. “Yes?” Freya asked confused about why she was knocking.

“Are you doing anything?” She asked not wanting to explain to Freya how she didn’t want to be alone.

“Well I was sleeping, but I guess I’m awake now so if you want to do something that’s fine,” Freya said not even annoyed at her. “Oh, we could go shopping! Are there any shops around here…there has to be right? What kind of money would they take?” Freya thought out loud.

Tatianna’s mind drifted back to Faithorn when Freya dragged her around from store to store. “Please, no shopping. But we can walk around and explore the place.”

“If you insist. Although I warn you, if I see something cute I’m going to replace a way to buy it.”

“Ok,” she agreed. The two left the Inn and this time she ignored all the questioning looks thrown her way. Today she was going to have a normal outing with her friend. She wasn’t going to worry about anything else, think of anything else.

Freya hobbled beside her occasionally cursing at her broken leg in an oddly polite manner. Tatianna kept looking over towards Freya’s struggles. No matter how many water fountains or Elven magic that was showcased around her, she kept looking at Freya’s leg. With each look came the pain. Had she not been so infatuated with him maybe she would have seen the attack coming. Could have prevented Freya’s injury, his…death.

“Do you have a fetish for broken legs or something? If you don’t stop staring I might think you are into me, and in no way do I want to catch feelings again,” Freya said, calling her out on her constant glances.

“Sorry, it’s just… I am so sorry. For the leg, for the starvation-,”

“You need to stop blaming yourself,” Freya interrupted her, taking her by complete surprise.

“I can’t help it,” she replied. “I came into your life. I accepted your invitation and now look where that’s gotten you.”

“It may suck at times but you are the first real friend I’ve had,” Freya paused, “I’ve done things…that I didn’t think I was capable of doing. I ate raw meat, I was willing to stand by and watch you torture someone. I am glad we never ran into the Hunt again so I didn’t have to, but I was willing to do it. In following you I have realised I am not who I thought I was.”

“And that’s a good thing?” she inquired.

“Yes, because knowledge is always useful however displeasing.”

“I wish I had more knowledge on everything. I am tired of not knowing,” she finally exasperated a fragment of her emotions to Freya. She hadn’t realised it, until now. She trusted Freya, she trusted Riley and it felt good to do so. It filled in the void within her instead of expanding it.

“Maybe someday one of these Elves will slip up and tell us what’s going on. We will discover who the Lady of the Night is and what’s going on with the Hunt and the Dark Lands. But today is not that day. Today we go try and buy that dress over there because it would go great with my skin tone and hair colour,” Freya replied.

“Ok,” Tatianna agreed and followed the girl, no longer paying attention to the sound of Freya’s crutches hitting the floor with every step.

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Tatianna laid down on her bed feeling more at peace after the day’s adventure. Nylif was overjoyed to see her again, licking her face than sitting on top of her body. She was pinned down to the bed from the wolf’s weight but she did not mind.

A knock against the door caused Nylif to spring off of her body, staring warily at the wooden frame. She got up off the bed and answered, keeping her left hand firmly on the hilt of her dagger. Kayter’s brown hair was the first thing she saw when the door opened. “I’ve just been speaking to the guards at the palace. The Queen is ready to meet with you,” he announced.

“Like right now?” she asked.

“Yes, so get cleaned up and meet me outside in ten minutes.” Kayter looked towards Nylif. “And leave the wolf here,” he added. She glanced into Nylif’s amber eyes, not wanting to leave her alone. Tatianna knew that this meeting was important, she couldn’t turn it down because of her desire to stay with the wolf.

Tatianna scanned over her attire. She had yet to change since that moment in the woods ages ago with…him. It was a reminder of their past and changing out of it was tugging at her heart, but she did it anyway. She grabbed the dress Freya had forced her to buy that day, then for the final touches strapped on her dagger and threw on her black cloak. Before leaving she let Freya know that she where she was going, the tired girl had waved her off saying that she needed her beauty sleep.

“Are you ready,” Kayter asked as Tatianna excited the Inn.

She nodded her head, “as ready as I can be.”

“Then let’s go meet the Queen.”