Starting Life From Zero: Far From Home

Chapter Forty

Roswaal had disappeared on business some time ago and Emilia could barely bring herself to sleep through the night. There were times that she took to pacing the halls of the Mathers Manor with the stillness of night as her only companion.

She had let them go. She had let them just volunteer to fight in her stead and for her benefit.

The thing that they had been asked to assist with was truly for a good cause and would be to the benefit of everyone in the whole land, not even just Lugnica. But she couldn't dismiss the feeling that it was something too dangerous for even then.

The White Whale was a four hundred year old beast that had toppled untold efforts to bring it down. While she had every shred of trust that she could in Peter, Steve, and Rem this was more than they had ever faced here.

Worse still she hadn't been able to go with them. If she could have helped then it would at least have meant that they had her ice blossom to fall back on. If it would even work in this case.

With her eyes falling shut again Emilia remembered a distant time and casting her ice blossom with her little hand outstretched. She couldn't see the figure that was caught within it but she could see their blood seep up into the center of the ice turning it red.

There was a knock at the door and she opened her eyes, lifting her head from the pillow. On the one night that she had decided to try and actually stay in her room and get some rest someone had come to her door.

Though there was the possibility that it was news of Peter and the others. Maybe she had been wrong and they had defeated the White Whale already?

"Just a minute." Emilia's voice was slightly raspy from lack of use. She had hardly been able to stay awake for most of her time and it seemed her mood had even messed with Puck, he was coming slower when she summoned him and disappearing earlier.

"There is a matter we need to discuss," Ram's voice said through the door.

Emilia hurried out of the bed and made her way across the to the door. Her bare feet making a soft padded sound against the carpet. She threw the door open to reveal Ram in her nightgown with a lantern clutched in her hand, though the it was lit there was a shield down to dampen most of the light.

"What is it?" Asked Emilia.

"A rider came from the town a bit ago, Miss Beatrice noticed it and alerted me...by stepping out of my closet door. He left this," Ram handed her a note scrawled out on a damp piece of parchment.

"We're being watched," Emilia read the note in a whisper.

"That's not all. I made my way through the house in an effort to make sure everything was secure. The stables had a pair of Ground Dragons and a carriage, but the Ground Dragons are gone."

"The stable door was closed when we had dinner," Emilia said. "I took a walk after—I think I even heard them inside." It was then that Emilia noticed that clutched beside the lantern in Ram's hand was her wand.

"I would think it best if you and I stick together, perhaps we could make our way to the library just to be safe," Ram said.

"What about the villagers?" Emilia said.

"Hm?"

"Well, I just mean—if someone removed our mode of travel from the manor but made no effort to get inside it seems to me that they might actually be trying to keep us from getting anywhere. Like the village," said Emilia.

Ram thought for a moment. "That does make sense."

Emilia glanced back over her shoulder toward the tree-line that made up the forest. Over the last few weeks she had taken several walks into town, though they were never meant to be something that was done in a rush she could guess how long it would take her to get to town if she used her ice slide trick.