Starlight (Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen

Ro smiled as Grams brushed the tangles out of her hair. She loved the way it calmed her and how gently her grandmother ran the comb through her curly locks. She was getting ready to go to bed. Ro was scared of the dark as a child. Her grandmother would always brush her hair before bed to help her to relax. Ro's butterfly nightlight was on, but it never really made her feel better. Grams had just finished and Ro turned to face her. Grams looked at her like a stranger.

"Grams?" Ro said to her.

"Who are you, honey?"

Ro could feel the room spinning, "Grams it's me. It's Ro."

"Ro?"

Ro stared at her grandmother as she began to fade in front of her. Ro reached out her tiny hands to try to grab at her, but her grandmother had turned into a mist and she was gone. Ro shouted and cried and looked around the room frantically. Grams was gone and she had forgotten her. She began to cry frantically as her biggest fear became a reality in front of her eyes. Grams couldn't be gone. She couldn't be.

Ro awoke with a jolt. She was breathing heavily and it took her a moment to get her wits about her. She brought her hand up to her forehead. She was burning up. She looked over at the other side of the hollow. Arik was gone and daylight was filling the tree. Ro stood up quickly. Arik had said that they were going to leave before daybreak. Where was he? Had he left her? Ro noticed the saddle bag that Arik had left behind. No. He wouldn't have left his weapons and the medicine.

Ro walked out of the hollow. The sun hadn't been up long. It was still early in the day. Ro could hear birdsongs and see the sun shining down on the morning dew. It was pretty, but she wasn't going to allow it to distract her. Just as Ro turned to grab the saddle bag out of the hollow so she could leave to search for Arik she heard the sound of running horses. She looked towards the sound and saw Arik riding on the stallion with the mare following close behind them.

Arik pulled back the reins of the stallion and the horses came to a halt in front of Ro, "What is wrong? Why did you scream?" Arik began to look around the area.

Scream? Ro was confused at first, but then she understood what had happened. Ro looked down at the ground embarrassed, "I had a nightmare." As Ro looked back up at Arik, she could see a wave of relief flow over him. "Where were you? I thought that we would have left by now?"

Ro noticed Arik's damp hair. It wasn't pull back in a knot the way that he usually wore it. It hung down past his shoulders and even though it was wet Ro could see golden highlights that weaved through it. The same color as Gala's hair. Ro's attention was taken away from Arik's hair as he spoke.

"There is a hot spring not far from here. Come." He reached his hand down for her to grab. "You may freshen yourself."

Arik hadn't answered her question, but Ro didn't care. As soon as he mentioned the hot water all she wanted was to step into it. Ro placed her hand in Arik's and he hoisted her up to sit across his lap. He kicked the stallion slightly and turned him back towards the direction that he came from. Ro thought that it was odd that he kept her in his lap. He normally helped her onto the mare's back. Ro's body was tense as she rode on the Halfling's horse. She looked up at him slightly to question his actions, but once she saw the seriousness in his eyes she looked away.

When they reached the spring Ro slide off of the stallion and stared at the water. She could see the steam floating around it and it made her body break out in goosebumps just thinking about how wonderful it would feel. Arik didn't dismount, but instead told Ro to hurry and wash herself while he finished saddling up the stallion back at the tree hollow. Ro met his request as soon as he trotted away from her.