Loving the Shadow

Perla

Perla sighed as the table was silent throughout the meal. She hoped Lyss got the food she asked to be delivered to her room. Her father slammed down his silverware. "Perla. I've moved the wedding up, it's going to be in a week. The duke has paid me more so I can move the wedding to a sooner date. It appears he's very eager to get things settled." Her body went cold. She thought she had more time to come up with a plan. But it seems time has run out. She said nothing and got up. She didn't excuse herself as she left the room. She could hear her father shouting for her as her heels clicked down the hall.

She didn't feel anything, She walked slowly to her room in shock, almost forgetting who was behind her door. 'What can I do? I don't want to marry him.'

A soft meow sounded through the room as Perla entered, shaking her thoughts. "Lyss I have terrible news! My father is moving the wedding up to next week! I have to leave! We have to get out of here!" Perla paced as she spoke urgency growing in her voice as she felt the nerves growing from such a big idea. She looked around her room for things she would need and started to formulate a list in her head.

Soft hands gripped her arms firmly and Lyss' face came into her view; they looked serious and stern. "Okay. What do we need?" Their question let a huge wave of relief wash over Perla; she felt her shoulders drop a little under Lyss' touch.

"Clothes, food, possibly hiking gear?" Perla rambled. Lyss let go of her arms and sighed.

"Where are we going?" They asked more seriously.

"I don't know."

"When are we leaving?"

"I don't know."

"So, there's no place or time?" Perla looked at Lyss desperately; she hadn't thought things through of course they'd need a destination, and a time to leave.

"I just need to get out of here! I don't care where we go! I don't care when we leave, let's just go!" She made her way to her window feeling trapped and alone.

Arms encircled her holding her back. "Breathe princess, think about it, it's more logical to make a plan then go spontaneously." Perla relaxed in the embrace. 'They're right.' She sighed as she slumped in their arms.

"Well it has to be soon."

"It will be."

Perla nodded at them as she moved their arms from around her. She glided over to her partition and slipped into more comfortable clothes. "What are we going to do Lyss? I don't know where we'd go, what we'd pack, when we'll leave!" Perla was nearly in tears

"It's okay, let's take this one step at a time." Lyss reasoned with her. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Now, What do we need to pack?"

"Clothes, food, maybe some books?" Perla asked hopefully she didn't want to just abandon all of her precious books.

"I have an enchanted pouch, we can take whatever we want. As long as it can fit in the bag." Lyss pulled out a satchel, It could fit a regular sized book at least. Perla's spirits rose a little at the possibility of bringing more than she originally thought she could. She spun around and swept over the floor to her bookshelf and started to hand some books to Lyss who shoved them into the pouch as quickly as they could.

Half of her bookcase was gone before they decided to take a break. "Do you really need all of these?" Lyss looked at the rest of the bookshelf in disbelief.

"These are the only things I have here that I truly care about. They have vast knowledge on this world that not many people have. They're extremely valuable." Lyss only stared at her, Perla's shoulders dropped. "We don't have to take all of them..." Lyss shook their head as they walked up to the bookcase and started to grab more books. Perla's stomach fluttered as she watched them, her brows furrowed as she wondered why they were being so nice to her. They finished quickly and the only thing's left were her bookends.

"Is that all of them?" Lyss looked over at Perla beads of sweat formed on their pale skin. Perla wondered if the bag had anything to do with it.

"There's still a couple in the library, but other than those few, yes." Lyss' eyes widened in surprise. Perla almost giggled at them but held back, she cleared her throat and looked away bashfully. Her cheeks felt warm. "Em. I can gather those myself. If it's okay, will you lend that to me?" She held her hand out, She smiled softly as Lyss gently put it in her hand, she was surprised by how light it was. "What's the spell to use this?" She looked at Lyss who was watching her almost like they saw something miraculous. They made a motion in the shape of a triangle. There were shapes and symbols they motioned as well. When they were done, a red light glowed in front of them before it moved onto the pouch. It disappeared and a light started to glow from the inside. Perla's grin widened as she watched the magic it was new to her, She held a book up to the pouch and sucked it in. "Thank you, I'll be back." She quickly left her room.