Dryad

Night visit

Late in the evening when we were all asleep, or at least we should have been, I heard something moving around the house. I got scared thinking that something had entered and was looking for someone to bite and transmit its rabies to, but instead I recognized Pavel's appearance as he was getting ready somewhere. I took one of the hazelnuts we keep for fairies and threw it at him, trying not to wake Tarlow, who might have a nervous breakdown if he saw what I saw:

-Klarissa? You'll wake him up. He must not know that I am going.-he told me as if that should explain everything to me:

-I just want to meet her, at least for a little bit. This may be the first and only time I will have the opportunity. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in my place?-a question to which I certainly have an answer, but not one that would please Tarlow, all so that I can ask "why".

I slowly got up trying not to wake Tarlow and took my baby in my arms. He can't go alone, who knows what kind of ideas he could come up with. If he gets an answer he doesn't want to hear, someone could die:

-You want to go with me? I don't need parental guidance for this. We are the same age.-not true, I am a few years older:

-I'm big enough and I know what I'm doing.-I doubt that statement:

-Okay, maybe I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going before he wakes up and kills me.-he said decisively and got back to running away from the house.

Of course I couldn't let him go alone. Tarlow would resent me if he found out that I knew he was going and did nothing. This way I can say that I at least tried to stop him. I also know a safe way to Vadim, where rangers live and how to hide from them. We traveled through the forest with one lamp that Pavel had taken from home, and I don't know who else felt more anxious. Tho maybe it's just a heartburn. I shouldn't have eaten so many of those berries.

We reached Vadim's yard safely and I had to go see my tree first. I can always hear it's humming, even when I'm not close to it, but I can't walk past him without paying attention to it:

-We don't have much time, Klarissa. You can hug trees another time.-is that how you talk to your mother? I would be ashamed.

We were lucky. We didn't have to go further than the garden, although it wouldn't have been difficult for me to find a safe way through Vadim's house. The queen herself was sitting there because she was obviously not quite sleepy as if she knew that we needed her. Maybe it has come to her head about what she expects from a child she has never taken care of, so now she doesn't know how to persuade him to help her. The lamp on the bench next to her illuminated her and revealed all her beauty and youthful face. I can understand how anyone could fall in love with her, but for the same reason I don't understand how Tarlow moved from her to me. She was startled by the sound of footsteps and looked towards us, but did not panic. Pavel approached her, taking off his hood, and I remained behind him:

-You came anyway.

-My father wouldn't let me if he knew about this so I couldn't stop by at a more reasonable time. I wanted to see you up close.

-Tarlow never told you about me?

-If I ever heard anything about you, it wasn't good. But he never mentioned that you were a queen.

-Unlike him, I have ambitions and I succeeded. And he, as I saw, remained the same.

-What do you want from us?

-My husband is looking for a heir and he took you into consideration. If I had known that I would have to see your father again, I would never have mentioned you to him.

-Don't you have children of your own?

-We had.

-You left them too?

-They died. One son was killed by a wild human who was brought to us. The other one was kidnapped by elves from another estate, but by the time we found him, he had died. They didn't know he was sick. They didn't react in time.-she almost sounds like she's mourning their deaths, but her face is so serious like she doesn't want to show that she's affected by the loss of her own children:

-After the miscarriage, I could no longer give birth. You're the only one still alive.

-What was wrong with me? What did I do to you that you couldn't love me? You're asking me for help before you've even bothered to learn my name.

-Tarlow was a mistake I have never and will never forgive myself. You got caught up in the middle. And I just wanted to forget that I knew him.

-I'm glad we solved that.-the disappointment in his voice is very obvious and very painful.

He put the hood back on his head and walked away from her with the intention of going back:

-Come on, Klarissa.

-That's what Tarlow chose?-she asked, looking at me:

-At least this time he chose someone in his rank.

-At least she didn't run away from us. She would have been a better mother to me than you ever were.-I have a feeling he got more offended than I, but I'm glad he said something to her. I can see on her face that she doesn't care too much about her own son and that she would prefer that he wasn't hers or that she at least had him with someone else.