Remnant of Power

Chapter Twenty-one

Yavenna

Yavenna stalked through the streets approaching the castle, her head held high. She was angry with herself. Daggers, why did she run off so quickly? She could have still been with him now! And she'd sort of thought he might have kissed her. He'd held her hand for ages, in fact, he'd seemed a bit disappointed when she'd let go. And then just before she ran off, he'd moved closer to her, hadn't he? He'd touched her cheek. And then she'd run off! Now she'd have to wait a whole day before she saw him again. She could have easily stayed a bit longer. she felt so annoyed she had half a mind to turn around and go back. she reached the wall of the gardens and sighed. Why was she even going inside? She could just go back and find Mal, and then she could run back to Tarhasta.

No. Yavenna bit her lip. She still had two whole days before the wedding. She would use this time to plan her route - anyway she couldn't go anywhere without supplies, and her dowry. An image of the slaves digging flashed through her mind, but she pushed it away quickly.

Yavenna looked up at the castle. There were no lights on and the building was in darkness and shadows. The square in front of it was deserted. She walked under a low archway past a building that smelt like a stable, then stepped towards a path that led to the gardens and climbed up the castle wall. As she turned around to drop down over the wall a figure walked out into the square and headed towards her. For a second her mind didn't work - she didn't realize what was in front of her - then her eyes adjusted. A tall cloaked figure stood before her. It was the man from the banquet with pale green hair. He had a staff in his hand with a sparkling blue light at the top of it. The same light as the King's necklet! Her jaw dropped and she froze. There was something strange about him, but she didn't care, she just wanted to look at the jewel, the light was so beautiful. She wanted to touch it so much her hands started to shake. Ridiculous! She couldn't go around touching complete strangers' jewellery. And could he see her face? She glanced briefly at him with wide eyes, then looked away quickly, and dropped down onto the grass. She ran along the garden path until she reached her balcony. She looked up, and smelt a foul, rotten stench.

The balcony doors were open but there was no sign of Sharva. Yavenna stared upwards and shivered. She was cold and tired. She needed her bed now. If she could even get back to it without being discovered. Tying the scarf at the back of her neck, she leapt over to a flower bed and scrabbled about in the darkness. She picked out three lumps of stone and hurled them one at a time over the balcony. There was a noise of a door opening to the side of her. It was the gate to the garden!

Suddenly a face appeared on the balcony.

"Quick!" Yavenna hissed.

The rope dropped down. Like a spider she clutched it and scurried back up, thanking Esa for the strength in her arms. She threw herself over the balcony and leant over to pull the rope up. The mage was striding along the path. As the tip of rope slipped over the balcony he looked up.

"Princesss..." her name was scarcely more than a hiss.

Yavenna plummeted to the floor of the balcony like a stone falling down a well. He'd seen her! He knew she'd been out! And he knew how she'd got out. Moaning softly, she hugged herself. Did that mean she'd now lost her only way out? Shuffling to the bed with her eyes closed, she fell onto the bed and burrowed into warmth, comfort and a life of misery.

(Sorry its a short chapter!)