Nentarli [COMPLETE]

~ Twenty-four ~

There was a collective 'oh' and the tension in the room lightened ever so slightly.

"So the safest course would be to wait here with you until you are retrieved, then I can return to my family." Merkell explained, Emy and I shared a look of surprise.

"You're not gonna come back with us after it's all okay?"

The guys looked at Merkell expectantly and he took a moment before he responded, his voice careful.

"I do not think that would be wise, if this trap was set for me then I should not walk into it. I will return in one season as previously stated, this is just one incident and we may be overthinking it. Caution is the key to survival at the moment however, so I will stay until you are in the care of one of your parents and then we will part ways, for a time."

He left it there and I could tell it would be pointless to argue with him, that didn't stop Emy though and they spent the next hour discussing why he had to leave. Neither of them gained any ground and Emy was left with the same response he'd given before. The rest of us had left them to it, I got comfortable in the chair next to Emy and listened. Kayle was stood by the window and kept looking out every few minutes. Blaike and Kaleb had gone to search for something to eat and towards the end of the discussion, they came back with a sack of food and a mattress each that they'd taken from the upstairs beds.

"We thought it would be best if we all stayed in the same room tonight, it will make it easier if we have to get out in a hurry."

Kaleb dropped the mattresses down on the floor between the chair and sofa, and I watched a few grey feathers fly up into the air.

Emy and I took one of the mattresses while the guys agreed on which shift they'd each take while the others slept.

"I thought it was supposed to be safe here? That nobody knew about it?" Emy asked with a raised brow.

We sat side by side on the mattress, our cloaks wrapped snugly around us.

"It is safe, but just as Merkell said, caution is the key," Kayle smiled.

He must have thought it was reassuring but the way he kept looking out of the window left me on edge.

"Then why do you keep looking out of the window like someone's gonna attack us any minute?" Emy asked with her eyes narrowed and I wished she hadn't put it like that.

"I'm not, that's not- never mind. I just like to keep a lookout for anything unusual, that's all." Kayle stumbled over his words.

I frowned suspiciously at him, there was something about this place that made him act differently.

"Whatever," Emy rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the snacks Kaleb and Blaike had brought in.

She broke one in half and passed some to me, it tasted a bit like a croissant but extra sweet. I munched on mine and watched the guys with curiosity. Merkell had sat himself in the middle of the sofa with his eyes closed. Blaike and Kaleb were stood at attention near the doors to the room and I got the feeling we wouldn't be sleeping much that night. Regardless, I laid down once I had finished my snack and spread out my cloak so it covered me, the fire was roaring away but I still felt a chill.

Someone or something had set a trap in our own house, they had managed to get through the protective magic guarding us and in the end we still didn't know what their end goal was. I tried to focus on something else and stroked the rose clasp on my cloak, memories of the first night Merkell had revealed everything to us came flooding back. It felt like such a long time ago, I remembered the way we had dismissed him as crazy and how long it had taken us to believe.