Half Magic | Book 2

Forty Seven: An Agreement of Elves

By the time I dragged my tired body to bed, I didn't have the energy to take off my dress. I just dropped my shoes on the floor, and fell into the mattress. In a matter of heartbeats, I was asleep.

But that didn't mean my night was restful. The sensation of floating in and out of the black nothingness stirred me enough to almost wake up, and then lul me back to sleep once more. I eventually woke well after dawn, but I still felt as though I needed to sleep.

Yawning, I pulled my elven outfit back on, but this time with my sturdy leather boots in case I left the keep again. I washed my face, hopeful that it would help wake me up, and then left my room.

"Wren, good morning." Nassir was in the room across from the bedrooms, sitting at the table and already enjoying a steaming bun with some kind of seeds on top. My stomach growled loudly, and I grinned as I joined him at the table.

"Good morning, Nassir. You didn't stay at the table all night, did you?" I asked, taking a bun of my own from a shallow silver bowl.

"No, no. I woke and went to bed when I heard you two close your bedroom doors," he answered, then took a big bite of his breakfast.

"We would have woken you up but it's hard to tell with you when you've finally gotten comfortable." I yawned. "And after our long night, I would hate to interrupt your sleep."

"What are we talking about?" A very sleepy Schula came in, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Good morning, Schula," Nassir greeted her. "We were just talking about how none of us seems to have gotten much sleep."

Nassir winked and I giggled as I pulled another bun from the bowl and passed it to Schula. She sat next to me and leaned over, laying her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes as she took a bite, still half asleep.

"I hope we find out what the elves think of our presence today," Nassir said. "It is always nice to know when one is going to be a guest or a prisoner."

"Don't say that," Schula mumbled, still sleepy. "Kalor wouldn't let us be prisoners. We'd just get kicked out of Eidelhein. Well, not Wren. She could stay."

"Hey!" I nudged Schula gently. "I'm not staying without you."

She kept her eyes closed but grinned and took another bite of her bun.

"So, when will we hear from them, do you think?" I asked.

"Soon I'd imagine. Teyber has been in and out of here this morning. He's watching for Kalor to arrive, so if he expects they could be done soon I suppose that's a good sign," Nassir said.

I nodded, accepting his words and began to eat my breakfast more seriously. I eyed the bowl that had been refilled with fruit as well, and plucked a honeyfruit from the top.

We sat in reflective quiet for the next while after breakfast. Nassir meditated, which was a typical activity for him. I wouldn't be surprised if he was even more powerful in his movements and observations before we returned to the Wyldes. His physical sight hasn't hindered him much at all lately, which made me smile.

Schula and I though, I knew what we were both thinking about. The black thing. Whatever, or whoever, it was, it was strong. Or old. Or probably both. Was it even a fae creature? What if it was something else? Or something unseelie? What was it's purpose for calling us to it?

Too many questions swam in my head, and I could tell that they haunted Schula too. But how do we bring up such an outlandish thing to Nassir? Would he even believe us? Probably, he hasn't dismissed anything we said easily before, but it would still be a difficult thing to explain.