Page 125 of The Awakening of Essensia

“Thank you.” She didn’t think words would ever fully convey the gratitude she had for the man. He had taken her under his wing, making sure she didn’t plummet under the weight of grief and this new, unpredictable power. Without him, she would have been a boat adrift, lost to the waves of her own wrath.

Vaelira gave him a grateful smile as Axel helped Galfri to his feet and led him from the room, talking about pain relief and poultices. Jurah left with them, returning a moment later with a familiar sheathed sword, the ruby in the pommel catching the light.

“It’s all I could save before they raided your room,” he said.

“It was the only thing worth saving,” she said, taking it from him. “Thank you.”

She mourned the loss of the moonstone, but it had no practical use. It was already imbued with her ancestor’s essensia and impossible for her to use as a conduit.

“I have something too,” Willem said, producing a golden dagger. “I know he gave it to you, but it still cuts the same.”

She studied the swirling design. It had once reminded her of home, now it only reminded her of the man that had betrayed her so thoroughly.

She spent the rest of the day explaining what had happened since her arrest and answering the flood of questions that followed. After, Ressa led Vaelira to her room.

“I don’t have much,” she said, opening a small wardrobe by the window, “and we will have to roll up the trousers, but it’s better than that.” She eyed the ripped shirt. “My mother should have a spare pair of boots.”

Vaelira dressed then sat on the bed to pull the boots on. The fit was almost perfect. She stared at scuffed leather toe, her mind feeling too heavy for coherent thought.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she said, finally.

The mattress shifted as Ressa sat beside her. “I understand why you didn’t. There are so many people who wouldn’t understand, who would hate you, even. But I don’t hate you, Lira. And neither does Fang. We are with you, remember?”

“I wanted to tell you.” Her voice was raw. “I—I was scared.” Tears fell hot and fast down her cheeks. She looked up at the friend she had kept so much from, and who was still here helping her through it all. “I don’t deserve your loyalty.”

Ressa nudged her and winked. “I know.”

When they returned to the living room, Ressa shooed Willem from the sofa and planted Vaelira on it with a thick blanket, ordering her to sleep. It was easy order to follow.

Vaelira slept dreamlessly. When she awoke, dusk pressed against the half-drawn curtains.

Willem and Axel slept in the chairs by the fire, Orphi curled at their feet. Fang sprawled on the sofa opposite, his unruly mop of red hair jutting in every direction, his long legs hanging over the armrest. A faint smile touched her lips. They had all come for her. Vaelira couldn’t fault her Erryn her absence. Abandoning her guard duties the same night Vaelira had fled would have drawn attention.

Her sword lay on the floor and she picked it up, relishing the weight. Her last connection to home. No, not her last. Freya was still out there, and she would find her.

Vaelira stood, glancing back at her friends once before creeping silently from the room.

In the kitchen, a single candle flickered. Ressa’s mother sat alone, a steaming mug clutched in one hand. “You slept through a full night and day,” she said, without looking up.

Vaelira sat. “It’s kind of you to open your home to us.”

“Reese didn’t give me a choice.”

“I’m grateful all the same. I don’t know your name.”

“Azza,” she said, watching her closely.

Vaelira frowned. “Azza. Reese. Ressa.” She laughed softly. “You mixed your names?”

“We created her. It seemed right.”

Azza rose, pulled a large mug from a shelf, and ladled in thick broth. She set it in front of Vaelira. Before turning to leave, she paused. “There’s a reason the priests hunted your kind.” Then she left.

Vaelira sat until the broth cooled, her thoughts darkening. She remembered the chapel collapsing, Erryn’s scorched hair, Lukas's burned arm, the King’s bed in flames. Maybe Azza was right.

The air shifted suddenly, the hairs on Vaelira’s arms standing on end.

A metallic taste coated her tongue.