Chapter 28

Selene was still sleeping, her arm wrapped around me, when I woke up the next morning. I lay still, watching her calm face. Even though I had got used to it, it still looked so different. We barely knew each other, except for the few things I had picked up as we travelled, and she probably knew me even less. So why…?

She sleepily opened her eyes, and our gaze met. She scrambled back, and I reached out and put a hand on her.

“It’s okay”, I reassured her.

She paused, then returned to bed and put her forehead against mine.

“We should go up. The others are already awake.”

I sighed. I wanted to stay, but she was right, and I could hear the others moving in the living room. Without looking at each other, we got up and dressed.

We joined the others in the living room. Karim sat by the fireplace with Aki resting her head on his shoulder, and Uruk was pacing back and forth, his arms crossed over his chest. I looked at them and then glanced at Selene. Was this the reason to stay?, I wondered. I took Selene’s hand and then reached out to Uruk. Karim and Aki joined us, and I spoke,

Soft like a feather,

hard like a steel,

shine like a star

in the starry sky.

We continued verse after verse, and when the last one ended, Uruk patted my shoulder and Karim gave me an approving nod. I hadn’t solved any of our problems, but at least my friends seemed happier. Maybe I could make a difference in the end, just like the cat had told me. I sighed. But I still didn’t know what to do about our situation.

I sat down by the fireplace and gazed into the flames, remembering Manelia’s words yesterday. Maybe we should leave… How could I force that girl to lead her country into war? She deserved better than that. I felt the familiar uneasiness creeping up again, and I glanced at my friends. What would happen to them if we stayed? Aki came over and sat down next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I sighed and put my arm around her. She ought to be safe, not being here…

I glanced at the others. Selene was watching out the window, a frown on her face. I wanted to ask her what was wrong when she turned to us.

“Do you feel that?”

Karim looked at her, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“It feels like the morning when Tarnis fell.”

“When Tarnis fell?”

He glanced at her, but she didn’t answer and instead turned to me.

“You sensed something on our way here, didn’t you? But we never saw any Drakes.”

“Yeah…”, I nodded slowly, feeling the uneasiness creeping up. “But it felt different than the Drakes when I think about it. Maybe I was just tired….”

I shrugged, but Uruk shook his head.

“No, Rina, trust yourself.”

I sighed. I didn’t understand what they were talking about. What else did they expect me to feel in the situation we were in?

“I always believed that our defences should have held that day ,” Uruk frowned. “Lumeria’s army was coming. We could have held off another day until they arrived.”

“We even saw the torches on the horizon as they marched through the night”, Selene added.

The room fell silent for a moment.

“Father said it felt like a shadow had fallen over the soldiers, and they lost their hearts before the battle had even begun”, Aki suddenly whispered and shivered in my arms.

Uruk turned to her.

“Did he? What else did he say?”

“He spoke to my uncle… I shouldn’t have listened, but...”

She began to sob and huddled up against me. I held her until she’d stopped crying, and she rested her head on my lap. Only when she’d fallen asleep did Karim dare to speak.

“I’ve heard that before, but…”

He sighed, and Selene added,

“People spread many rumours after Tarnis fell, and none of those helped the alliance”

“But her father was there. He held the Eastern Gate”, Uruk pointed out.

He leaned against the wall.

“Even so… What does it mean?”, Karim asked.

He glanced at Selene.

“I don’t know, but I feel the same thing now.”

She turned to me.

“Do you still feel it, Rina?”

I felt the uneasiness creeping up on me as she said it.

“I feel something…”, I ventured hesitantly, combing Aki’s hair with my finger.

“What do you feel?”, Uruk asked.

I shrugged.

“Uneasiness…. Despair… As if everything is hopeless and there’s no point going on…”

I shrugged.

“Things you would expect”

Selene nodded slowly.

“That’s what I feel now too…”