The Raven's Source

Chapter 32 - A New Day

Cerno woke up early the next morning, standing and stretching as the sun was barely starting to lighten the sky. He put his hand to his chest and noticed that while the pain was gone, he still felt hollowness. He sighed and looked over to his bed, Rosalie looking like an angel as she continued to sleep. After putting on a pair of plaid pajama pants, he quietly left Rose to sleep and went out to the hallway.

"Good morning, Master Cerno," one of the housekeepers said silently as she dusted the hallway. "Would you like me to get you a cup of coffee?"

"Please. That would be nice," he said.

"Shall I get one for Madam Rosalie as well?"

"That won't be necessary yet, she is still asleep. But thank you," he said. As the woman turned and went to fetch the coffee, he turned and stared at the door across the hallway. His heart thumped hard in his chest, afraid to open the door and see his sister still motionless in her bed. He laid his hand upon the door handle but couldn't get himself to turn it. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he laid his forehead against the cold, wooden door.

The door handle suddenly turned and the door eased itself open, Cerno nearly falling forward. He gasped in surprise and looked up, finding himself face to face with another maid. His heart sank.

"Why are you in her room?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"Linens, Sir," she said softly. "Madam wanted fresh linens."

"What?" he asked as the maid passed him. He looked over to see long and wet black hair hanging down, a petite figure sitting on the edge of Sheja's bed. "Y...Yaya?"

The figure turned and a pair of blue-gray eyes looked back at him. She smiled.

Cerno's eyes went wide and he collapsed to his knees in the doorway, his eyes not leaving her. "Oh god, you're...you're alive."

She stood and walked over to him, still wrapped in a towel as she had taken a shower to wash all the blood from her body. She held her hand out to him to help him back to his feet. "Good morning, brother," she said softly.

Tears streaked his face as he took her hand and stood again. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly as his simple tears turned to heavy sobs.

"I'm sorry I left you," she whispered to him. "I'm so sorry I let you worry, and I'm sorry I put you through so much pain."

"I don't care about any of that," Cerno said as he leaned back and placed his hands on the sides of her neck. He looked deeply in her eyes as he continued, "I only care that you're standing here in front of me."

Sheja leaned into him again, laying her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her once more.

"What's all the commotion out h—" Rose began sleepily but froze, her mouth gaping open at the sight of the siblings together. She quickly walked over and separated them, pushing Sheja back into the bedroom and keeping Cerno from entering.

"Wha—" Cerno started to exclaim, taken off guard. "Hey!" he growled.

"Stuff it, she needs to get dressed. Honestly. There is a very pregnant woman who needs Sheja way more than you do right now," Rose snapped, shutting the bedroom door and locking Cerno outside in the hallway. She quickly embraced Sheja herself. "Welcome back, Sheja," she said softly before standing up straight again. "Clothes. We need clothes."

"Is everything okay with Leena?" Sheja asked with concern as Rose quickly pulled together something for Sheja to put on.

Rose stopped for a moment, looking at two tops. "She's fine, and so are the babies. But her heart was the most broken in all of this. She's the most fragile right now, so she needs you the most. Just knowing you're alive, the rest of us can wait and happily dote on you later."