Rayllum, The Future

Chapter 3

Xephyr sat in the tree, pondering the events of the day. After Ethari had left with the letter, she hadn't seen him again. She'd asked around, but no one was really willing to talk to her.
As always.
She sighed, looking down at Alre, who was sleeping on her lap, and Lyndis, who was perched on the branch above Xephyr.
It must be such a peaceful life, she thought. No one would judge you, no one would talk about you when they think your not looking.
What if she wrote a letter back? It wouldn't take long for Lyndis to fly to the Storm Spire. But what would she say?
She was having the same problems as her father, not knowing what to write. She attempted to draw Alre; he had grown a lot since they had last seen him. He ended up looking like a blobby Ambler.
Ugh.
She decided to go and look for Ethari. Maybe he was done with the letter?
Jumping out of the tree, she woke up Alre, who yawned, shook his fur and followed Xephyr out of the woods. Lyndis waited until they were out of sight before flying after them, landing on Alre's back. Xephyr smiled and picked up the pace. She passed the flower pool, then began the assent up the stairs to Ethari's workshop. This time, she checked for a sign. There wasn't one, so she pushed open the door and hoped to the Xadian gods he was there.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Ethari standing over his work bench. She skipped over to him.
"Thari!" She said, when she was in his sight line. She didn't want to scare him again. "Thari! Are you done with the letter?"
Ethari looked at her, his face betraying all sorts of emotion. She could tell he was thinking of something, but she didn't know what.
"Oh, uhm, the letter. . .right."
"Thari?"
Ethari's face lit up as he came up with an excuse.
"Oh, sorry, Xephyr. The letter wasn't from your parents."
Xephyr scrunched up her face, confused. "But- Lyndis delivered it."
"No. It was Ara. But they do look similar, Xephyr. You were mistaken." Ethari replied, switching his attention back to the sword he was making.
"Who sent it then?"
He hadn't been expecting that question.
"Oh, uhm." He thought quickly, "I don't know. I brought it back to the post office after I realised it wasn't meant for us."
Hmm.
Xephyr was about to leave, but then she thought of another question.
"So, why did you look so worried when you saw it?"
Ethari stopped mid-craft.
"Oh. . ."
He looked at Xephyr, at her innocent eyes and white and brown hair.
Then he looked past her and out the door, at the darkening sky.
"It's late, Xephyr. You need to to to bed. I'll come in a few minutes. I just have to finish this."
Xephyr sighed inwardly, but didn't argue.
As she turned to walk out the door, something caught her eye. The letter!
It was on the side table. She made sure Ethari wasn't watching before grabbing the letter and speed walking out of the workshop.