Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Twenty-Five

♕ Candlelight ♕

The next week had gone by in silence.

Aubrette could barely hear as Vereena tried to come and chat with her, updating her on the things they'd found out with the book of the blessed. The days had started mixing together. The first day, all of them had left her alone, not really knowing much about anything. The second day, the questions started, and she had barely been able to lock their voices out.

She knew it wasn't fair. Not to them or her.

But even knowing that she couldn't force herself to speak. She kept hearing the voice of her mother, see you tomorrow love She heard them all the time, even in her sleep and she couldn't dare speak, not when that meant forgetting the way her voice had sound then, so perfectly normal.

Asher had come three times before she had spoken. He hadn't said anything. Instead he'd sat on the floor, and Aubrette appreciated the fact that he made sure he wasn't on her line of vision. She didn't feel alone, but it wasn't company she couldn't handle. He hadn't spoken to her, and Aubrette started thinking maybe he didn't come for her sanity but his. Maybe he desired the silence as much as her.

"What are you reading?" she'd asked him one day, when she had suddenly feared that she would soon forget the sound of her own voice, and to her relieve, her mother's had not faded into the nothingness of her mind. Maybe it would never fade. Maybe she would have to carry that weight for the rest of her life.

"Tale of mist" he had said, so low his voice barely reached her ears.

"Can you read for me?" Aubrette had asked him, before really thinking about it. If Asher had been surprised at the request, he hadn't shown it.

She hadn't known if he was gonna say yes, but he merely cleared his throat and started reading, his voice so soothing Aubrette usually felt herself almost falling asleep to it. Asher had come back and read to her every night after, not asking her any questions. And Aubrette had eventually start to feel like the grief let enough air in for her to breathe.

Today, she felt enough that she got herself off the bed and made her way down to the main floor. She didn't care to see if anyone stared at her with surprise, and if they had they'd done a great job at keeping it to themselves.

"Hey" Izabella had said to her, as she sat beside her. Her arms had been wrapped in cloth, and Aubrette noticed that her smile did not quite reach her eyes. Much like hers now must look, but she was talking and eating and maybe that was enough.

"Hi" she said. The rest of The Aureums chattered over them, acknowledging her enough so that she would not feel excluded. They did not make a big deal of her being there, and Aubrette did not realize until that moment a part of why she'd locked herself inside her room had been because she couldn't bare someone asking her what had happened to her that night. They seemed to feel the same way, so Aubrette repaid the favor by acting as if she did not notice the ways they seemed different.

Vereena's smile was not as bright, and her hand was constantly grabbing Raven's, or maybe it was the other way around. Izabella kept mostly to herself. Nova did not make any rude comments, did not tease them, and Hazel just did her best to keep them all together.

It was then when she realized Izabella was the only one not wearing their golden armor.

When breakfast was over, the rest of the Aureums had quickly muttered their goodbyes and headed towards their usual round of patrols across the city, Izabella left with them, but did not turn to her usual path, and instead headed for the grave. The last place she would have expected her to go.