Beyond the Fairy Gate

Chapter 43

Nyline

Nyline landed her movement skill at the end of the hallway right as she heard the king start yelling in Gabriel's room. Wincing slightly, her eye gave a painful throb. She'd expected some recoil from what she'd done so she wasn't surprised at the pain. What she didn't expect was for the recoil to steadily get worse as time went on. She was trying to ignore it, but it was getting harder to push the pain to the back of her mind.

Starting down the hallway Nyline pulled her shadow skill tighter to her skin. Hoping that she could hide until the king had calmed enough for her to... what? defend her case? Tell him he didn't understand? Try and talk sense into him? She wasn't sure, it wasn't like she could just spill her guts about who she'd been connecting with if they'd even believe her to begin with. Which they probably wouldn't.

Wondering where she could go while she waited for the dust to settle, the library popped into her mind, quickly followed by her current muse. She'd recently found a book that was holding her attention and making her take her time looking through its old pages. It had been hidden inside another book and she just happened to find it in what seemed like the most neglected part of the library. The entire shelf had been covered in spider webs and more dust than she even knew could acclimate in a single area. It was a fascinating report on the Keepers. It seems two scholars, Mariam and Luke Dunley, spend their entire life researching them and, at one point, had even been allowed a visit to the soul stream. The entire book was written in such detail and had amazing vivid images that one of the two had drawn. She was in love with it.

Nyline's eye gave another painful throb forcing her mind away from the book and back onto the present. Pausing she took the time to put pressure on the organ and leaned against the nearest wall as her vision went in and out. Her mind returning to the main topic of where she could go. No, she couldn't go to the library, that would be the first place that everyone would look for her. She could go beyond the first wall, but she couldn't just jump the royal retaining wall, they'd expect that, and probably be waiting for her. She'd have to go through the main entrance and out either the east or west gate. It wouldn't even cross the senior scout's minds that she would go that close to town, so it was her perfect out. It would be a strain on her mind, but she thought that she could make it as long as she was quick.

Pallsana and Omega should come with her. As the thought crossed her mind, she pulled off the wall with the intention of finding them but couldn't help but pause. Then, she felt her heart fall. Neither of them knew the shadow skill so they'd give up her location in an instant.

Reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck she sent a silent apology for leaving them behind. Her eyes caught on an open window that she went to and looked out. No one was in the garden. So, with that, she used her movement as she jumped. Her head gave yet another painful throb making her roll much less graceful than normal and forced her to stay in a crouched position as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided.

Her mind wandered as she fell back onto her butt, holding her head. Her mind went to all of the horrible things that she'd said to Janti. A small bit of hate towards herself crept up from her soul and into her thoughts. There had been so many things that she'd wanted to talk to him about regarding memory therapy and she'd just ruined all of it. She'd even practiced the conversation in her mind, and yet when it really came down to it, all she'd done was just screamed all the hurtful things that she'd wanted to avoid. Then, whereas it was true that she had a basic understanding of what happened, she didn't know all of the exact details. So, she'd also lied to him, which only added to her heart being heavier than it already was. In truth, it was probably better that he thought that she knew everything. That way he didn't feel like he could hide anything, but it still seemed wrong on a deeper level. Tricking people into letting her help them wasn't something that she'd ever done before, and it made her feel even more horrible than before.