To The Ones Who Can't Dream

chapter 64 - He Must Be

Seren spent the night tossing and turning. She couldn't get the image of Rhysand 'apologizing' to Cresseida out of her head. This is pathetic, she told herself. It shouldn't matter to her what Rhysand does and doesn't do tonight. I don't have any sort of claim on him.

As the sun just crested the horizon, Seren jumped out of bed and got dressed in her Illyrian leathers. She made her way up to the roof of the palace, figuring it was just as good of a place as any to train. All she needed to do was work off a little steam. There was nobody else up there, especially as early as it was. She could see the rolling waves on the ocean and although it was barely bright outside, it was already starting to warm up.

Squaring her shoulders, she started stretching. Seren liked to start at her head and work her way down her body, stretching everything she could. Many warriors skipped stretching, deeming it not as important as combat. But Seren always made sure it was the first thing she did each time she trained. She found it helped her get in touch with her body and centered. Also, she was less sore after each workout.

When she finished up with her stretching, she wasted no time and hoped straight into her workout. Pushups, situps, planks, squats, lunges, sprints. Name the workout and Seren did it. She only stopped when her body collapsed and she was panting hard. She was covered in sweat but at least she felt a little bit more calm, like she could face the rest of the day.

Slowly walking back to her room, she worked on controlling her breathing. After showering, Seren laid back down. I'll just rest for a couple of moments.

Before she knew it, she was asleep.

As Seren opened her eyes slowly, she realized her whole body was slightly sore. She turned her head to look at the clock by her bed. It read 9:34. Oh shit, she had agreed to meet with Tarquin at 10.

Quickly, she got out of bed and put on some light makeup. Seeing as she didn't have the time to do anything fancy, she left her hair down also. She had just finished putting on a layered light pink dress and some pearly sandals when a knock sounded at her door. Quickly walking over and opening the door, she found Tarquin standing just outside. He smiled at her, "Wow, you look beautiful this morning."

Laughing quietly she stepped out into the hall, "Well you don't look too bad yourself."

He glanced at her, "Are you ready to go see the vaults?"

"I'm always ready to see some sparkly objects, lead the way."

He offered her his arm and she took it as he led her down to the vaults. When they made it down there, Tarquin touched a pad that scanned his hand and let him in. If the Book of Breathings was down here, it would be a struggle to find a way past that security measure. Although Seren kept an eye out for the book, she couldn't help but be impressed by all of the jewelry down here. Tarquin didn't speak to her much but did point out a piece or two when there was some interesting fact to be known about it.

They came to a room full of books and Seren became excited. If a place in this vault held the Book of Breathings, it would be this room. But, she didn't feel any sort of pull towards the book if it was in here. She searched the spines to find it, but before long realized that it wasn't in this room. Since she made the book, it would call to her if it were here. But it wasn't.

Her shoulders dropped in disappointment but she tried not to let it show. They continued their tour and Tarquin asked her questions about her life. As they chatted, she realized that he was immensely funny. He continued to make her laugh and she appreciated how easy it was to be around him. They walked into the last room and Tarquin said, "This room holds some of the most rare and expensive jewelry in the world. Some of this stuff dates back to well before the Courts were even created."