Dryad

New home

It was much warmer when I woke up again. I was on the bed covered with a blanket, and my tree was on the floor next to the bed. The elf girl came to me as soon as she realized that I raised my head and checked if I was okay and if I was even worth saving. Most of all, she was fascinated by my wounds from the fire, which I still carry. I can't get past that nasty color even now that so much has passed, and I loved my mushrooms and moss. Even the leaves from my hair haven't grown back though my hair itself has managed to grow back.

The elf came to our room as if he sensed that I had woken up, and now his face seemed sterner and more serious than the first time. It's hard for me to say how old he is, but he certainly looks grown up, and judging by his clothes, I'd say he can afford more than the average person. I came to a wealthy house. These people can afford heating in every room and fruit out of season. They don't have to patch torn clothes, they can just buy new ones. Why do I sound so much like I grew up in a two-room cabin and had to bathe in the stream under the mill? I felt fear and I didn't feel quite safe at that moment. He saved me, but he doesn't seem too impressed with my appearance. What did he really expect to find?

The words that crossed his tongue were spoken in a calm yet commanding tone accompanied by that look that was searching for something interesting in me or any reason to keep me. Who would say I'm a dryad when I've lost so many characteristics that separated me from ordinary people? The girl left the room, which is not entirely to my liking, I felt safer with her, and then I was left alone with him. He lowered his head to me, stared into my appearance with penetrating blue eyes and directed me something, but I quickly shifted my focus from him to his long blond hair. He's like a big fairy. I managed to grab a few strands and thread them through my fingers before I was interrupted for apparently committing a crime.

They left me to warm up there, but I didn't get many visits. The girl came over a few times to feed me and re-examine my fascinating scars that don't get any smaller no matter what is put on them. If my tree survived and grew, only then could I return to my natural state.

I didn't leave my room for two days, I hardly moved at all, and then something forced me to leave. I stepped over the edge of the bed, took my pot and headed out. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked and no one was watching my room, so I could allow myself to explore in peace. Through the window in the hallway I saw that it was snowing, and it was a fair amount of snow, and somehow I'm glad now that I didn't stay outside.

The house seemed so beautiful and spacious, even more beautiful than the one I grew up in, but just as cold and lonely. And when no one was there, I had the feeling that someone was watching and controlling me. I followed the scent and made it all the way to the kitchen without anyone catching me and found a pot warming over a low fire. There's no one there, but they'll definitely be back soon. No one in their right mind would leave a dish to burn like that or let the fire go out. I went around the big table and studied all the spices they have preserved in pots and the supplies they managed to make before winter. There is not much food now, but they are doing well. I'm almost tempted to take some of this. I loved watching our cook at work when I was little, at least when I could get away from studying and come to her. I've never been particularly excited about pickled vegetables, but even that can be great when you're given the choice between that and snow.

Suddenly there was a banging on the window that startled me. I already thought that someone had caught me in the act, but it was only Celestina. I opened the window and immediately felt the cold, which surprisingly doesn't bother her that much, and she went inside and hugged me around the neck:

-I told you that you would be fine. They will take care of you.-she told me, although I don't know if at that moment she was convincing herself or me more:

-Elves have a custom of taking humans as pets and teaching them lots of stuff, but you have to be obedient, at least to the one who adopted you. You'll be warm here, and then you can come back to us in the spring. Don't forget to come back.-she instructed me and then she had to run away. Not even the elves can catch her in the act against her will. One would expect them to get along better.

Celestina got lost in the snow for a few moments before the elf girl came back into the kitchen and started scolding me. I don't even understand what she's saying, but I can tell that she's insulting me. She closed the window and caught me in her arms before I could escape her. How strong are these elves? Or am I really that easy to pick up? I got hit on my head and was chased out into the corridor. Now it seems as if I deliberately went to open the window and do stupid things, maybe even escape. Am I really some kind of hairless street cat to them that they took out of pity?