Truth of the Whisper

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Nyshard didn't came back after two days, in fact, it took him one more week to return to Ilyria. He'd sent me a short letter, explained to me that he had to check upon a few former hiding places of the Circle and to go to an unexpected Council meeting.

I could have used my shard to talk with him, but I refrained from doing so. No distractions. I didn't need any distractions.

And I used that week. I was busy – incredibly busy. I spent a lot of time training, working with Srandi and with Brayhd. The only person I barely saw was Dylana, but only because she'd taken over some of Nyshard's responsibilities again. But whenever we crossed paths in the castle, she gifted me a bright smile. An honest, bright smile which made me feel welcomed and wanted in Ilyria. But her smile... it also reminded me so much of the rare smiled I'd seen on Nyshard.

Nysh...

According to his letter, the claim should have vanished in the meantime, but I still found myself missing him. Seeing him in my endless and irritating dreams didn't help either. They all mixed up, the kiss, Phylon, a war, the wolf, again and again... and a dark, looming creature that somehow scared me. It felt as if something was coming. And it was drawing nearer. I didn't know where I had this feeling from, but somehow, I was certain.

But I kept myself as busy as possible, but on the day that Nyshard was scheduled to come back, I was incredibly nervous. I'd already ended my training with Caaln, who had started to train more hand-to-hand combat with me as well as sword-fighting with non-wooden swords. A few days ago, he had showed me a silvery sword with rounded edges on its blade, so that I wouldn't hurt myself during training. But I was already convinced, that sword-fighting would never become my favourite. I'd come to prefer the bow and also knives and daggers, which allowed me to move more freely. The weight of a sword still felt incredibly foreign for me and I just felt as if it pulled me down just from holding it.

Nevertheless, I tried.

I was just working with Srandi in her herbal garden, when I felt his familiar aura arrive back in Ilyria. Nyshard.

Something deep inside of me seemed to urge me to go to him, to see if he was alright and well, because I knew perfectly well that he still had a shield wrapped tightly around me, and from a talk with Brayhd I now knew, that such a thing could be quite difficult to maintain, if Nyshard wasn't close by. And that he'd been gone for such a long time, only added to it.

Instead, I chose to stay with Srandi and help her as best as I could, but after a few hours, we were finished.

I went in my room to take a bath, but once I was done with it, I couldn't stop myself and found myself walking in the direction of Nyshard's study.

Once I stood in front of the familiar, dark, wooden door, I hesitated for a moment. I had no idea what I wanted to say to him, because talking... I didn't want to talk about the kiss. There was nothing to talk about, nothing, that would change anything. But I somehow needed to know – no, to see – if he was alright. Uninjured.

Sighing, I raised my hand to knock, but then I noticed, that the door was already opened a crack wide.

I peeked inside, and – my insides froze.

And burned up.

There was a woman with beautiful, long brown hair. A brunette woman, that I had already seen once. On Berthyan.

Nista.

And that woman was standing next to Nyshard, her hand on his chest in a familiar way, looking up at him. "Then I'll see you later, Milord.", I heard her say, her voice low and smooth, then she drew away from him, turned towards the door, and walked towards me, her hips swaying.