For All Things Eternal

Chapter 13

I awoke to find Coranith leaning against the wall beside my bed with his lips tugged into deep frown. Seeing him had me sitting up so fast my hair fell in front of my face and I had to quickly push it away, my eyes landing on the blanket that now covered my legs. Didn't I pass out on top of them? I flicked my wide gaze back to him in shock.

"Do you know just how long I've been trying to wake you up?" He said and I could hear the annoyance in his tone. "I think the most frustrating part is that you only woke up the second I stopped trying."

"So you decided to just stay and watch me sleep?" I asked, thoroughly disturbed.

"No, I was trying to figure out if you were dead."

I tilted my head confused for a second before remembering I don't have to breathe anymore. Which made his answer actually believable because I would probably wonder the same thing.

"I didn't want to touch you because I was worried you might lunge for my throat the second you woke up if I did." My lips tugged up slightly as I fought hard not to laugh.

"Fair enough."

Seemingly satisfied that I was now awake he pushed off the wall and glanced down at the dress that had somehow ended up sprawled across the bottom of my bed. "You should wear that, Minerva told me she picked out something for you, and you might insult her if you don't." The brooch was nowhere in sight as I stared at the dress. I didn't even think about the fact that the dress was probably from Minerva, and that was one woman who I most certainly did not want to upset. Coranith and Aithlin I can handle, but out of all the generals that I met yesterday she was the only one who actually intimidated me.

"Zephyr gave me some shoes for you to wear as well. I assume that's his way of apologizing for not actually getting to meet you yesterday. Which surprised me considering how much of a mood he's been in lately." My gaze landed on what I expected to be a pair of frilly heels, but instead was greeted by an extremely nice pair of freshly polished black combat boots that were sitting on the floor beside my bed. Out of all the things I was gifted, they were probably the only thing I actually liked.

"Is it normal for your generals to to new members gifts?" I asked after a moment.

"Only when they think it might be a good idea not to get on their bad side." He chuckled, waving a hand as he moved to the door. "You might want to get changed. I've been trying to wake you for a few hours now and we don't have much time before the ceremony starts. I was going to try and take you above ground before it started, but now you'll just have to be surprised."

How long had I been asleep? Was it really already that late? Coranith paused just before opening the door, brows scrunched in confusion. "Something's been bothering me." He started, meeting my gaze. "Why haven't you resummoned your clone, or whatever that thing was, to try and help you escape?" I tried to keep my face from showing the pain that instantly lurched in my chest the moment he mentioned my shade. I haven't even tried to call to her, knowing that I wouldn't be able to because of the empty void I felt inside me. She was still gone and I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to bring her back. I couldn't even feel the faintest flicker of her power, my power.

"I can't." I said after a long awkward silence. "She isn't just some spell I can command whenever I like, she was a piece of me."

When I was younger and was first able to summon my shade, she was just as stubborn as I was. She didn't listen and would more often than not decide she was done with me trying to order her around and, to put it in simple terms, unsummoned herself. She would go back to residing within me until I tried to call on her again. Eventually we grew some kind of bond and she began to grow less stubborn, and seemed to always know when she was needed without me summoning her. It was kind of like being friends with myself in a strange, unnatural way.