Blood of Elven

Chapter Thirty-Five

Pulling herself together, Khionia turned her head to scan the entryways to the rooms on the opposite side of the hallway, noting that her brother's door was slightly ajar suggesting that he had already made his way downstairs. The next door down was firmly shut, not a sound could be heard from the other side.

Would that have been Mashilla's room? How was she doing above ground with Daeman and Heath? Guilt filled her that this was the first time she had thought of the elfling since their parting of ways.

"I wish Mashilla was here with us," she found herself saying as she looked at the closed door.

Bash grunted beside her, causing Khionia to turn her attention back to him. He shifted for a moment then said, "You are safer without her here. Especially after what happened this morning."

"Why? She didn't harm me. And she wouldn't ever harm me. She just had a night terror. Right?"

Bash's eyes hardened, as he looked at the door. "It was likely a night terror. Maybe. But Daeman has noticed that she is quite fixated on you. Well, both on you and Cal. Dae said for the past few nights, actually, that Mashilla has been waking just to seemingly watch you sleep for hours in the dark." When he looked back at Khionia, his face showed signs of both disquiet and thunder.

Khionia was confused, unable to process why the elfling would be acting in such a manner. Did Mashilla blame Khionia for all that had befallen her in such a short amount of time? She wouldn't be wrong to do so, Khionia thought, as it had been her fault for sending Mashilla and the other elflings to the Gallowkeepers back in the city which only hastened their dark fate. And was she truly wakening every night? Every time Khionia had checked on her the previous night, the elfling had been in a deep sleep. 

Hadn't she?

And how was Daeman able to watch her through the night, multiple nights in a row, without sleeping himself? He didn't even remain at the campsite most of those nights as Khionia could recall him stepping into his shadows and disappearing as the fire died down for the evening on more than one occasion.

She found herself whispering under her breath, "She wouldn't hurt me." No, Mashilla would never hurt her. Of that, Khionia was positive. But there was something going on with the elfling, something that required more help than she could give.

Bash tucked a piece of Khionia's loose hair back behind her ear and said softly, "No, I don't think she would. At least, not intentionally. But she is struggling with wounds that none of us can see; none of us can even fathom for one as young as she is, and that can cause behaviors to manifest that are not... expected," Bash sighed, "And soon our best Healers will be helping her to get back into good enough shape to join us underground. For now, she is safe with Daeman."

Nodding in silent understanding and thereby effectively ending the conversation, Khionia turned and began to walk back toward the stairs that would bring her down to the festivities below.

Noise enveloped her even before she hit the second set of stairs, the heat of the bodies packed down below cascading over and up the corridor in greeting as she and Bash made the final descent to join the gathering.

As her feet hit the floor, Bash's hand found the small of her back and stayed there as a steadying anchor as she walked toward the gathering of Underlings before her. Steering her into the throng, Bash directed her toward a table set off to the side that had her companions crowded around sipping from mugs and engaging in animated conversations. Among them were unfamiliar faces clapping backs or shaking hands with one another in greeting and welcome. Cal was among the group, standing behind an empty chair that he must have previously occupied, so that he could talk with a female with a similar complexion and posture to Orlan, who was sitting just before the two and twisted so he was looking up joining in the conversation.