From The Ashes

Chapter Twenty One - Secret Agreements

Lilluth De Lanmere

The cart had long juddered to a rocky halt before the gates that read; "Welcoming Thou to Moorelin" in faint engraving, the stone arch that bore it battered by the turbulent, salt-riddled sea air. Lilluth found herself tempted to hunch her shoulders as she'd walked beneath it, anticipating the seemingly inevitable impact of falling pebbles from the damp and crumbling rock overhead. Not a single one battered her, nor came loose enough to assail her. Instead, all that hit her was the light sprinkle of drizzling rain, propelled by the coastal winds, and mingled with the spray of the sea. The water was cold and bitter on her barren, cracked lips and on her tongue, as rough and dry as sandpaper, as she ran it along them. The chilling air did nothing to help her forget the creep of dehydration, brought on by the fact she hadn't had a drink in hours.

It was just her and Kae'nith sat in the cart now, her master's coffin vacant and Candleiene and Rennaith wandering the town. The moon was high and semi-full in a black, clear sky, in which the stars were fully visible, and the Sky Fire danced around them in the northern hues of green, blue and gold. She lowered her legs over the edge of the cart and watched Kae'nith as he pried dusty deposits of soil from the wheel beside her.

She watched his hands, white and fine, without a fleck of skin on them. As they curled around the stick he was using to get the job done, his knuckles broke apart, revealing the hinge joints firmly, yet seemingly just barely, holding him together. Lilluth couldn't quite understand it, but his hands, as cold and dead as they were, a mannequin's hands, reminded her of Rennaith and his hands. The way the wooden fingers curled around the stick reminded her of Rennaith's hold on her hands, the way his fingers had gingerly and delicately wrapped around and taken hers. Rennaith's touch had never changed, not since the first time he'd reached out for her, tentative and cautious. He was himself a beautiful enigma to her, perhaps that was why she thought of him so often, that being anytime they were even remotely apart. It was odd to her, for he was the only person who consumed her thoughts in such a way. Well, one of the few at any rate.

The only other person who even came close to what Rennaith had over her mind was the blonde boy. He was so ingrained into her memory that at least part of her had to acknowledge his existence as physical. She could recall even the most minor of his features, the sharp, narrow cut of his cheeks, the silver-blue hue of his eyes, the way strands of his hair tucked themselves into the collar of his fur-lined robe. She was almost certain, even without further proof, that he was out there, that he was a real, living human being. It was almost as though he was a part of her, both of them connected despite any distance, any doubt in each other. It was a connection as potent as the one she had with Rennaith, despite not even knowing his name or his significance to her. It was not the same bond either, it was certainly one of love, but not the romantic love she shared with Rennaith.

"You're distracted, dear one." Lilluth looked down as Kae'nith piped up, only just realizing he had put the stick down, and was looking at her. "What's on your mind?"

She shrugged, "Oh, not that much. It's awfully cold out tonight, and the tide's come in awfully close. When do you think Rennaith and Master Angharad are returning? Do you think they're alright?"

She knew Kae'nith wasn't convinced that she had told him everything, he knew her too well. Most of the time, it seemed he knew her more than she knew herself. Nevertheless, he rested a hand reassuringly on the cart wall just below her. "Moorelin may seem ramshackle from an outside perspective, but allow me to reassure you that it is many centuries old, and has never toppled. Not even once."

Lilluth stared at her undead companion incredulously, "But it's built upon stilts! The water must have rotted them away at least once during that time!"