Inivisible string: A Sam and Nehemia story

Chapter 23

Nehemia

They went on their way to the palace, though they didn't talk much to Aedion and Lysandra. Nehemia had too much to say to Sam, but she didn't know how. She had known Elentyia was an assassin, she knew she was Aelin, but she didn't know that she was Celeana Sardothien. She had heard the name of Adarland's assassin before, even in Ellywe and even with the war, it was a well known name. But to learn that her best friend and Sam's were the same person? That was almost as unexpected as running into Sam's friend on the streets of Rifthold.

She decided she needed to tell Sam the story before they got to meet her. She didn't know what Aelin's reaction to them would be, they both broke her heart and hadn't tried to mend it in any way. She grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him back a little so they could have some distance between them and Lysandra and her partner, who she still found familiar but couldn't place.

When she thought they were far enough away Sam sent her a puzzled look. And with that look she started to talk:

"Do you remember Elentyia? The friend I tild you about?" asked Nehemia

"Yes..?" Sam answered, probably confused since they had only talked about it back when they had their chats in the roof overlooking the city.

"She's Aelin." Nehemia muttered, she was worried about what this all meant, not for her relationship with Sam, but because of the friendship they both had with Aelin, what if after their actions she no longer wanted to be friends with them, with her? She knew it was a stupid thing to think about, she had just come back to life and the real problem would come when she got home to Ellywe, not in Adarland.

Sam to his credit only looked shock, not weirded out or anything. He looked at her and said "No wonder she was friends with both of us and we ended up together". He smiled at her, grabbed her hand and gave her a kiss in the knuckles while looking at her with sparkling eyes.

She laughed and pulled him in for a real kiss. While the kiss started getting more heated, someone cleared their throat ahead of them.

"Ahem"

Nhemia felt herself blushing and Sam's cheeks told her he was blushing too as they heard Lysandra.

"You guys are lagging behind." Said Lysandra with a flat face, but Nehemia thought she heard a teasing tone in her voice. "Come on, the guards will only let you through if you're with us".

When they got to the palace gates, Nehemia couldn't help herself but to stare upwards. It was no longer the glass castle she knew, the castle she had lives in. It was way smaller and all made of stone. It was as if the glass castle had never been there before, as if it had only ever been stone. She also hadn't been in these gates since the first time she got here, she had gotten out to her meetings with the rebels using the tunels and the only times she left her room were to go somewhere inside the castle or to the gardens.

They followed Lysandra and her companion, whose name they still didn't know but didn't seemed willing to ask yet, all the way to Aelin's old suite in the castle. Then asked them to sit at the table and wait, before she left.

Sam was looking around the suite with an air of wonder, Nehemia hadn't thought about it before, but after living in a small room for the last year, she could see why this was a novel to him. To her it was just a normal sized room inside a palace, to Sam it was somewhere more than one person could live. Even though he had grown up in the Assasin's keep, his room had been little in comparison to this.

Nehemia hadn't noticed how hungry she was until a servant entered with two bowls of fruit and set them in front of them. "The Lady of Caraverre sent me to bring you some fruit, is there anything else I can get to you?"

Nehemia wasn't sure who this Lady of Caraverre was, Lysandra perhaps? But she only thanked the servant and dismissed her. It seemed neither of them knew what to say to the other, since they both stayed silent.

After they had finished their food, Sam broke the silence.

"So, about all of this new information we've discovered... I know it's crazy and none of us knew about it until now, but I don't want this, us to change in any way. I wanted to tell you this since before, but I was just... wrapping my mind about it I guess." he said and Nehemia could see how he was blushing.

"So whatever was going on with you and Aelin-Celeana- Elentyia, its over?" She hadn't wanted to be nervous, in her heart she knew he was over her, but still she wanted to know, wanted to hear it straight form him.

He leaned closer to her and grabbed her hand. "Look I know all of this is probably confusing for both of us, but I'm over Cel-Aelin. I don't want to be with her, Queen of Terrassen, assassin or whatever else, I want you."

Nehemia could feel tears threatening to fall, she loved when Sam talked like this, but hated that she cried so easily. This didn't happen before she left Ellywe, she was supposed to be stronger than this. She was a princess, she was taught to control her emotions since she was a kid. But somehow Sam disarmed her every, single, time.

"Let's just get this whole thing over with and when we're out of here, we can talk in depth about everything, we can ask each other any questions we have about everything." Sam said. "I promise."