Threads of Fate

Chapter 23 ~ The Questions of a Yearning Heart

    Tissaia rose with the sun, unwilling to wait another minute to see if the scouts had returned with Talarion and Kaius. She dressed quickly in the change of clothes that had been provided for her. They were very unlike the clothes she was accustomed to, but no less comfortable. Her tunic was made of some type of hide which had been dyed a deep shade of brown.

    She wore it on top of a plain white blouse, and over the hide tunic, she'd been given a leather vest. The sides of it were enforced with scale-like material to offer her additional protection. Her pants were plain, but with the same reinforced scales going down the inseam, and she kept her original boots.

    After securing her weapons, Tissaia opened her door, then leaped back when she found an unexpected figure behind it. The female, Kahari, offered her a slight wave and a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I was just coming to check on you. I thought you'd want to know that our scouts returned."

    "With my brother?" Tissaia asked hopefully.

    Kahari shook her head. "But they did say they found two more dead Blood Fae and hoof tracks leading towards Oriana's Pavilion. Vael thought it would be better to come back and tell you. He assumed your brother might be less willing to trust us than you were, especially if he mentioned you and you weren't with him."

    "He would be right," Tissaia confirmed. "Thank you for letting me know. We should leave as soon as possible. My brother will be worried."

    "Of course. Vael and I will escort you." Kahari turned to leave, then paused with a sniff. "Did that male follow me here!" She exclaimed. "Gods, I warned him that you didn't want to see him!" She took a step forward but Tissaia caught her by the wrist.

    "It's all right," she assured her. "Yes, he must've followed you here to find me, but he didn't bother me too much, and he left very quickly. I should've made it clearer why I didn't want to see him. We had an...argument. He didn't do anything to me."

    "Oh." Kahari's shoulders relaxed and Tissaia released her. "I'm sorry, I just assumed with how upset you were that he might have hurt you in some way."

    "He did, but not physically." Tissaia grabbed her satchel with her few belongings and followed Kahari out the door. They walked at a quick pace but Tissaia took the time to fully observe her companion, realizing that she hadn't yesterday. She'd been too preoccupied.

    The female was decently attractive, but her beauty was somewhat muted compared to other Fae, Tissaia thought. She had a long, narrow face and a shorter, pointed nose spattered with freckles. There was also a tiny, almost imperceptible freckle in the center of her forehead shaped like a four-point star. Her hair hung just past her shoulders and was a mixture of copper and bronze, giving it its dark auburn hue.

    Her eyes were quick and sharp, and a shade of green so deep that it seemed to have been pulled from the depths of the forest itself. Her lips were thin, but pretty, yet it was her ears that piqued Tissaia's interest. They were round, but this female was clearly not Human if she had been able to pick up traces of Azael's scent from the night before.

    "You're half-Fae," Tissaia realized.

    Kahari sucked in a shallow breath, her eyes darting to Tissaia, before she gave a timid nod. "My mother was Human, my father Fae."

    "I'm sorry if it's a sensitive subject," she apologized swiftly. "It wasn't a judgement. I was just intrigued. Your kind is the rarest species in all of Asterria. I've never met one in person before."

    A tight smile stretched across the woman's lips. "That's for a variety of reasons. Many Fae find Humans beneath them. The ones that don't are afraid to get attached, and what Human would want to fall in love with someone and have children with them only to die before all of them?"