City of Fire

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Ilona"

The dreams had haunted her, but they'd been devoid of voices this time. She sat beside Erin, dressed in new clothes and bathed. Her body felt considerably better and for a moment it looked as if Erin himself looked better. His face nearly wasn't as pale and his breathing was better. A bandage was wrapped around his head, both of his hands covered with them, and he wore a white sleeping gown. He looked so frail in the bed, his damp blonde hair shining slight from the sun.

"He looks better than he did." Ilona didn't look away from his face at the sound of Tidus's voice. She only nodded, keeping his hand in hers. Tidus halted beside her, the morning breeze ruffling his spiky hair. He wore a loose fitting brown shirt, the strings open at the top to reveal the tan flesh underneath. She glimpsed that his shoulder was wrapped and knew that they were all battered and wounded.

"Yes, the physician said that his wound was actually healing considerably fast." She reached forward and brushed a loose strand of hair off of his temple.

Silence...

"Ilona, we need to talk." Tidus lowered himself down beside her and she looked at him.

"What?" He didn't answer right away and at the unease that was on his face made her heart pound with worry.

"The Fire Council is unwilling to accept you as the Dominus," he whispered.

"That's it?" Ilona shook her head, turning her eyes back to Erin's sleeping face. "You made it seem as if it were a big deal."

"It is a big deal!" He shouted and she jumped at the anger in his voice, "If they don't accept you as the Dominus, and we as your Guardians, then we'll never be able to come together as a whole and defeat Stangmar. We won't even be able to fend off the siege!" Ilona stared at him as she watched his face transform into a twisted mask of anger and frustration.

"Why won't they?" She asked and Tidus stood, turning away from her and running a hand over his face.

"Because we don't have the mark," his words were low and stressed. Ilona stood and reaching out took his hand.

"What mark?" He stilled at her words, looking at their hands.

"Every Dweller, if they've found their Dominus, will have a mark appear on their flesh, binding them to the rightful Dominus until death. You as the Dominus don't even have one, all you have is that stone." His eyes flicked to it as it hung around her neck. "But I know you're her, as do the rest of us."

"Not Zane," the sudden thought made her sad. Tidus's eyes gleamed with rage and he gritted his teeth.

"Stay away from him." Ilona was shocked at the heat that was in his words.

"Why? He's one of my Guardians too," Ilona didn't know why she suddenly felt so defensive but she did.

"Because, he's a monster." Ilona reached up and before she realized what she was doing she slapped him. Tidus blinked, shocked, but Ilona glared at him.

"How can you say that?" She was shaking, "He saved my life, saved Erin's and Adrian's. He wouldn't have done that if he was a monster." Tidus narrowed his eyes at her.

"He's only doing it because—"

"Tidus," Adrian cut in sharply and Ilona jumped. He stood by the doorway, his blue eyes hard as they looked upon Tidus. Tidus returned the glare, his whole body trembling with rage.