Spirit of Shadows

| Chapter Eight |

Em woke up by a light knocking on the bedroom door. She quickly sat up and glanced around the room, not quite remembering where she was. It took her a few seconds to recall that they had met a Swan Maiden named Svana and that she had let them stay the night here.

"Hello?" Svana called from outside the bedroom door.

Em pushed the sheets back and tried to smooth her hair down as Svana turned the knob and entered the bedroom.

"Hey, I couldn't find Matthias and–" Svana was cut off abruptly, her eyes widening as she glanced to the left of Em.

Em, confused at her reaction, turned to the left and saw the boy who was still fast asleep, his shirt off and hair disheveled. She blushed furiously and glanced back at Svana who stood in the doorway speechless for a moment.

"Oh whoops! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have barged in, if I would have known–"

"No! No it's alright! We didn't–haha–we, I..." Em was completely humiliated at this point, her speech was nothing but useless stammering as she tried to explain herself.

"What...?" Matthias breathed beside her. He let out a deep yawn and slowly sat up in bed. His head swung towards Em and he smiled boyishly at her. "Well good morning b–"

Em quickly grabbed his face and turned it toward the figure in the doorway. He stilled immediately as he took in the fact that Svana had been there the entire time.

"Alright, well I'll uh–let you two get dressed! Meet me downstairs for a quick breakfast whenever you're ready!" Svana said, her cheeks a rosy pink blush. She hurriedly shut the door before Em could tell her that they didn't sleep together. Well, they slept together in the same bed but they didn't...you know...sleep together!

Oh, how embarrassing! Em thought. She let out a loud huff, not daring to look at Matthias as she slid out of bed and opened the soft drapes.

The sun was peeking out quite a substantial amount, considering that deep within the swamp, the sun had barely reached. Em could see the babbling brooks that littered Svana's lawn easily now. Smooth pebbles flattened out by soft trickling water were laying across the grass as stepping stones; they led toward a small pond. This place was absolutely breathtaking and Em wondered how Svana ended up here all alone.

"Sorry about that." Matthias said, pulling Em from her thoughts. She moved back from the drapes and turned to face the boy who was running a hand through his hair, trying to flatten it down.

Em couldn't help but stare at his well defined muscles. She felt so girly while ogling at his body that she needed to advert her gaze. Though, his face was an even better sight. His blue eyes reflected in the small amount of sunlight that filtered into the room, his blonde hair looked extremely soft and touchable (despite its disheveled state), and his cheeks were flushed pink. Em couldn't believe this but in that moment, she thought she had never seen someone so beautiful. Someone so pure.

"Em?" Matthias asked. Em cursed mentally at her childish behavior and began to nod.

"It's alright. Let's just get ready to go."

Matthias didn't argue with her as he hopped out of the bed and walked out of the door, back toward his own bedroom. Em was sad to see him go but she quickly went about collecting her boots and cloak, bringing them with her as she headed downstairs.

...

Svana had set the table up with a buffet of delicious smelling breakfast foods. Fresh scrambled eggs, stacks of pancakes, and small English muffins littered the tabletop. Orange juice was being poured into three cups and she quickly grabbed the toast out of the toaster, adding that to the buffet.