1 - Daughter Of The Storm

16 - Leith's Guidance

2nd day of the season of death 2447

Due to the incident during the elemental mastery class, Arièlla and Azéna had earned an extension to their disciplinary session with Reaginn because of their immaturity and carelessness. Since then, Azéna's foul mood persisted. It had taken a tremendous amount of self-control to keep herself from losing her temper over the High Council's decision.

That night, she hardly slept. She was too concerned about Tyrath. She was so anxious that the tense muscles in her legs were causing her dull pain. For the hundredth time, she rolled to her side, hoping to find a position comfortable enough that would allow her to fall asleep.

She looked up at the window. She located the moon, which was almost entirely melted into the darkness of the sky, and thought of nothing else for a moment. According to the position of the star, she had a few hours of sleep left. Annoyed, she ignored the clock even though it could have given her more accurate information.

She needed to calm down, so she decided to go see if Teriondil was hanging out in the common room.

On tiptoe, she tried to pull on some pants without waking Fayne. The floor creaked under her weight as she lifted a leg. She winced, unsure of herself and renounced. Too bad, she was going to remain braless, only wearing a shirt and panties... wrapped in a blanket.

As expected, she found her friend sitting by the fireplace on the carpet with a large teapot and a small glass, both filled with hot liquid, at his side. He was humming a whimsical tune that he seemed to improvise as he tenderly stroked a pink-petaled flower held in place by magic in his hair. The rhythm was as charming as it was soothing, just like the singer's voice.

Azéna found herself enjoying it and thus, she leaned against the door frame and absorbed the elven words even though she didn't understand them. He didn't notice her, his eyes closed as if he was in a trance. His mood infected her and she couldn't help but forget her worries.

After a while, visions of an enchanting forest with huge trees and thriving flora crept into her mind. She didn't recognize it and was shocked at first. She shook her head and snapped back to reality. Tingles ran down her sensitive skin. It all felt surreal, like it shouldn't have happened.

"What the...?"

Unsure of how to react, she simply sat down to the right of the teapot. She waited a long moment before Teriondil noticed her.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Jirnah!"

"Huh?" Azéna said, blinked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry! I sometimes forget that I'm not at home and that Elvish isn't used much here. "Jirnah" is a form of greeting that implies you have a lot of feelings for the person you're talking to."

The archer girl felt her blood rush to her face, gathering mainly in her cheeks. She had to be as red as a cherry. She wrapped the bottom of her head in her blanket.

"What do you mean, "feelings"?"

She was honestly afraid of the answer, but she needed to know to understand the situation.

"Well," Teriondil replied, scratching his chin, on which a juvenile mint green beard was beginning to grow. "Well..."

He sipped his tea, turned more comfortably towards her and took her hand in his.

This is it, Azéna thought, her whole head heated by embarrassment. Fayne is going to kill me when she finds out Teri has a crush on me. That's not good. Well, okay. She thinks he's cute, but she said she didn't want him as a lover... I might survive....