Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Lyv, it seemed, wasn't the only one to not get much sleep. After she left Gideon alone in the library, his head in his hands as he sat down hard on the sofa, she faded into those shadows she'd created to hide herself and back to her rooms. He never knew she was there and she wanted to keep it as such until he needed her to talk to.

Once she was back in her rooms, she tip-toed over to her bed, pulled back the sheets, and got underneath. Elys was still asleep, so she laid down beside him, wrapping him up tightly in her arms. He shifted to snuggle against her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

By the time morning came, Lyv only got about two or so hours of sleep before she was up. Of course, Elys was still out and probably would be for a little while longer with such an eventful day the day before.

It didn't take her long to dress and get ready in her bathing room before she slipped out into the quiet hallway. She opted for wearing some of her old riding clothes she found in the back of her wardrobe, ones she'd hidden from Guinevere when she purged pretty much all of her things. The lightweight shirt, tight-fitting brown pants, and leather boots brought back so many memories of her travels.

She first went to check on Roshan and Erly, who were both still asleep in the gardens behind the palace. The gardeners were already hard at work, but eyed them to make sure they didn't startle them. None of them wanted to be accidentally set ablaze. Of course, Lyv wasn't going to wake the dragons when the sun was barely up either, but she went ahead and got the meat her father sent for from the kitchen and set it out for their breakfast.

By the time she came back, though, Thia was there with Erly. The dragon was still trying to wake up, yawning wide and showing all her sharp teeth, as she tossed her saddle over her back. The half-sorceress had a blank look on her face, her eyes still red and puffy. She could barely look at Lyv, even as she waited for her dragon to finish breakfast after she had the saddle secured.

Lyv reached over and took Thia's hand, holding it tightly. "Are you all right?"

She wasn't going to mention her eavesdropping just a few hours earlier, not until Thia was ready to tell her herself.

"No, actually," she whispered, looking down. "I...I hopefully will be, though."

"You know you can tell me anything. I'll always be here for you."

Thia finally looked up to give her a watery smile. "I know...and I love you for it, too. I can't right now, though, not until I straighten it out in my own head. So, I'm going to go out with Erly for a few hours this morning, clear my mind. Don't worry about me, just go spend some time with your family. We'll talk later, all right? Because I know I'm going to need it."

Lyv nodded as she pulled her in for a tight hug, kissing her cheek, before turning to go.

She headed down the pathway that wrapped around the exterior of the palace toward the stables. It didn't take much to know from the sound of heavy, beating wings that Thia and Erly had gone. To where, though, she didn't know.

The stables were livelier than they usually were at that time of morning, but Lyv realized why as soon as she saw the saddled and readied horses being guided out by a few guardsmen. One of those guardsmen was Merek, followed by Jai and a stone-faced Gideon. Camilla and Soren, who had also disappeared the night before after dinner, were talking with a few of the older guardsmen, already astride their horses as they headed for the palace gates.

So, this was what Jai meant when he said they would be gone for the morning.

"Where are you all off to?" she asked as she came around the other side of the horse Jai had been paired with, rubbing her hand between its eyes and along its muzzle.