Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

It was a morning Lyv had been dreading after having such a great few weeks home in Escarral – the morning they were heading back to Ayveri. Not that she didn't miss the capital city of Dalcaine and all those in it she missed terribly, but she was going to miss her family more than ever. Having them all around her in their time spent there was something she so desperately needed after everything that had happened over the past few years.

And it had been a most welcome distraction from it all – from trying to figure out what the Dark Mage Corliss wanted with Lyv, where Mik and Allel were hiding out and what their next move would be, and how Lyv and the others could help Elys grow more into his Seer powers.

Now, Lyv was sitting at the table in the dining room with the two texts about the Arcane Blood Plague and the Seer of Ikreus they'd gotten in Palrion. She was alone, the rest of her family having left to get ready for the day after they'd finished breakfast. Lyv, though, had been up since the early morning hours, her mind racing as she thought of it all. The passages from the texts raised even more questions for her to ask and try to find answers to.

"We'll be in Ayveri this afternoon, won't we?" Elys asked her once he'd run back into the dining room. He instantly appeared beside her with his hair brushed and clothes straightened, his dagger on his waist, and his new stuffed dragon in his arms. And it was all thanks to Jai since the two of them were all but inseparable now, dragon included.

"Yes, we will," she smiled. "We're going to leave in less than an hour. We've got everything already packed up and Erly and Roshan's saddles on them. We're just hanging out here until everyone else is ready, too."

"I'm gonna go find Jai again then, all right?"

"And tell him to hurry up since we're just waiting on him now. I'll be out in the back gardens with Roshan and Erly, making sure everything is straightened with them even though I've already checked half a dozen times...since we're still waiting on Jai."

"Gotcha! I'll tell him that, too!" Elys grinned, leaning forward to press a kiss her cheek before running out of the dining room once more.

Lyv sighed heavily as she placed both texts on the table in front of her, reaching down for her bag so she could slip them inside. She'd already packed up everything from her rooms she'd wanted to take with her, including a few of her books, pieces of clothing, and two of her most comfortable shoes that weren't her riding boots. She didn't want to go back up after coming down for breakfast, knowing the knot of homesickness in the pit of her stomach would only begin to grow larger.

Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Lyv began her slow walk through the hallways of the palace, making sure she noted every change, everything that was still the same, not knowing when she'd be back. Soon, of course. Sooner than it took her to come back before. But when she did, her sisters and their families would more than likely be back in their own homes and territories, so the sounds of the screaming and laughing children upstairs wouldn't be there.

When she stepped outside, Roshan and Erly were ready to go, just finishing their own breakfast Bence brought especially for them. Of course, the lovable beasts made themselves home and a part of the family, too. Their favorite time wasn't flying over the forests and mountains of Escarral, but rather playing around in the back gardens with all the children and even the adults when they decided to join in. Just like with everyone they met, they'd made everyone at the palace fall in love with them, even though they'd made their own personal spots in the back gardens that would have to be cleaned up once they were gone.