High School Diaries (A Throne of Glass Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

Elide was being followed.

It wouldn't be that difficult task in the hustle-bustle of the crowded marketplace. But it could also be that easy to think that maybe she was just being paranoid.

Something yanked in her that it wasn't paranoia.

Her breath scorched her throat with every gasping inhale as she limped towards the next shop to buy groceries. She had told Aedion and Lysandra that she was going out for fresh air, but truthfully she was doing something for them. Aelin was tired most of the time, catching up to her studies, her traveling time to Adarlan High was an additional burden. There was something nagging her.

Elide didn't know what sense, exactly, picked up on it. But they'd been living together long enough to sense the tension in the tapestry of their lives woven together. That was a long standing problem with Aelin. She took the weight of the world on her shoulders, never trusting anyone to share it. She had tried to talk to her, but Lysandra just mouthed, 'Sam' and she understood it wasn't a topic Aelin would like to indulge in.

Aedion and Lysandra had their own issues to deal with. They bought money to the house, despite all of their debts to Arobynn. Only Elide with her crippled leg was the useless among them all. So she made herself useful in other ways- household chores. At 17, same age as Aelin, she could do almost all of the work by herself. Unlike Aelin or Aedion, who somehow burnt the pan while cooking something black she didn't recognize in the leftover ashy state.

Her ruined ankle throbbed with pain she hadn't experienced in years. But doing something for her family, not by blood, was enough. Her pain increased tenfold by the time she reached the next shop, the important one. She could extract some herbs and oils to soak her foot in from this ornery shopkeeper, if she played her cards well.

Compared to other keepers, who either sneered at her breasts, mocked her for her leg or outright ignored her, he was fairly mild. He tolerated her presence, attended to her politely and gave free groceries if he was feeling generous enough.

And he never blinked twice when Elide enquired about when the next shipment of food and supplies would come in, because Oh, the salted caramel popcorns were available only at his shop nearby, and she loved them to death, but they get snatched early.

Easy to flatter, easy to trick. Making people see and hear what they wanted to: one of the few weapons in her arsenal.

Sure enough, she left the store with a hell lot of free groceries and bathroom supplies. Also, the man told her the new shipment would arrive by next Thursday- something she had to report to Arobynn, for whatever fucked up reason. He seriously was the most messed up person, she'd ever met in her life. And that said alot because she lived with 3 of the people with messed up past, present and probably future. She wondered if Aelin knew he didn't look at her in a way that a father-like figure should. But he hadn't declared himself as either so-

There it was, again.

That feeling of being followed, being watched.

Elide Lochan was hundred percent sure now. And she tried to do something about it.

Key word: tried.

For about 15 minutes now, she'd attempted to lose whoever tracked her in this throng of people. In the process she'd taken the longer path to home.

The isolated path.

Idiot.

For a Ravenclaw, she sure was dumb.

Her phone was at home because Evangeline was playing games in it. She regretted wearing a long skirt to hide the limp and even considered dropping the weight of groceries and running back. If it was a thief following her, they would sure focus on stealing the stuff, right?