Nentarli [COMPLETE]

~ Fifty-One ~

Blaike, Kayle and I were awake for most of the journey; we made small talk to pass the time or just sat in companionable silence. Blaike stroked patterns onto the backs of my hands and it soothed me into a half sleep. However, as soon as the carriage jostled I was wide awake again, Blaike said nothing, he just held me closer. Some of the soldiers left us when we reached their villages and at one point we were joined by a group of wounded, including Alacor.

Healthy soldiers went to help them onto the carriages but Alacor was adamant they take him to check on Emy. I could hear their protests but he wasn't giving up and they finally agreed, I smiled at Alacor as he was helped over and nudged Emy awake. She was bleary-eyed at first but they quickly cleared up when she noticed her dad.

She crawled to the end of the carriage and hugged him tightly, I could see how much pain he was in but he didn't let on to Emy and just hugged her back. Alacor made sure Emy was alright before he let himself be ushered onto the carriages, the soldiers had had a short break but we had to get going. When Emy settled back down into her seat, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"We didn't lose anyone, Cass, I was so sure we would but we didn't and now we can go home."

She drifted back off to sleep with the smile still in place but she had left me with more on my mind. Would she still want to go back to our world or would she want to stay here in this one? I wracked my brain as I lay against Blaike, my conversation with Nenny was repeating over and over in my head.

"What is it?" Blaike asked and he took both of my hands in his.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later," my reply made his eyebrow arch but he didn't question me further.

Instead we stared up at the sky as it darkened, we would be back in Dumair by the next afternoon. We would have to tell the tale all over again to the parents, and anyone else who needed to hear it. I just wanted to sleep but my body wouldn't comply, my brain kept going over every little thing. Blaike knew something was wrong but he didn't press me, he began to hum a tune and I felt it reverberating through his chest.

It was a soft melody that I didn't recognise at first, then it came to me in a flash. He was humming the tune to one of my favorite songs, I didn't know how he knew it but in that moment I didn't care. I listened and my eyes drooped, his thumbs stroked the side of my hands and he didn't stop humming. I felt myself drifting to sleep where I couldn't just moments before, he had the ability to calm the storm in my mind.

I awoke with a start when the carriage stopped with a bit too much force.

"Oops, sorry," said a man's voice from the front but it wasn't Kayle.

He was now curled up on the bed of the carriage, fast asleep. Emy and Kaleb were still asleep and I looked up to see that Blaike had fallen asleep too.

I smiled and called up to the man sitting where Kayle had been. "Don't worry about it, we're fine."

He was familiar but I didn't know his name, he hopped down from the carriage and seemed to be waiting for something. The snow had melted away to small drifts, the house looked just as it always had but I felt like I was seeing it for the first time again. It really was a beautiful house, I could believe now that a noble family lived here and strangely, that I was one of them.

The little sleep I'd had did me some good, I felt a bit stronger but not enough to walk. I managed to shift myself to the end of the carriage and watched as another came riding into the garden behind us. The soldiers that accompanied us were standing waiting, as though for orders and then I heard my dad telling them to help with the wounded.

There were only a handful left but they were being taken into the house for medical treatment. The soldiers did as they were told and soon, the others were being woken up so we could also be helped into the house. Kaleb and Emy were able to stand but not alone, they held onto soldiers and headed inside. Kayle helped Blaike, who wouldn't go anywhere without me. I was helped by two soldiers and I recognised them from our journey to the Eastern Sector.