Chapter 18
Elowen ends up taking us to a set of stairs behind a locked door I haven’t picked yet. “Are you okay to carry Auri?” she asks me.
I make a show of flexing my muscles, and Auri shakes her head, but I catch the corner of her lip tipping up. It’s not exactly a smile, but I’ll take it. Elowen opens the door, and I stare at the winding, rickety staircase. “Hmmm. Didn't know this was here.”
Elowen steps into the darkened stairwell.
“Watch your step.” I pull Auri a little closer so I can see to navigate.
I made a show of muscle, but the truth is my arms are getting a little tired.
I'm not used to carrying this much weight, not that Auri weighs a lot.
I scowl at my own weakness and make a mental note to up my arm strength. “You good?” Elowen asks from above us.
“Yep.”
The steps seem to last forever, but we finally make it to the top. Elowen opens another door and turns to us before stepping out. “We are mostly out of sight up here, but caution is still advised.”
“Okay.” She pushes the door all the way open and steps out.
I follow her out and realize we’re on the roof of the castle.
“Whoa.” I quickly get what Elowen was saying.
We could be visible up here if anybody looked up.
I quickly bend and take a knee. “All right. Down you go.” I place Auri carefully on the ground and then lay on my back next to her.
She quickly follows suit. “If we stay like this, no one can see us.”
“Good idea.” Elowen gets to her knees and lays down next to us. I eye her to see if she needs any help, but she manages it just fine. “This is nice.”
I look up at the sky and agree. “What if the spirit dragons see me?” Auri asks in a quiet voice. I turn my head to Elowen, wondering the same thing.
“It won’t matter,” she says confidently, still staring up at the sky.
“Why not?” I ask, curious.
“Spirit dragons are a part of us and yet ancient.” She’s quiet a moment.
“It’s kind of hard to explain, but they know.
..everything really. They know things we don’t know, and yet they only share with us what we need to know for survival.
They would already know that Auri exists, but they would also know that she’s protected inside the walls here. And they would respect that.”
I feel Redara right there with me, in our connection. That’s how it is for me.
I think about that a moment. Does that mean you know things I don’t?
Yes.
And there are things you don’t tell me?
Yes. It’s difficult to explain. It’s not like I actively keep loads of information from you. It’s like, I may not even realize I know until I search for that piece of information and then find it already exists in my mind. Everything I need to know is simply there already.
I don’t really like it, but I sort of get it, I guess, I send back. A thought hits me. So you know where Nox and Rauk went then?
No.
How do you not know? You just said you know everything, I counter in frustration.
I have knowledge of things in the past, but I don’t know the future. I don’t know where they’re at right now because they didn’t tell me.
Hmmm. I’m not really sure about all this, but I trust Redara.
Thank you, she responds smugly.
You weren’t supposed to hear that, I send right back.
I know.
We let the connection fade, and I stare up at the sky. Before I realize what’s happening, there’s suddenly a purple spirit dragon sitting on the roof next to us. “That’s Lumira,” Elowen says. I watch as he lifts off and soars through the sky.
I watch the sky. “Lumira just joined the spirit animals already in the sky. He’s purple with shiny scales and pointed ears. He’s got a long neck and a really long tail.”
“He sounds beautiful,” Auri says.
I turn to look at Auri, and her wide-eyed gaze is glued to the sky, even though she can’t see them.
“There’s a yellow one right over there,” I point to the sky.
“And an orange one right behind it. Over there is a blue one.” I watch the sky.
“Oh, and a pink one just joined them.” I take it all in; it really is beautiful.
There is nothing I’ve ever seen that could compare to this.
Another thought hits me. “Elowen.” I keep my voice low.
“Yes, Dear?”
“Could spirit dragons fight and win against a guivre in the sky?”
She’s quiet a long moment, and that doesn’t bode well for me.
I’ve thought all along that they could, but now I wonder.
What if it’s not possible? What if Rauk isn’t just holding out because he doesn’t want to get involved but that even if he chose to, it wouldn’t work?
I swallow hard. “I don’t know,” she finally says.
It feels like lead settles in my stomach.
“They can fight; I know that. And they can do some serious damage, but I don’t know against something like that. I just...I really don’t know.”
“What’s a guivre?” Auri, who’s always listening, asks.
“They’re just nasty creatures that are really annoying,” I tell her, playing it off.
If she really knew what they were, she wouldn’t sleep peacefully tonight.
Elowen stays quiet, but I don’t ask what she’s thinking.
I don’t want to risk Auri overhearing. None of us say anything after that.
We simply watch the spirit dragons play in the clouds, and I continue to give updates to Auri until it gets too dark to see them anymore.
Lumira lands back on the roof and then disappears inside Elowen. “That’s amazing,” I breathe.
“What?” Auri asks.
“The way Lumira just disappeared inside Elowen.”
It takes us a little while to get back down, and when we do, we’re all tired.
Elowen makes us hot peppermint tea while I help Auri get settled in front of the fire.
Over cups of steaming tea, I continue my stories of the Wolf Kingdom and Jaguar Kingdom.
I tell Auri about the houses being completely surrounded by water in the Jaguar Kingdom and the city walls that surround the Wolf Kingdom.
I tell her about how Farrah came from a human community that doesn’t know anything about the three Spirit Kingdoms, and how she was so brave to leave her family behind.
After a while, I notice her eyes starting to droop. I stand to my feet. “All right. That’s enough for tonight. We need to get sleep for our big day tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?” Auri asks, a little more awake now.
“Oh, I have plans,” I tell her.
“What kind of plans?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
“Harper,” she says in a disgruntled tone.
“Auri,” I return in that same tone.
It takes a little bit to get Auri in bed, but when she’s finally settled for the night, I wave at her from the door. “Harper,” she calls out before I can leave.
“Yeah, Kiddo?”
“Thank you.”
She doesn’t say anything more than that, and she doesn’t have to. It’s enough. “You’re welcome. Get some sleep.”
I head back out to the huge main room, and Elowen follows me. I grab the pile of everything I got at the market today and drag it over in front of the fire. “What is all that?” Elowen asks, eyeing my pile.
“My supplies.”
“I’m almost scared to ask, especially about the axe.”
I grin. “Yes. That’s part of my plan too.”
She eyes me. “Please tell me it’s not for my king’s head.”
I blink and then throw my head back and laugh. I wipe my eyes a few moments later. “Oh, that was good. Thank you. And while the idea does sound appealing,” her eyes narrow before I continue. “I won’t be using the axe on Rauk.” I start gathering the fabrics I bought today.
“What are those for?” She reaches out and fingers the first fabric, the one with small yellow flowers on it. “It’s beautiful.”
“These are to create tapestries to hang around this place. This place is like a tomb. It’s dark, quiet, and depressing. We’re going to brighten it up.”
I expect her to argue, not to give me a wide smile. “That is a wonderful plan. How can I help?”
Elowen turns out to be a much better seamstress than I am, shocker. But I’m able to hold my own. Eliza would be so proud of me. If only she could see me now. We make more progress than I thought we would before we both head to bed.
The next morning, I’m out of bed early. I get some time in on the tapestries before Auri wakes up.
I also manage to fit in some time to work on getting myself back in shape and work with my weapons.
After breakfast, we work outside with the knives again.
Auri gets a little better, and I praise her for her progress.
Redara shows up again and spends time with us.
After a rest time in the afternoon for Auri, we eat an early dinner and head up to our special spot to watch the spirit dragons.
Elowen and I finish off the night working on our tapestries.
I get to bed late, but it feels really good.
The next few days pass in like manner. I go to bed each night completely worn out, but it’s a good feeling.
The best day, though, is going to be today.
I throw back the covers and quickly pull a fur around me.
I don’t even bother dressing before heading out of my room.
I take in the huge room as I walk towards the kitchen and can’t help my grin.
“Is she awake?” I ask as I burst into the kitchen.
“Merciful heavens,” Elowen says, putting a hand to her chest.
“Sorry.”
She shakes her head but smiles. “She’s not up yet, but you can do the honors if you’d like.”
“Perfect.” I start out of the kitchen but turn back at the door. “What are we having?”
“Sweet biscuits,” she says with a smile.
Auri's favorite. I head to her room, ready to get this day started. I knock when I get to her room but know she’s probably not awake.
I open the door, not even bothering to be quiet…
I pull her covers off her. “Hey, Sleepyhead.” When that does nothing, I go to stage two.
I put my hands under her shoulders and lift her into a sitting position; it’s literally the only way to get her up.
She blinks sleep-heavy eyes at me. “Morning, Princess. Time to wakey, wakey.” She groans and tries to lay back down.
“Nah, ah, ah. Besides, you don’t want to go back to sleep. Elowen made sweet biscuits.”
She eyes me suspiciously, but she’s more alert now. “Are you just saying that to get me out of bed?”
I shrug. “Guess you’ll have to find out, won’t you?”
She sighs dramatically, and I bite my lip to hide my smile. “All right. Fine.”
I climb off the bed. “What do you want to wear today?”
“Whatever.”
It’s always the same; she never cares what she wears.
I’m hoping to eventually change that, but I’m just taking it one day at a time.
Someday, I’ll get her all kinds of fun, bright colors to wear.
It takes a little while to get her dressed and back in her chair.
I take out her wet braid from her bath last night.
Elowen took care of that. I offered to help, but Auri hadn’t gone for it.
I felt bad leaving Elowen to do it by herself, but she assured me she was used to it.
I brushed her hair and left it down. “All right, Pretty Girl. Let's get you some sweet biscuits.”
“Yes!”
She wheels along, and I walk beside her.
I’m anxious to see her expression when she sees what Elowen and I did last night.
Her reaction doesn’t disappoint. When we get into the main room, she stops completely.
I look around the room with her, taking it in from her point of view.
Elowen and I took down all the dark curtains, leaving the huge floor-to-ceiling windows bare.
Sunlight pours in from every angle, lighting up the once-dark and dingy room.
Then there are the bright-colored tapestries hanging on nearly every available wall space.
Each tapestry is different. Some contain small flowers; others have birds.
Some are just bright swatches of color, and others are scenes in nature.
Not only do they add color and texture to this room, they’re also beautiful to just study and notice the details. “What do you think?” I finally ask.
“Harper. This is...amazing.”
A warmth fills my chest, and all the hard work and late nights suddenly feel so worth it. “Well, I can’t take credit for all of it; Elowen was a huge help.”
“This is perfect,” she says simply.