The man burst into laughter. “Okay, nice one. Now tell me the real question.”
In his defense, anyone who didn’t have enough context of the situation Alissa found herself in would think this to be a joke. Alissa didn’t realize that because her eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled. She grabbed her notebook and walked away with her head down.
Eldric chased after her, but her steps were so fast and determined that he had to make an effort to reach her amid the trees. When he finally did, he took her hand in his, pulling her closer, forcing her to look at him.
“Why are you so upset?” he asked, his voice low. “Ishould be the one making a scene after you woke me up like that!”
“Because you made fun of me.” She let go of his hand and dug her nails into the small notebook cover.
“I didn’t make fun of you, Kriegen. I thought you were joking.”
“You think I would joke about something likethat?” she asked, raising her voice.
Eldric frowned, utterly confused. He obviously didn’t give the same importance to knowing if there was ever a princess in Heldraine whose hair was silver and eyes were blue as she did. It simply made no sense to him.
“Something like… the color of the hair and eyes of a princess?”
Alissa took a deep breath. “Look, Van Myr. I know you think I’m a spoiled little girl who left her town to go on an adventure around the world or whatever, but you have no idea what has brought me here.” She paused to take a breath and compose herself a little. “If I woke you up and said this was important, it’s because it is.”
Eldric watched her. A muscle in his jaw twitched when he noticed her tearful eyes and realized this was truly important to her. Handling it the way he did—however nonsensical it seemed to him—was wrong.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted that way.” He examined her as she looked down, playing with a loose thread of her shirt to avoid gazing at him. “Now, answering to your question, there are no records of a princess with such characteristics in the history of Heldraine. Not that I recall, at least.”
He saw her eyes lose a spark of the hope she seemed to be carrying within her. Feeling the need to light it up again, he said, “I’m certain you will find enough volumes on the royal lineage when we get to the library.”
Alissa nodded. “I hope so.”
He squeezed her shoulder in a final sign of comfort before walking back to the camp.
A few minutes later, Eldric was already lying on his side, snoring. She lay down on her sleeping mat but convinced herself she would not be able to fall back asleep. Instead, she stared at him. Watching the man sleep in peace, Alissa felt overwhelmed with guilt. She had been so affected by her daughter’s condition and unpredictability of it all that she let her bad temper win. Eldric was not at fault for any of it.
The memory of him lying over her just moments before and his intense gaze burning into her crashed back without warning, her heart racing once again. She grunted; she didn’t need this kind of distraction. Alissa tore a sheet of paper out of her notebook. She wrote something down and tucked it in the palm of Eldric’s right hand while he slept.
Giving up on her own sleep, she stood up and walked to where Freyah struggled to stay awake. She put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Go get some sleep, Frey. I’ll take over now.”
“It’s not your turn yet,” Freyah said, barely stifling a yawn.
“I know, I couldn’t fall back asleep.”
“Does that have anything to do with whatever was happening back there?” Freyah nodded toward where Eldric was sleeping, her eyebrows raised.
Alissa blushed and nodded. She hadn’t realized her friend was watching the whole commotion with Eldric—him lying on top of her when she woke him abruptly and their argument right after. Freyah had seen everything out of the corner of her eye, trying not to meddle but paying just enough attention to make sure Alissa was safe.
“What was that about?” Freyah frowned, assessing her friend.
“I just…” Alissa trailed off. “I thought I had found a clue to help Dhalia, but it was probably nothing.” She shrugged, a sad smile tugging at her lips.
Freyah looked at her with sympathy and took her hand in hers. “Let’s keep ourselves optimistic, Lissa. This is only the beginning. We will find Dhalia’s cure. I’m sure of it!”
Alissa felt extremely grateful to have Freyah by her side in moments like this. It was selfish of her, of course—her friend was risking her life to save Dhalia. Yet she couldn’t help but feel blessed by her company.
“We will,” she whispered, squeezing her friend’s hand. “Now go to sleep, Frey. You can barely keep your eyes open.”
A few moments later, Freyah lay comfortably on her sleeping mat, but only after Alissa insisted several more times for her to do so. Even as Freyah walked back to the campsite, she kept glancing over her shoulder, checking on her friend.
That was the kind of person Freyah was, always putting her well-being second to the good of others. Always worried about everyone else but herself. Freyah was the kind of friend who would give up her life to keep Alissa and Dhalia safe. Alissa’s eyes filled with tears, and she smiled as she realized she would easily do the same for Freyah.
157 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.