Veil of Shadow and Rain ✓ [TSC #1]

Chapter 18 - Calls, Texts, and One Paragraph meaning ...?

Wren was spending much less time with her sister. Most of the time they spent together was having evening walks in the garden or, if not, knitting. Apparently, Odyssey seemed a lot busier than it looked like - Wren was now spending most of her time in the Academy and locked up in her bedroom. Occasionally, she would scroll up and down on her phone and find herself staring at Uncle Hunter's number for ages and then she would drift off to sleep.

It had been a long time since Ethan called. More than a few months, that was certain. She suspected it was probably because the time between them wasn't working again ... though sometimes, she spotted a few messages from him on her phone. Usually, she'd leave them on read when she didn't know what to text him back, and after a while, she'd pick up her phone, go to his contact and write: 'Sorry, haven't got round to using my phone. What's up?'

After dinner, she wanted to round up the library to check if there were any books about splitting souls ... there had to be. The Palace library was as big as Uncle Hunter's house. Just when she entered the grand library, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and it was a call.

A call from someone she had not expected.

At all.

Her uncle.

She stared at the contact for a few minutes then pressed 'accept'. She heard her uncle's cough at the other end of the line. She didn't say anything. She wouldn't say anything. She kept her lips pressed tight as she walked along the bookshelves.

'Wren.'

She didn't stop walking.

'Nice of you to call,' she said after a while.

Her uncle sighed. 'I know you're mad.'

'Mad might be an understatement.'

'I've been busy. Promoted to head manager. It's ... also been very overwhelming.'

'What has?' Wren asked, trying her best not to snap at the person she'd lived with almost her whole life.

'You. Gone. Running away. Them taking you in. Especially when I told you all about Argonian.' She couldn't figure if her uncle was mad, or sad, or happy. 'Said it was safer for you to stay here, didn't I? Told you you could live a normal life here, didn't I?'

Wren exhaled. 'I would think twice about normal. Even if I stayed there, I would still be in danger. And I think you know why.'

'Well, you'd be in less danger here -'

'Well, what difference does it make, now that I'm in Elryzian?' shouted Wren. 'You knew your whole life that somebody was on the run to chase me. To hunt me down. My life is in danger. The whole royal bloodline or Argonian is in danger. This - this witch - she'll stop at nothing to kill me - do you really think staying in - in the normal world would make me a normal person and everything would be normal?'

'You think it's hard for you, Wren?' exploded her uncle. 'You think you're the only one who's struggling? Your headmaster has been asking me where you've been and I couldn't even lie to him! I tried saying you transferred into another school - but there was no paperwork I could show him - no proof - nothing. And I was so damn worried when you left - it was Tanner Blackcut's job to let me know that you were safe - in Elryzian - but he delivered the message late. I rang the police - they wouldn't even do anything! Gave up search after forty-eight hours -'

'Oh yeah?' Wren snapped back. 'Well, lucky you, you've been dealing with the police. I don't want to throw a pity party for myself, thanks - and now you come calling to me after six bloody months to yell at me?'