Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 117: Moving Out, Again

 Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Moving Out, Again

The next morning, something jolted Ella out of a dead sleep.

Her eyes flew open and she bolted upright with a gasp, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Looking this way and that, she tried to figure out what had shaken her so badly.

"Gods, you scared me half to death," Amelia breathed, patting her chest. "Don't just jump up like that!"

"What's going on?" Ella groggily demanded, pushing her disheveled hair out of her face. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"We're getting ready to head to the mainland," Amelia explained, letting loose a sigh. "We're going to be leaving soon, instead of later on this evening. It was good that we got the rest that we did, truthfully."

"What?" Ella scoffed, scowling in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

To her surprise, though, everyone was awake and gathering up their things.

"I'm quite serious, Ella," the brunette murmured. "We're departing during the day."

"Have you forgotten that being in the sunlight does horrible things to my body?" she angrily demanded. "That's why we deigned to travel at night in the first place!"

"There's no need for the hostility," Vordt growled, shooting a foul expression her way. "You will not be harmed by the sun as long as you are within Calcoon."

"And you know this to be certain, on what measure?" Ella hissed. "I don't trust you."

"You don't need to trust me for this," Vordt snapped, hissing right back with his teeth bared. "Trust my damnable sister. There's a reason my sister chose the Sacred Riders to accompany us to the borders, you ungrateful brat, so instead of acting a fool, shut up and accept her kindness."

Ella stared at him blankly, then glanced at everyone else to see that they were still packing. 

Everyone looked fairly grim for some reason, and it was only then that she noticed Xaphile was absent from the group.

"What in the name of Asgrog's forge is going on here?" she finally asked. "Would someone care to explain to me what changed while I was sleeping? And where is Phil?"

Amelia merely held out her backpack with a soft smile and murmured, "let's just say if you have anything you don't want getting wet, give it to me so I can put it in my bag."

With those cryptic words, she stood up and walked outside, dusting her dress off as she walked.

"How soon do we depart?" Ella asked, frowning. 

"Krishna's already waiting to take us to the mainland," Vrael explained, strapping his father's quiver and bow to his backpack before flinging it all onto his shoulders. "Since you're the only one who was completely packed up, we decided to let you sleep until the last moment."

Her brows rose. "Why?"

"Since all you have to do to get ready is throw on your cloak, sword sheathe, and boots," Gus chuckled, giving her a sly glance. "You never sleep without your daggers belted at your waist, and you never primp or preen like other noble ladies, so the process is fairly quick."