Tales of Darkness and Light (Book 1 Complete)

Chapter 13: Of Blame and Sisterly Bonds

Chapter 13: Of Blame and Sisterly Bonds

Flashback Part 1 

Addy Freeland

She and Hayden had been sitting on a log on the campfire for hours, with nothing to do as Lillian patched the young girl up. Occasionally, Lillian would yell out for water or something else she needed, and one of them would rush to get it for her. Otherwise, they sat in silence, no sounds except the hooting of owls and rustling of leaves. No sounds except for the occasional groans coming from the girl.

This was both a blessing and curse for Addy. A blessing, because it gave her time to ponder all that the creature had said, and all that it knew. She prayed that it was the only one in possession of such knowledge, and that her secret had died with it, but she had a nagging feeling in her gut that that wasn't the case.

The problem with this long period of solitude was the glancing Hayden kept giving her. She could feel his eyes on her, and could tell that he desperately wanted to ask about her connection to the creatures, and what it had meant about her father. She could never give him an answer, not just because she didn't know parts of it, but because - well - she couldn't handle the way he would look at her if he knew the truth, if he knew that she had been lying this whole time.

After what felt like hours, Lillian emerged from the trees, the redheaded girl leaning on her. The girl's face was gaunt, and her arm was covered in gauze, but her eyes were bright and she was smiling slightly. She sat down at the campfire with no trouble, moving next to Hayden as Lillian sat down at Addy's other side.

There was a moment of silence as the girl surveyed the unusual group, and they looked at her in turn. She was tiny, and skinny too, and looked impossibly young with her wide eyes and bouncing curls making up most of her face. And when she smiled, she looked younger still.

And then the girl spoke, breaking the silence. "I suppose I should thank you for saving my life." She glanced at Lillian, then turned to the rest of them. "All of you. I'm Madison, by the way. Madison Gardner."

There was something about her accent, her lilted and light voice - it was Alurian. Addy couldn't help but smile at the thought. Travelling through Giana and Perrnath for so long, she had missed the familiar manner of speaking that she had grown up with. It was silly, but it felt like home.

"It was no trouble," Lillian told Madison, smiling and gracious. Addy couldn't help but envy Lillian's constant composure.

Hayden glanced at the girl with an appraising eye. "You're Alurian, aren't you?"

She met his stare head on, a surprising show of confidence considering Hayden could likely encapsulate her in a matter of seconds. "I'm from Moonlight City. What's it to you?"

"You'll forgive a curious traveller his questions on the fate of the kingdom the woman who fostered him was born in, won't you?"

Sometimes Addy forgot that Aunt Mara and Uncle Leon had raised Hayden after his brother had disappeared. Aunt Mara had certainly mentioned Hayden often in her letters to Abigail, even when there weren't any visible reasons to do so.

"I suppose not much news is getting out of Aluria, with the blockade and everything," Madison mused.

Addy felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn't heard anything about a blockade, and even though she had actively been trying to avoid news of her home country, she was certain she would have heard something like this. "A blockade? What sort of blockade?"

Madison looked at her, surprised. "I can't believe you haven't heard. Alura has stopped trading with Perrnath and Giana entirely, and there are all sorts of restrictions on when and where people can leave. It's honestly a miracle I got out when I did."