Verita - The Guardian of Darkness

30

Seated at the end of the table, Aetrian rose as she appeared on the  other side of the archway with a faint flashing of blue light. Today,  his outer robe was dyed an opaque turquoise, which reminded Elanthin of a  fresh water well. The kind which she'd only seen in pictures within the  palace on the Plains. The sudden urge to dip her toes in such an  ice-cold stream overcame her as she walked towards him.

"Good  morning, Elanthin." His voice was as clear as the water she was  imagining and a faint smile had crept on her face before she'd noticed  it.

A servant pulled out the chair on Aetrian's left side without waiting for her to indicate where she would like to be seated.

"Good morning ... Aetrian."

His  name didn't pass her lips easily but she felt strangely indebted to  him, who'd taken care of her for the past fortnight. It hadn't been the  first time that Elanthin was hurt or bed-bound; however, it was the  first time since her early childhood days that someone had sat beside  her. Further insisting on calling him by his official title would be  nothing but childish.

He smiled at her as if the sun had risen a second time today. "Please, sit and eat with me. You seem healthy."

While  she mounted a considerable amount of pastries and fruits on her plate,  she told Aetrian the same thing which the maids had heard from her: That  she was feeling much better and there was absolutely no need to  exaggerate her condition.

A few more days, Elanthin guessed, and I'll be able to train again.

But the repetition of her earlier words also made her thoughts return to another issue.

"Why did you send me Yorwen?"

"Who?" Aetrian blinked at her in confusion.

"The young handmaid", explained Elanthin. "Why her? She seems to be afraid of being eaten by us evil Veritans."

"Oh.  She's Laris' daughter, which means we can trust her not to have  anything to do with either the Grace or the Children. Plus, she's  proficient in the Veritan tongue."

Elanthin chomped down on a big piece of strawberry-filled brioche dough.

"I  wouldn't have insisted but with everything that happened, I was  worried. I don't think I need to remind either of us of what happened on  your first night in the palace", he ended with an apologetic look.

She  put down her pastry to shake her head. "It was a good decision. We  can't miss anything, especially since we still don't know where the  arrow came from during the plaza incident."

"About that", began Aetrian slowly, "there was some new intel."

"Is  it connected to the Children of the Deep?", she asked, before giving  him the chance to continue. It was the most likely scenario in her head;  they'd tried to kill her once before and the poison used with the arrow  wasn't something which a Gratian had easy access to. Although that  could change now that passage through the Eternal Barrier was becoming a  possibility.

Aetrian's plate was already empty and he hadn't  looked at it once since her arrival. He pushed his chair back a little  to turn towards her, which made Elanthin look at him quizzically.

"It wasn't the children?"

He grimaced.

"Everything  points toward the Grace of Gratia. One of their followers was overheard  in taverns, not once but multiple times, bragging about their success. I  believe they assume you're dead and we're still covering it up."