MISTRESS OF FLAME

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 46

AFTER SPENDING all her essence, Zassia was still recovering, slowly. When she woke up, she found herself in a cave and Grath was standing guard. Even from the inside of the cave, Zassia could feel the coldness seeping through her bones.

"W-where are we?"

When Grath heard Zassia's voice, the relief he felt was palpable. "Lady Zassia... How are you feeling?"

Zassia pushed herself to get up and sit. "My strength is slowly coming back. Where are we, Grath? Where's Her Highness? What happened? Is she okay?"

Grath sighed and sat on the ground. "I don't know. After Her Highness ordered me to take you away and protect you, there was no news about her. Lord Hakken said he'll meet us somewhere close to the stream dividing the valleys with the queen, but it's been two days."

Hearing that the queen was still missing, Zassia tried to get up. "We have to go back, Grath. Her Highness needs us—" but Zassia was still too weak to stand.

Grath shook his head at Zassia and firmly spoke that could get Zassia to understand. "We're not leaving this cave. We will wait for Lord Hakken and the queen here. You're still weak and I'm still recovering my full strength. If we came back, we will just be a burden to them. I believe in Lord Hakken, he'll protect the queen."

Zassia could only fist her knuckles knowing Grath was correct. She was still weak. But she was worried! She couldn't forget the sight of her highness kneeling on the ground, weakened. It scared her.

"If... If Cira was here, what would she do?" Zassia asked in a whisper. "She'll know what to do for sure."

Grath sighed, hearing Zassia's doubt and insecurities. "Lady Zassia, we all have an important role to play as her highness' companion in this journey. Lady Cira is now doing her best somewhere else, so we should do our best here too. And you've already proven your strength to the queen. You protected her with everything you got. I'm sure the queen is happy to see you getting stronger."

A tear fell from Zassia's eyes. "I just want to be useful and serve Her Highness right. I'm her student and I want to be worthy of that title."

Grath smiled softly at Zassia. "I'm sure Her Highness thinks of you as a worthy student. Just rest here and recover your strength. Let's wait for Lord Hakken and Her Highness."

Zassia nodded and went back to resting. She was worried, but she needed to recover her strength to be more useful to her highness. She didn't want to lose the only being left in Azitera who believed in her. She already lost everyone she loved; her grandfather was in hiding — she only had her highness now.

Zassia closed her eyes to rest. Maybe because she was still too weak, she instantly fell asleep. When she woke up, it was already nighttime, and she could hear two voices.

Grath, and Lord Hakken.

Hearing the two, Zassia did her best to get up and followed the voices outside the cave.

"My lady will be fine." It was Lord Hakken's voice and he sounded so confident that Zassia believed that. "She's strong — she's the Mistress of flame. What we need to do now is to cross the shivering valley and reach the Hallowed valley as soon as we can. I'm sure my lady will do the same and we'll meet her there."

"But—"

"Grath," Hakken's voice was pleading. "We can't lose our heads now. My lady is not here, so we have to decide for ourselves. Our queen is not weak, Grath, always remember that. She's strong and smart. I'm worried too, but we can't waste our time scouring the whole valley of bones looking for her. We don't have time and manpower to pull it off safely. We have to move now, or I'm leaving you two behind."