Frostbite

Chapter Five

Eira had been right—she did not sleep. Instead, for a good hour she lay staring straight up at the ceiling. After doing that for a good hour, she gave up resisting her loneliness and began to weep silently into her pillow. A while after that, she was full out sobbing. She hated it. She just wanted to be back home. Back with Cerin, Moira, Graham and Owen. Anywhere but where she was right now. She longed to be back in her bed at home.

Managing to momentarily calm herself, she got out of bed and retrieved the portrait from her bag. Her parents. Her real ones. At that moment she missed them more than she ever had. She missed them every day. She missed when they would tuck her into bed and read her a story from the old book of fairy tales that her mother had had when she was a child. She missed when they would comfort her when she awoke panicked and shaking from a nightmare. She missed when they would kiss her forehead and tell her it was all going to be all right. 

Eventually, the tears stopped. She felt drained. How exactly had she gone to sleep earlier in the carriage? How had she felt content enough to relax? The darkness scared her. It terrified her. She felt as if it would swallow her whole. She was alone. Was there anyone who could comfort her? Anyone she could talk to? No. Now she knew what true loneliness felt like.

After that, she did sleep. Not because she wanted to, but because her body forced her to. It was already nearly morning when she did, however.  When she awoke to a gentle rapping on the door, she felt tireder than she had before she'd slept. The day ahead would be hard to get through, if she were to be training without rest. 

"Eira?" came Gwen's voice, overly lively for so early in the morning.

"I'm awake," Eira replied tiredly.

Gwen opened the door, sweeping into the room. She looked very awake but had hints of dark circles under her green eyes. "You look exhausted," she informed Eira.

"I didn't sleep so well."

"That's understandable. I barely slept on my first night here as well. Adjusting is... hard."

Eira gave a shy smile. "Yes..."

"I'll wait outside whilst you dress." 

Eira nodded. After Gwen had left the room, she moved the covers off herself and made her way over to the wardrobe. Her legs felt more and more like lead with each step. How she was going to be able to make it through an entire day in such a state was something she dared not think about. She opened the door of the wardrobe and looked at the what lay inside, eyes half lidded. There were around seven dresses, all simple tunic style designs — the sort she usually wore, except these were fashioned with a much higher quality of fabric — in similar shades of pale blue. 

After taking off her nightdress, she picked the nearest dress and put it on. It fit her surprisingly well, despite her not having told anyone her size. It was slightly on the longer side, though. But she was sure that was because she was abnormally lacking in height for her age. She put on some stockings and the boots she worn the day previous. She wrapped a deep blue cloak around herself. She had found in the back of the wardrobe. It was quite similar to her green one — it was made of the same sort of warm woollen fabric and was of near identical cut — but it was lined with luxurious silk and had a silver clasp, instead of the mere string the other one had.

After she had finished dressing, Eira went into the adjoining bathroom, brushed her hair and then left. Gwen stood beside the door, eyes closed, lost in thought.

"I'm ready."

Gwen opened her eyes, a smile coming onto her face. "Great. Let's go."

Eira nodded, trying to ignore how exhausted she was feeling. "Okay."