Page 68 of Her Ivory Flame

She was failing again.

Chapter 25

Lilac.

She could smell it as her body slowly awoke, the aroma sending her mental images of her home and she could feel herself stay relaxed.

Her people had always lived in Longhouses with giant thatched roofs and massive wood pillars. Carvings could be seen going up the main structural poles on the outside and sometimes along the doorframes.

Generations live in such houses, and smaller versions could be found throughout the land. Mydalsa was an island in the sky that Odin himself carved from the earth and was the prettiest place she had ever seen.

Her longhouse was at the top of a large grassy hill, lilac bushes planted along the outside and a stone walkway that led down to her village.

She could see the large main hall with massive long tables for gatherings and the inside pillars around them carved with her people's ancient language, the same as the outside. It wasn’t fancy like the fae kingdoms, but it was home.

From the description Silas had told her, it was a wasteland now.

She stirred, the memory making her form a small grin on her face and then she felt the bed sink next to her head.

Her eyes flew open and she saw Kaden laying next to her, his back casually resting against the headboard. His long legs were stretched down the bed, one ankle on top of the other, and was staring down at her with a blank stare.

“Hi,” she croaked, her throat dry.

“Hi,” he said casually. “It’s time to leave.”

A groan came from her throat and she rolled onto her back, her arm folding over her face. She didn’t know if he slept on the bed or was just waiting for her to wake but either way, she didn’t care. It was the best sleep she had in a long time and she wasn’t going to figure out why.

“Emris has already been sending guards to help pack our stuff down to the wagon.”

His voice was soft but she could tell he was on edge with everything they had to do today. They had a few days of quiet aheadand then they would reach Grimstone, that was when it would get interesting.

“Fine,” she mumbled before sitting up and resting back on her hands. “Did you sleep there?”

“No, I figured you deserved your space for the night but I was prepared in case you had a nightmare.”

His eyes just scanned over her and she realized she was still in the same clothes she had worn the day before. The dress was all over the place but at least still covering the parts it needed to.

She felt her cheeks flush slightly and nonchalantly pulled the blanket over her chest. It wasn’t like he was staring at her in a perverted way, but she had all of a sudden become self-conscious around him.

“I’ll get changed and we can go.” She smiled faintly.

He dipped his head and then moved off the bed, the smell of lilac fading from her surroundings.

Once he was around the corner she got out of bed and stretched, her body sore from not moving the entire night. Last time she slept through the night was when Silas stayed, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that part of her life at the moment.

Thankfully she thought ahead, she grabbed the stack of clothes she had left out the night before and began dressing in the new gear she had commissioned a few weeks ago to train in.

Since she was not in hiding anymore, she figured going back to heritage wasn’t going to be an issue. She put on typical leatherpants, and a grey cotton shirt for her main layer, then added her custom accessories.

She pulled a teal tunic over her first layer: thin-strapped and knee-length, with a slit climbing one side and a delicate laced section nestled between her breasts.

Leather straps crossed her chest and wrapped around her hip, a dagger placed on one of the front ones and her sword behind her on the backside. She had fur shoulder pads and custom leather gauntlets that covered from her knuckles to her elbow.

Lastly, straps that wrapped around her thigh to hold extra weapons. If they were traveling, it was better to be prepared than not and being in a dress wasn’t going to cut it.

She slipped her last dagger into her thigh strap when she heard the door open and multiple footsteps enter.

“Everything is in the wagon, Sir.” A man spoke, assuming it was one of the guards.