Heart desired

//Chapter 12//

Savin came to see us off when we departed for Rawen.

He looked pale and exhausted compared to the last time I saw him. I guessed he must have been having a hard time since the Rawen attack.

It had been four days since the council. I still haven't spoken to Daniel about anything. I was planning to do so on the way home.

Home. I was not sure how my father would react upon seeing me. Most of the time these days I was busy worrying about Rawen and Elkelyn and how to make this negotiate work, I did not have that much time to worry about my emotions. But now that I was here, all these doubts and insecurities started to crawl under my skin. Aside of that, having the fate of two magical kingdoms on my shoulders did not help at all.

This time, Savin did not have to walk with us to our usual boulder in the forest. We followed him in to a room in the palace, far away from the throne room and gardens. It was a teleportation room of some sorts, and I was strongly reminded of a post office in mortal realm.

"This will take you only halfway, or even less than that." Savin said, punching some patterns on to a wall. I squinted at the wall. There was nothing marked on where to punch. I have to say, that was some great security system.

"Why not all the way?" Daniel asked.

"This has only radius of a thirty miles. And that's halfway. But this tunnel is so old, I don't think it's working properly."

"So there's a chance we would get stuck in some ungodly place." I said.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Can't we just use our friendly little boulder?" I asked. "That is so much safe, and we know the way from there, even if it's so far away, we can make it in a week or two."

"And you know that we don't have that much time." Savin sighed. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't trust the council. They might just attack Rawen while you are there, regardless of the negotiation. They have been powerless for so long, now they have you two. I do not know how they planning on using you, but I do know that they are going to use you. So, you better hurry, for both of our kingdoms sake."

"Come with us." I said to him.

"Can't. Rawen's borders does not allow Elkelyn in."

"But that nephew of yours can be there. You will finally be able to meet him."

"What nephew?" Daniel asked. Right. I forgot to tell him about that.

"I'll tell you along the way." I said.

Savin smiled. "All ready to go." He said, opening a door on the wall. We stepped in to it. "And Nasha," He called to me when I was five or six feet inside. I looked back. "I kind of met my nephew already."

"Oh, okay." I said. I didn't know what else to say to that.

-

We stepped out of the boulder tunnel in less than five minutes.

I was curious to see where we would end up. I came out of the other end and - of course, there was a boulder and a forest. Why did I expect something else?

"Where is this?" I asked Daniel. He was checking his phone for directions, one of the things mortals had that made me love this realm.

"Fifty eight kilometres away from borders." He said. "We have to go directly south about five hundred meters or so, and then another kilometer or so till we get transportation. After that, its a long, long bus ride."

"Let's get going then." I said. "The sooner the better."

"Yeah." We set off, silent for while. We had so much to talk about, I didn't know where to begin.

"So, we are going home." Daniel said. "Yeah." I said. "It's two years early. We aren't suppose to go there for another two years."

"Do you feel nervous?"

"Nervous, exited, scared. And also dread."

"Same here." We walked another few steps in silence. "So, what's about Savin and his nephew?"

So I told him everything from meeting Savin. How I experimented with magic. What happened afterward. It felt so good to let him in with me, to have that trusted person back.

"I have a question." Daniel said. "How did he heal your wound?"

I stared at him. Somehow, that had slipped my mind. I had meant to ask him, but every time I met him, there was something more important for us to talk about. I mentally made a note for myself to ask him next time I see him, before anything.

"I don't know." I said. "I haven't had the chance to ask."

"To be honest, this whole thing is kind of fishy to me." He said. "Out of nowhere, a girl stabbed you. And then a guy comes out of nowhere and asks you to save his kingdom, which we had never even heared of before. Then we get attacked by an elf. Then we are to wage a war against our own people. I don't trust Elkelyns at all."

"Is that why you asked for this negotiation?"

"Honestly? Yeah." Daniel said. "We have lived with elves ever since we were born. We are elves. We have never heared of this before, that's true. But that doesn't give us the right to suspect and go against them. We have to investigate. We have to find out the truth. Elves are not bad. We weren't exiled because of some political thing. We were exiled because we actually did something wrong."

"I know." I sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore. When we got attacked, I was so scared of you getting hurt, I could not think of anything else to keep you safe except making my blood oath. I may have been stupid, but I do not regret my decision."

"I know you don't. And I would have done the same for you."

"I'm not Andrea, Daniel." I said.

His head whipped towards me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I knew. We all knew. It was so obvious, with you guys sneaking off at the same time, both of you making doe eyes at each other. You just could not keep your hands to yourselves, could you?"

"But-"

"I know you blame yourself for her death. I know you loathed the king's presence inside your head. You would have removed the blood oath way before this if the method was something else that did not include me."

He did not speak for a long time. I also did not say anything else. I knew Daniel for a long time. He suffered alone on his own, always putting others first. He have to come out from that shell now.

"So, you knew about that all this time. Let me guess. You slept with me because you wanted to try it out. You told me you love me because otherwise I would not have taken you to bed. You knew that I pictured her face." He looked up at the sky. "Why do it, then?"

"I want you to be free. You are all that's left. I want you to be happy, free and alive. And I'll make sure of it." I scratched my nose. "Sometimes, I don't even know what I am doing. I have manipulated so much now I don't even know what's real anymore."

"You do know that I messed up with those council members heads to agree with me, right?" Daniel asked.

I nodded. "That was smooth and impressive." Daniel had the ability to plant ideas strongly on someone's head. I have to say, it is quiet useful.

"Let's go home and find out what's exactly going on here. We will finish this mission, as the last members of Warren's Den."

I smiled. "That's cheesy."

"Not at all." He replied.