He woke to someone shaking him. "What?""James, are you all right?"
"Carthago? What are you doing here?"
"I had a dream that I would find you here and needed to bring you back to the castle."
"What for?"
"I don"t know, but I feel it is for the best."
"Alright."
James left with Carthago to go back to the castle. As they pa.s.sed through town the voices of the villagers seemed to smear and almost become unintelligible, but then they would be clear again. At the castle, James was taken to the study and left with several research requests—mostly about the Gerrbellas and everything he could find out about them. He worked on them all progressing by bits. He hardly noticed the silent companion that kept his research organized, or the small touches that were comforting when he got frustrated. On occasion he would stop and look around when he heard a thought he didn"t recognize or a messenger"s voice became momentarily distorted. He rested for a whole day after that.
When he returned to his research, James had a hard time keeping focused. So, he just worked on the first research topic to get that completed as much as possible. It took him all day to finish, but he managed. Food was brought to him and he ate all the vegetables, but only picked at the meat. What was happening to him? Was he changing or was he just mimicking Lilly because he couldn"t love her as deeply as he wanted? With a huge sigh, he put his head down on the table and fell asleep. This routine continued for several months until he found himself laid low with a fever.
Many cared for him, but he only seemed to improve when he saw Lilly. She stayed for several days to help him get better and set him back to his research. While he worked, Lilly lay on his floor to sleep. It took Willow to come get her so she could rest properly for a day before going back to keep an eye on James. When he had found her after a year plus, Lilly had noticed something different and she didn"t understand what it was. Lilly got back late that evening after a good rest and found James asleep at the table again. She saw the finished research and picked up the books to put them away. James woke as she picked up the last book.
"Lilly?"
"Yes, James."
He saw her with books in hand to put away, but as she started to walk pa.s.sed him, his arms wrapped around her waist and his head rested against her abdomen. Her fingers ran through his hair a few times before she stepped to put the books away. His grip tightened.
"James, the books need to be put away if you are to continue your work."
"Not yet."
Lilly peeled one of his arms off and stepped away. He watched her disappear into the darkness. Occasionally he heard books slide into place or others being taken off the shelf. She returned with two books and set them on the table. He had kept his eyes on her the moment she came out of the darkness. A faint smile had crossed her lips, but faded as she set the books down. James had turned to look at the door as noises came and pa.s.sed. She watched his brow crease in confusion. Did he not understand what was being said? His head hung and he sighed. She knelt in front of him and rested her hands on his knees. His hands picked up hers and he kissed each in turn.
"What"s troubling you, James?"
"It"s nothing. I must be more tired than I thought. Perhaps I should lie down for a while."
"Alright."
James stood and left her kneeling on the floor. He went to his room just down the hall and fell sleep.
When James came into the library the next morning, he found Lilly surrounded by several open texts. She set the book she had aside and opened one last book before he realized what she was scanning through. He wouldn"t have worried so much about her looking through their genealogy were it not for the concerned look on her face and the pace with which she was looking.
"Lilly?" he asked, touching her hand.
She brushed him off and kept looking. After a few more pages, she slammed the down book on the table then moved further into the library. Lilly stopped at the window and wrapped her arms around herself. Her head bowed as tears slipped pa.s.sed her closed eyelids. James turned her slowly and wrapped her securely in his arms. He wondered what had happened to bring about this change. Clearly it was something about his family. Still, it made no sense to him because they were all Human. He had known about Gerrabellas since they fought off and on, but until he had met Lilly, he had had no knowledge of Adremedians.
"Lilly?"
Her crying stopped and she smiled. "Good Morning, James. Feeling well enough to get back to your research?"
"I"m feeling fine, but what about you? What has upset you?"
"It"s nothing. Really. I just had a long night."
She broke away to take care of her book pile. James helped put them away and continued to watch her. She looked exhausted, but she found and put books away as if nothing was wrong. With her help, James was able to finish researching two more subjects by early afternoon. They stopped when food was brought in and they ate. James had his normal appet.i.te back, which was sure to be a good sign. Lilly also noticed that he had paid more attention to where she was and didn"t react when others walked by. When the food was gone, he sent her to get some rest. She didn"t argue and went to her room.
James checked on Lilly after lunch. She was sitting at the table finishing up the salad that the servants had brought her. He sat across from her and she tried to smile, but it wasn"t enough to mask her pain.
"What"s wrong, Lilly?" James asked.
"Carthago came to...speak...to me."
"Why didn"t you ask him to stop?"
"Humans, normally, can"t hear Adremedians. They only reason you can hear me is because I opened a small channel in hopes I could get away from the noises you were making and continue my life in the forest alone." She looked at her plate, her hand hovering above it.
"Do you still feel that way?"
"Now is not a good time to be asking that; for I am more likely to answer based on present feelings and not on true, pertinent feelings." She pushed the plate away and laid her head on the table.
James moved to her side and touched her arm. Slowly, she shifted enough where he could pick her up. He carried her to the stables and put her on Torta before taking them through a less populated area of the city. Once they were out, he turned Torta the other direction towards the forest. The ride was slow so it would be more bearable for Lilly. They were almost there when Korah and the other Adremedian he had seen came to meet them. He gently helped her down to them.
"Will she be all right?" James asked,
The woman looked at Lilly then to James. "You"re James, right?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"Willow."
Willow let Korah take her into the forest.
"What have you done to her human?!" Willow demanded. "She was fine not 24 hours ago!"
"I haven"t done anything. In fact I"ve hardly seen her these last 24 hours."
"Likely story with your noises!"
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"Willow, that"s enough!" Lilly reprimanded.
They turned to see Lilly standing unsteadily apart from Korah. Then with uneven steps she moved back towards them. Willow"s eyes widened. Lilly was getting better with each step until she was back to full health and standing tall next to Willow.
"Forgive me, Rosae Lilly."
Lilly embraced Willow and held her tightly. "The faults are gone and James is not to blame."
Willow nodded and looked at James. "Forgive me, Prince. I was out of line."
"You"re forgiven."
Then Willow and Korah left.
"Lilly?" James asked. "Should you not go with them?"
She watched the others fade into the trees before answering. "No. It"s best to leave them alone for a while." Then she turned to him. "Unless you would prefer I stay."
"Do you feel well enough to go back?"
"Yes."
James held out his hand and helped her up behind him. Once her arms were around him, he sent Torta into a gallop and headed back. He took the less used streets and felt her arms fall away from his waist, but as he stopped he could not see her anywhere.
"Lilly?" he asked.
"I"ll meet you in the library, James."
He was confused and several, very different, kinds of questions ran through his mind. Had she changed her mind and gone back? He made his way to the library and was amazed to find her all ready there and working.
"How did you get here before me?"
She didn"t answer.
James walked over to her and watched her write. Her letters flowed beautifully from the quill. The only pause was to dip it back into the inkwell. "Lilly?"
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. Wiping them away quickly, she gave him a real smile and set him to continue the research while she ran books to and from the shelves. He grabbed her hand with a look of concern. She bent and embraced him.
"I"m all right, James. Just trying to find an answer to your question this morning."
"What question was that?"