Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)

“Are you leaving?” Tatianna asked the man beside her who had just woken up.

“What?” he replied still slightly asleep.

“When we left you said you would go to Faithorn. Well, you are here so are you going to go back?” she asked. Nik didn’t respond which told Tatianna all she needed to know. “You are, aren’t you? So, this was all just a fun little fling to you before you go back to the Lady’s of the court?”

Tatianna didn’t know if she wanted to hear his reply, if she could emotionally take it, but she had to anyway. “No,” he said immediately. “Perhaps in the beginning it was just to escape, then return back to reality. Now…I don’t think I can go back,” he admitted.

“So what are you going to do?” she questioned.

“I think I will come with you, after sending a message to my parents of course,” he replied.

“All the way to Lyracris?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“What will you do after we get there?” she asked.

“We will cross the bridge when we come to it, for now, come lie with me,” he said and opened his arms for her. Not able to decline she leaned back down onto his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. He said he would never betray her, but she had a feeling he would leave her one day. Maybe not today, but sometime in the future his royal responsibilities will call to him, and he will return to his home. So, she clung to him with everything she had.

“Wake up guys,” a voice called, and then Freya barged into the room. “Well, you two are close, did you have sex?” she bluntly asked.

“Freya, how did you get in here?” Nik asked annoyed at her interruption.

“Spare key,” she said and held up the shiny metal object. “And you totally did it.”

“We didn’t,” Tatianna said truthfully. They didn’t do that, but they did do other things.

“Well, you can tell me all about it whilst we go shopping,” Freya told the tired girl.

“Shopping? I thought we were leaving to go to Bellin?” Nik questioned.

“And to go to Bellin we need more supplies so shopping,” Freya excitedly told the two.

“What am I supposed to do?” Nik asked.

“Spend time with Riley, everyone knows you have a few things to work out,” Freya pointed out. Tatianna nearly laughed at the thought of the two spending time together. They had been doing nothing but glaring at each other on the trip to Cainva.

“You can go with Riley to send a message to your parents,” she suggested. “And you realise that I should be staying as hidden as possible?” Tatianna pointed out a massive flaw in Freya’s plan.

“You have your hood,” Freya replied as if it would solve everything.

“This is a stupid idea,” she told Freya.

“We’re teenagers,” Freya replied, “it’s in our nature to be stupid.”

“I think you will find you are the only teenager,” Nik pointed out.

“How old are you?” Freya asked.

“Nineteen,” Nik replied.

“Exactly, that has teen on the end of it, so you are a teenager,” Freya said.

“That’s not how it works,” Tatianna responded. Once you hit eighteen you were considered an adult, Freya’s logic was not correct, and Tatianna still didn’t understand how it could mean she should go risk her life.

“Please,” Freya begged, her pale blue eyes staring straight towards Tatianna. She knew she couldn’t reject the offer despite how dumb it was.

“Fine,” she finally gave in.

“Yes!” Freya squealed with excitement. Freya grabbed onto her arm and pulled Tatianna out of the room, leaving her to say a rushed goodbye to Nik.

They exited the Inn and Freya started to lead her through all sorts of places. She quickly became annoyed at having to hide behind the hood. It limited her view of the town by a large amount, and she couldn’t see half the things Freya was rambling about.

About half an hour in Freya realised how unenthused Tatianna was to be out shopping. They had a small budget and could only buy necessities like food and warmer clothes for the rest of the trip.

“Are we done yet?” She groaned, although the shopping bags she carried didn’t seem too heavy her mind was starting to get exhausted.

“One more stop,” Freya told her. “Then we can go back to the Inn and sleep before heading off tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Tatianna replied to following Freya’s lead. Never in her life had she met someone so happy and excited all the time than Freya. Although most of the people she ever conversed with were so intoxicated they thought they were talking to their mother or were trying to rape her.

Tatianna noticed the floor of the town slowly turn to sand and she risked looking up to see where Freya had taken her. She gasped in astonishment, watching waves crash down onto a beach. The ocean. She should have realised from the smell, but the sight was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The sun sparkled off the water and it looked so clean she just wanted to jump straight in. Feel the water between her fingers.

“I wouldn’t go in,” Freya said as if reading her thoughts, “the water would be freezing.”

“Thank you,” she said in awe, “for taking me here before we left.”

“Well, I knew you would never have seen it before so…here it is. I heard the beaches in the south are even prettier,” Freya replied.

“I guess we shall see, won’t we?” Although Tatianna could not imagine a nicer sight. All the sudden their trip south was more than just to survive. It was to see the world and all its wonders; she became excited to view more places.

“Tatianna, there’s this thing that I’ve had on my mind for so many years, and…you’re my friend and friends share things,” Freya started saying, unsure of herself.

“I think that’s how it works, still new to it though,” Tatianna replied.

“Well, you see…I don’t know how to tell you,” Freya searched for the right words.

She looked at Freya with confusion. Wondering what she was trying to say. Was she trying to tell her she was right in the beginning? That Freya was an assassin? Although that theory didn’t make too much sense to her anymore.

“Ok, I am just going to say it,” Freya paused. “I’m bi.”

“What?” she asked.

“I know that it is ‘foul’ and it goes against everything in society, my father would’ve killed me if he knew, but…you feel how you feel right?” Freya asked sounding nervous.

“What does bi mean?” She asked still confused.

Freya looked at her with shock. “You don’t know?” Tatianna shook her head.

“Well…bi is short for bisexual and it means that I am attracted to both males…and females,” Freya hesitated.

Freya’s explanation did not ease her confusion, but rather amplified it. “Wait…how is that against society or foul?” She asked, thinking back to all the different couples she had seen on the street now realising that most of them were a male and female.

“Well, the Lady’s are expected to marry the Lords’ and have children and prolong the legacy making sure that they stay wealthy. By being with a girl…I can’t do those things,” Freya tried to explain.

“Don’t let people tell you how you should feel,” she told Freya, “this is a part of who you are you shouldn’t have to hide it. Thank you for telling me this, I know it would’ve been hard if all you have been hearing in your life is how wrong those feeling are.” Tatianna felt something within her, a feeling of happiness. Freya trusted her; it was something that she was not used to.

“Please don’t tell the others…I’m not ready yet, especially to tell my brother.”

“I won’t, but when you do tell them, and if they have anything bad to say about it feel free to tell me which body part to cut off,” she threatened, not joking in the slightest manner yet Freya laughed.

“I am serious,” she acknowledged Freya’s laughter.

“I know you are, which is why you are a great friend,” Freya said with a smile. “We should be getting back by now, that is if Riley and the Prince haven’t killed each other yet.”

“They probably just glared at each other the entire time,” she said taking one last look at the beach before turning away from it. She would miss this place.

“True,” Freya admitted. Tatianna placed her head down, looking at the ground once more and hiding behind the cloak.

“I wish you didn’t have to hide who you are as well,” Freya told her.

“Society sucks,” she replied. Suddenly a hand grasped around her wrist. Immediately Tatianna turned and faced the woman who had a hold of her. She reached to her waist, grabbing her dagger, and pushing the woman onto the side of the building they were near, placing the blade onto her neck.

“What do you want?” Tatianna demanded from the frightened middle-aged woman.

“You’re an Elf, the one they were hunting. I knew it,” the stranger spoke.

“What do you want?” She repeated, anger clear in her voice.

“To warn you,” the stranger replied. “The Hunt may be after you, but it is not them you should fear. It is the Lady of the Night you should be watching out for.”

“Who?” she asked not understanding anything. The woman then did something she could never have anticipated. Blood dripped down her dagger as the stranger pushed her neck into it then slid its razor edge along her throat, her body fell instantly to the floor.

“What the fuck?” Tatianna said in shock looking at the bleeding body.

“People are staring. Tatianna, we need to get out of here,” Freya’s voice cut her out of her shock. Tatianna sheathed her knife and picked up her fallen shopping bags, then started to walk away, heads down, feet shuffling with haste.