29 Returning to the bookshop (I)

'Sigh…' Angus had finally given in after Anna continuously bickered him for more than half an hour. One robust shadow, that unlike the ones she has seen before, it had no weapons, but it had broad shoulders and lots of muscles.

'Rashid' a name popped in Anna's name when the creature appeared. The shadows that Angus invokes though his magic, are lost souls or cursed ones, sent to spend the rest of their lives in eternal darkness. Angus could use them as his powers were immense, not everyone had access to the souls and not every god could manoeuvre them to their liking.

Souls are after all the remnants of people, who had their own free will and this is not lost even after death. They tend not to obey gods unless the gods are powerful enough. This made Anna question how a god-like Angus ended up in a library and not next to the Goddess of Death.

The warrior picked Helm from their arms and carried him as if carrying a doll.

"We need to hurry. From now on we cannot take even a small break." Declared Anna signalling the warrior to go in front of them. Claudia soon followed behind Anna, afraid to lose sight of Helm, and lastly, Asaf remained silently behind but with a strong determination found in his eyes.

They marched continuously at this pace for more than half a day, despite the harsh conditions and their aching feet. Out of all of them, Anna seemed to do the best, at least for the first half of the journey, when there was still light outside. When the sun settled, night soon followed, and the complete darkness quickly overcame them.

Anna had to use even more of her energy to pay attention to the trail they were following and to watch out for predators that were more active at night as well as using her energy to sustain the shadow warrior. Her head began feeling dizzy sometime around midnight, but she did not say anything to the crew and kept her head hidden in the coat fur.

Luckily, the night was deserted of any dangers, saving Anna energy that otherwise would have been spent on warriors to sustain them. Even so, Anna's health began deteriorating slowly thought the night, and by the time the sun rose, Anna's face was pale as a rose petal. She had been sweating and she had been secretly fanning herself so that they would not notice.

Angus kept pressing her to stop, but she could not. Not now that they were so close. Helm's breathing was becoming fainter by the hour, but they were still to reach Gridell. Her hands were shaking slightly, while her legs grew weaker and she felt like she was floating with every step she took on the white ground.

It had not been snowing ever since last night, and with the sun up in the sky, the snow showed signs of melting. It would still take them a long time to reach the small village, but if the snow melted it would help them to reach there faster. Unfortunately, it was not melting fast enough.

"I-I can't anymore. Please let's just take a break." Said a pleading voice from behind. Claudia collapsed on the ground; her knees dug in the snow hiding her lower legs. She sobbed seeing that no one stopped to help her so Asaf had to also stop behind her as he could not advance.

"No, we can't." replied Anna after she gathered her powers.

"I beg you…My legs won't move." Cried Claudia. Asaf helped her up, but he was struggling as well; they have not eaten in more than a day and did not stop walking for longer than that. He also took Claudia's stop as a break and he lowered his head and closed his eyes tiredly.

"No! We can't!" yelled Anna turning towards them. They could not stop. They had to keep up this pace and they would soon reach the small village where they could take all the breaks they want. But until then they could not stop. If they did, Anna would not be able to invoke the shadows anymore and they would have to carry Helm, risking Helm's life. On the other hand, if she kept the shadow alive while recuperating even for one minute she would consume all her energy and be left with none.

She was risking her life as much as Helm was now. So, Anna cried in desperation, forcing Claudia to get up and follow her.

Both Asaf and Claudia looked aghast when met with Anna's face. She looked like she was dying, as much as Helm was, her face was purple, all her blood had been drained from her face and now was frostbitten by the cold weather.

Anna did not care to explain and left them, walking slowly with heavy steps but with a goal. Asaf gazed at Anna and did not comment, but Claudia cried for the whole journey.

Anna looked at the sky, the sun was past them, so Anna extended her vision and a few miles away there were shadows appearing in Anna's head. She knew this meant that they reached their destination.

"We're are almost there." Said Anna. She relaxed a bit and retracted her shadows while a bitter smile appeared on her ghastly face. She was relieved that before dusk they would reach the village.

Behind her, Claudia and Asaf sighed relieved as well and their fighting spirit rose, quickening their pace a bit.

Soon, a droplet of rain hit Anna's face. She looked up at the dark clouds above them and her face darkened, creasing her forehead in displeasure. Only now it began to rain, when they were almost there, making it more like a curse than a blessing.

Drop by drop, water fell slowly at first, like a spring shower, but soon the water began pouring down, drenching the group.

The snow around them melted, as water drew small holes in the blanket of white that covered the landscape. Anna's feet began sinking deeper than before, making it harder for her to walk and slowing her pace. She looked behind and she was not the only one, the pair was also having a hard time walking around.

~

On a wooden plank stuck firmly in the ground, a name was written – Gridell. A pair of people were caring a body of a boy, seemingly dead towards the centre of town. A girl, with blonde hair, drenched and untidy followed behind them.

The streets were deserted, not even a soldier to be seen. People were hidden in the houses, dogs and cats took shelter where they could and not a helping hand around them.

It was better this way…maybe. The pair looked suspicious enough carrying a body around and with the girl behind dragging her feet, Anna and Asaf would surely be imprisoned and questioned. Some children who were watching the rain from their windows noticed the group that passed them and yelled for their parents. Still, no one jumped to help them, either the parents were busy or no one cared about them.

At last, Anna's group reached the ever so familiar corner of the plaza, where a glass window reflected Anna's deplorable state. The people around her did not look any better either, all of them looked like savages who fought a wild bear and lost.

Claudia smashed her fist into the door, urging for that person to come out.

No answer.

'Is she not here?' Anna began panicking. She never thought of the possibility of Grace leaving her house. She did mention that she wanted to leave this place on holiday, as she had been threatened by Michael, that merchant. But that problem was resolved, and it has been months now since the incident. Surely no one left their house for that long.

"She's not answering. What do we do?" asked Claudia anxiously after she lowered her arm and looked at Anna helplessly.

"Keep knocking." Asaf said, breathlessly.

Claudia banged at the door more urgently this time. When Anna was about to give up, a small girl with pink hair drew the curtain to look at the window.

Her eyes widened seeing Anna but rushed to the door opening it and letting the group inside.

"What are you doing here?" she asked almost not believing her eyes. She was not the same timid Grace as before, she seemed on the edge seeing the body, Anna and Asaf were caring.

"We need to nurse him first." Anna replied.

"Come this way." Grace urged them to come downstairs to the tunnels Anna had been before. Grace locked the door of the bookstore and closed the curtains after looking outside once more. She led them towards another room than the one Anna and Grace had their secret meeting in.

She lay Helm there and allowed Grace to nurse him. His wound was not deep, so it did not need stitching, but he lost a lot of blood and he had fainted. She cleaned the wound with alcohol and bandaged him with a clean cloth, stopping the bleeding and preventing the wound from infecting.

"It's done." She said, as she was gathering the dirty cloth and tossing them in a bucket on the floor.

"Will he wake up?" asked Claudia who was crouching in a corner of the room. When she saw that Grace was finished, Claudia rushed towards the table Helm was laying on and touched his forehead.

"I don't know." She replied looking up to Anna. Anna nodded understandingly and signalled Grace to come out.

"Take care of him." Anna said as she was about to exit the room. Asaf nodded curtly, while Claudia was gazing worriedly at Helm. Tears ran down her face as she kept touching Helm's face with a wet cloth she picked up from a bowl with clean water.

Grace and Anna said nothing to each other while they went towards a wooden door. Anna recognised the meeting room, which was exactly as she remembered it. Nothing changed, water kept dripping from the ceiling, although now it was pouring faster due to the rain outside.

Grace gathered the documents she was working on, hiding them under some books. She lit up a second lamp in the room, allowing Anna to see Grace's face a bit better. The same old damp and mouldy smell entered Anna's nostrils, but now it was stronger. Anna's senses had indeed increased, but it did not necessarily help her, like in this case. She wrinkled her nose in disgust while taking her coat off and leaving it on the back of the chair. None of them sat down, this was not one of those meetings. Time ticked by, water splashing in the bucket was the only sound made. No one said anything.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Graced eventually. She looked at Anna with a questioning look, as if wanting to read her mind.

It did not work however, these past few months changes Anna significantly, she knew how to hide the pain so easy know. She just had to apply it to other emotions as well and no one would be able to read her.

"Is it not clear?" she asked looking to her left. A few rooms away stood Helm, battling for his life, and hardly breathing. Grace took care of him she knows better than anyone that the wound she cleaned was a bite of a wolf.

"Why did you bring him here?" she asked exasperated.

"Where else would I?" if she knew how long they walked to get to this place…

They deviated from their course just to save Helm because if they were to walk to Kertin, he would have been dead. There was no other village or town she knew besides this one, and she was sure that Grace would help them.

"Why through the front door. If someone saw, you…" she did not finish her sentence. She did not need to. Technically Anna could hide and pretend she did nothing, but Grace owned the shop and knew this was bad for her reputation to be seen with a boy, presumed dead. Her shop would be searched, and her secrets unveiled.

Anna had to admit she did cause a lot of trouble to Grace, but it was nothing compared to the trouble of Helm dying. She could cover up this incident using her Princess status if really needed.

No one besides the trio she came with, knew about her identity.

"No one saw us." She said, uncertain herself.

"You should have asked at the inn." She still insisted, annoying Anna.

"I had no money, what would you have me do. Plus, you owed me a favour." Anna snapped and raised her voice, making Grace freeze on spot. Her eyes glared with an unknown light; Anna could not read her anymore.

"This is not how you do this, Princess!" Grace yelled back at Anna.

Anna's eyes darted at the pink-haired lady. Soon, Grace realised her mistake as well and covered her mouth, looking terrified at Anna. She knew. She knew all along that Anna was a princess and yet she never hinted at it.

"How did you know?" She asked angrily.

"That is not important, it was not that hard considering you were the only noblewoman in the village. I am informed." She replied. There was no longer a trace of the timid and shy woman that Anna met months ago, but a true businesswoman, one that looks straight into the client's eyes.

There was no fear in her eyes, but they seemed to twinkle in amusement behind the covers.

She really played a good role. And she played it very well.