28 History Knocks

It didn't take her a second to think to rush towards him in a quick embrace, "You're all right," she could barely conceal the delight in her voice, "I thought they caught you. I thought you were-"

She didn't finish the words as Kaius took her in again for a tight squeeze.

"Ow!" Allyria reacted when she felt her bones being crushed to shreds. She backed off, her face creased from the sudden pain. It felt like a semi-truck had just slammed into her gut.

Surprised, Kaius scanned her figure, "I… I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay," Allyria replied, "It's just I-"

"Let's talk about it later," Kaius said. "You can occupy the sofa for now," he said and eyed to the sofa adjacent to the furnace.

"If you want to change first, here are the clothes," Silas said and placed the clothes on the wooden table.

Allyria had no idea what to do. She wanted to crash her body onto the cushion willfully but her dress were too abused to be slept in so she took the clothes Silas handed.

"The comfort room is just outside," the old man said.

Allyria went out of the cabin and entered the wooden cubicle. It was small, probably one-eighth of hers in the castle.

It didn't take her too long to change her clothes. She tossed her torn down dress aside and took the necklace, placing it in her pocket. The chain was already broken, and she didn't have the tools to repair it yet.

She directed her attention to the clothing, which was palpably not for her size but covered her enough. Made of wool, the knee-length tunic sagged down her body and the stockings, rather than hugging her legs, seemed a bit too oversized. The leather shoes were also big for her dainty feet.

Though she was unaccustomed to wearing these types of clothes, she was thankful enough to complain.

She got out of the comfort room and went back to the cottage.

When she entered the room, the smell of meat and freshly-cooked stew welcomed her. Gnawing hunger knocked on her senses as soon as her stomach grumbled from the smell of it. Food. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a complete meal.

"Silas cooked for dinner. I know it's not much but-"

Allyria smiled and stopped Kaius from explaining, "It's okay. This is enough."

She took a seat in the dining table and ogled at the grubs in front of her.

Kaius followed, sitting beside her and Silas on the opposite side. She waited for the go signal and finally dived in; feasting the food like it's her last dinner on Earth.

Food never felt this good. They had all sorts of cuisines in the castle but none as scrumptious as this. She didn't even realize Kaius was just staring at her as she enjoyed her meal not until she raised her head and looked at them.

Her plate was almost empty while the two barely touched theirs. Was she really that obvious?

Kaius only chuckled and continued on his meal, "It's okay. You've been out for two days, I'm sure you're famished."

She smiled shyly, who wouldn't be starving considering you haven't eaten for three days? She took a sip of ale.

"Wait, three days?!" she accidentally coughed the drink from her mouth.

"Silas told me he found you in the river. The current must have carried you here."

"Oh," she said. She couldn't think of a better reply. Her mind was fuzzed with all kinds of questions. How did he arrive here? Why didn't Kaius come back for her? Who were those people she saw earlier?

"I'm sorry I couldn't come for you the day we got here," he started as if he read her mind.

Allyria could hardly listen as he recalled what happened two days ago. It was traumatic. As much as she didn't want to hear anything about it, she needed to know.

There he told her everything. From the time she fell to the moment when Silas found him outside the cabin, helplessly lying on the ground as he held the wounds in his body, "Believe me, I tried to help you that day but I knew I couldn't do that if I was already dead. I had to lose them."

"I'm sorry," he looked down on his feet, sadness clouding his features, "I went back there every single day but I couldn't find you. I told Silas I was finally going to leave today to look for you and he found you instead."

Waves of helplessness and melancholy hit her. She dropped the utensils from her hands and clasped her hand in his, "It's okay, you did nothing wrong. I understand," a bittersweet smile formed on her lips.

He beamed back in reply.

This time, it was her moment to tell him everything - how she ran to reach here, telling him it wasn't the current that brought her in this side of the river and about what she saw in the woods.

"They're here Kaius," she glanced at him, her eyes tight and worried.

His brows drew together, "What do you mean?"

"The Astrenmirs. They're back."