#narshadda

It was a dreadful sight. Her quarters had been sacked by the storm, clothes and furniture strewn every which way, shattered glass on every surface, and the various flowers he’d once watched her happily druidcraft were now dead. But the storm hadn’t caused that, had it? Ellery was on the floor at the foot of her bed, her dress splayed out before her as she sat surrounded by dozens of glass shards, her bleeding hands laying limp in her lap as she cradled something small he couldn’t quite make out.

Her hair was still damp from the rain. She looked at him with tearful, devastating eyes. “It broke.”

Aloth’s heart ached and he smiled softly. “So I see, my friend.”

He gingerly stepped further into the room, careful to avoid ruining anything further, and knelt down by her side. Ellery sniffed pathetically. She curled her fingers further around the object she held.

Her voice was as fragile everything else around her. “Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is fine,” he assured. The he listed his head. “Serafen could be happier.”

She gave a weak laugh, but Aloth knew her real one when he heard it. He smiled in relief—until her face crumpled.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered, and as fresh tears fell, she leaned to rest her head on his shoulder. Aloth hesitated to put an arm around her, settling on placing his hand on the small of her back.

Aloth had seen her like this before, of course, more than five years ago after Defiance Bay. It was an uncomfortable sort of role reversal for the two of them at the time—Aloth never knowing what to do with his hands, or his words, or anything really, because she was always the decisive one, the talker. Aloth was not uncomfortable now, or tense. Just quiet. He knew her.

After some time, Ellery’s shuddering breaths turned to sniffles and she was ready to speak. She opened her hands back up and her small wounds had healed somewhat, just as her druidcrafted decor. Though relieved she seemed to be feeling better, Aloth’s attention fell to the object in her hand, and it dawned on him why she had left in such a panic.

“I thought I could save it in time,” she whispered.

In Ellery’s hands was a palm-sized glass flower—a columbine, she had once told him—of pale pink color, now cracked down the center, with two inner petals broken off, as well as the center. The green shards of glass scattered around them used to make up the spherical bottle she had once kept it in. One piece in particular still had the twine wrapped around it from when it hung from a bar on the ceiling along with all her other baubles. This one was special to her, he knew. It once belonged to a decorative candelabra in her bedroom half a decade ago.

The last piece she had left of Caed Nua.

“Caed Nua was my home,” she said. “My home.” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I know it’s gone but… it’s so far away.” She choked out a laugh. “I don’t do well with distance.”

“Indeed, I remember the letters.” He did not mean for it to be teasing but it wound up sounding just the same.

“Oh, the letters!” she wailed and he was almost afraid she’d begin to cry again. “I kept every single one, you know. I wish I had them as well.”

Aloth held back a smile. Perhaps she no longer possessed his letters, but he still held onto most of hers. The dried flowers she sent along with them had been his favorite part, reminiscent of the ones she used to press into his books when he wasn’t looking. But that was a secret to share with her another time.

“I…” she began. She frowned. “I miss my home. I am afraid I’ll never have another.”

Aloth knew her story well. He tried to imagine the life she’d lived, never sleeping in one place for too long, becoming one with the woodland creatures, then stumbling across a place as valiant as Caed Nua. In a way, he understood her. He too found a home in the most curious of places. Luckily for him, she’s still standing.

“Ellery.” He said her name tentatively, and she sensed the shift in tone. She raised her head from his shoulder to look at him, but with the added pressure of her gaze he readjusted his position. Staring at the broken columbine trying to find the words, he placed his hand atop her own, locking it between their palms. Touch was not always easy for him, but this was.

“Five years ago, you made a home out of a few wandering souls you just happened across. Edér, Pallegina, Sagani, myself… It was more difficult than I can describe for us to leave Caed Nua. Do you know why?”

Ellery blinked at him, eyes wide. “Because…”

“Because home is not Caed Nua, Ellery, it is you.” He shook her hand a bit to emphasize the statement. “Wherever you are, Ellery, that is…” Aloth could not finish his thought then because Ellery looked at him in such a way that he’d wish she’d never stop.

She beamed, tears springing into her eyes once more, but she brushed them away with her free hand.

Outside, Aloth heard commotion as their companions seemed to be arguing as they assessed the ship’s repairs. Aloth stood and held his hand down for her.