“It was the anonymity. He wanted to be unknown, unpossessed by others' knowledge of him. That was freedom.” - Ling Ma

His defeated sigh echoes through my room. “Your mother will send the Order and the army to find you. She won't leave any stone unturned. You will never know peace again.”

He takes my hands in his. “You will be hunted without end, but you will be free.”

He is proposing the impossible.

“They will find me wherever I go. You know our people have a special bond,” I reply, thinking of all the possible ways this scenario could play out.

“Dear child, I know. This bond has always bound our people together. Your mother would say that is the reason why we are the most superior race. But what no-one - not even your mother - knows, is that there are two ways to hide an elf from prying eyes.”

He smiles at my frown and explains: “Firstly, the king can cut an elf off. He can disinherit an inhabitant of the forest. This would have the consequence that the elf would never be able to return to the forest. It is the only way to deal with real traitors, those undeserving of experiencing the forest ever again. Thankfully, our race has always remained true to itself and we have never had to resort to this.”

Eoghan's eyes does not reflect the smile on his face. “Secondly, I have inherited an item from my father, and he inherited from his, and so forth. There is a whole chest of items, books and reports only the king's eyes will ever see. It's existence is the most secret in all of ArBrae.”

He pauses for a moment - his unspoken words clear: I am not allowed to bear this knowledge, yet he is confiding in me.

“Well, this item is from the ancient times. It hides the bearer from everyone. You will not be sensed by elves, skados, humans, or even the Council.  You will be sensed when you are in the company of those that know about energy, but they will not be able to find you or remember you, unless they see you again.”

Producing a small, plain golden ring, he places it in my hands. “You cannot tell anyone about this item, or that I gave it to you. You will be a shadow, unknown to the world. But you will be free. Will you accept the gift I am offering you?”

Knowing the consequences of this treachery, I avert my eyes downward. “Father, I cannot accept it if it will cause you harm.”

“Moonshine and thunder!”

The sharp inhalation of my breath following the reverberation of his voice, leaves us in a momentary silence.

He resumes in his gentle voice - one like fresh flowerbuds - all the anger drained from it. “Do you not understand anything of what I have told you? You do not have a choice, child. You must either accept the gift or I will banish you from this place!”

His return to a calm and composed voice makes me realise that I have no choice - for the first time I have to obey my king, and not my father.

"You have never sworn."

He meets me halfway when I reach for him - enveloping me safely for the last time.

“I am doing what is best for you," he replies. The smile in his voice barely masks his agony.

I hug him tighter. “Father, you are the best!”

“I have prepared everything you need. I cannot give you a horse, for the horse would be found.” He produces a small satchel. “This is all I can give you. It is enough food for a week. I also put one of my diaries in there. You have read some of it, even though your mother forbade you so many years ago.”

Despite my blush, he continues. “You might find some answers in it. Laelia, the bracelet you have; the one that changes, do not wear it again. It is traceable. Keep it with you always as it is an inseparable part of you, but do not wear it.”

He is proposing I deny the Second One as my guardian. “I have worn it every day since I received it from our lord.” I trace the lilies with the tip of my index finger, unable to imagine not feeling its cool comfort against my wrist.

He stuffs the satchel in my hands. “I know, but trust my judgement. You will have to leave on foot and you'll need to leave now. It is exactly midnight.” 

After a long pensive look, he mutters. “I love you, my dearest Laelia.”

This is a farewell - a goodbye for an indefinite period of time. But I know he is right: I cannot marry Strongwind and I cannot stay if I am to find my destiny.

“I love you more.” I quickly wipe a tear out of my eye before he can see it.

“You cannot say goodbye to Aedan and I cannot give you my blessing.”

“I have your greatest blessing: your love.”

“He will know why you had to leave.”

Hoping that this moment never ends, I hug my father for the last time. “I hope so.”

With closed eyes, he breaks free first. Closing mine, I stand up from the bed and turn around before opening them again.

Not allowing myself a second's hesitation, I walk to my door - the weight of exile and separation already suffocating me.

Resisting the urge to look back, is like resisting a sneeze: impossible. Yet knowing that seeing his tears would shatter me, I ignore his silent sob and exit my room.

My shoes splatter against the marble tiles as I run down the palace stairs. The tears now streaming down my eyes are allowed to roam freely as I concentrate on not sobbing out loud until I melt into the darkness of the forest at the back of the palace.

When I am safely hidden by the blackness of the night and the trees, I stop to take my shoes off and I stuff them in the satchel.

Where in all of Ligtland will I go?

Countless cities and hundreds of possibilities overwhelm me before I make my decision. Turning northwest, toward Raven's Peak, Alachna City soon fades into the forest. 

Pa'drig, once my friend and now the king, will welcome me with open arms. It will take a certain amount of time before my mother alerts the rest of Ligtland that I have fled from my engagement. I should be able to find shelter there until I can come up with a plan for my life as a fugitive.

Halting in my steps, the realisation dawns on me: they will be able to follow me if I continue to leave a path on the grass.

I smile at my stroke of genius and resume my sprint: the forest has a venous plexus of streams draining it both above the ground and below it.

The icy water bites my toes as I jump into the first stream I find. Luckily this one is small and barely reaches my knees. However, running against the current, however small it may be, soon makes my calves burn.

After twenty minutes, the streams swerves away from the direction I want to run in. I am forced to step out of the stream and find another.

My desperate criss-crossing ArBrae's streams continues for hours after sunrise. Whenever stepping on a jagged rock or the ever intensifying heat in my calves threatens to derail me, Strongwind's irritating smirk flashing before me presses me onward.

The bright burn of the midday sun finally breaks my momentum. Slumping down on the rocks of the stream's bed, I finally allow myself a respite. I scoop some of the water up and pour it over my head. The salty taste of sweat mixes with revitalising water on my lips.

After quenching my thirst, I tear through half a loaf of bread and a handful of fresh berries. As tempting as the feeling of a full stomach after hours of exertion is, I know that I have to press onward. I need to grow the distance between me and Alachna City.

At first my mother will think that I am only hiding in the woods. It will take her at least one more day to realise that I have fled and then send Aedan to find me. If I am lucky, he won't realise within a day that I am truly gone.

This time I should be able to reach the Ardam-ArBrae border in a much shorter time than the time I travelled with the Order and my brothers.

The crisp sound of crunching grass reaches my ears. I rise slowly, turning my head in the direction of its origin.

One pair of feet moving slowly and deliberately towards me - close enough to have heard me as well.

Running now will raise the guard of whomever owns that pair of feet. ArBrae folk will always greet those they encounter.

An unexpected face emerges from the forest growth, yet immediately recognisable as my aunt Idunn by her faded chaotic hair - a mishmash of nature and treasure.

Her widened eyes soften as she recognises me. “Laelia? Have I wandered too close to Alachna city?”

Although her hollow voice sends shivers down my spine, the comfort of its familiarity is like a glowing ember creating shadow lives on a dark night.

I smile. “No, Idunn, I have wandered far from it.”

She looks at me. Her pale blue eyes penetrate mine. I can feel them scrambling my mind for the answer to some question she has just thought of.

Idunn has a very rare Elf Gift. She is able to sift through thoughts and choose what she wants to see or discover. It is very frightening to experience such a breach of your privacy, but I am used to Idunn doing it to me. There is nothing you can do to prevent it.

Idunn nods. The birds' nests in her hair bob with as her head moves. 
Aedan and I once counted three nests, but we might have been mistaken, because the rest of the tangle of junk in her hair misled us, and we might have thought that some of the nests in her hair were only twigs.

She also has forty seven broken shells woven into her hair, but again, Aedan and I might have counted wrong.
Aedan and I have also seen ten different golden trinkets in the mesh. One is of a small lion, roaring on its hind legs. There is also a bear with ruby eyes and a fish spewing a blue sapphire fountain.

She holds out her skeleton hand to me. Her skin is so thin that I can see the underground table of veins beneath it. Her fingers are thin and crooked like the claws of a raven.

I take it lovingly in mine. “Idunn, I have to go.”

“Yes, you have to, but you have to jump in and swim. And you have to stay away from the water”

Her other hand gropes around in her hair.

Her words make even less sense than the array of junk in her hair.

She removes something from the dump.

She holds her other hand out to me.
One look tells me that it is a bone - a finger bone of a child to be precise.
Tufts or her oily hair are wedged between the splinters of the uneven bone.

I know of better than to question her. I take the bone and swallow my disgust.

“It is the key to everything. Find the dead, and those alive won't die.”

I nod, knowing that Idunn's words must contain some very important truth and that the bone must be of significance, even if it makes no sense at all.

She lets go of my hand and slaps it.
I look at her in surprise.

“Run, little Bear, run! The water is coming!”

Not waiting for a second invitation,
I run down the stream as fast as I can.
My aunt's hollow, maniacal laughter bellows behind me.