I swear it was not because of the hot baths!
*Alaila looks around, in Kai and Willie's quarters hearing the soft whispers of voices in the corridor as people went about their business in Uthrandir. She smiles at the comforting sensation that gave her. She looks at the blank page before her and starts to write.*
Much has changed in this last couple of days. I have met many good people and made precious friends.
I must admit that I'm not a brave person. I'm not... sometimes I'm ashamed of what a mousy frightful girl I can be, but you have to understand that before arriving to this land my days were spent in peace with my family and the most extraordinary thing that happened in our life was a specially plentiful harvest or Darla, my older sister, having a baby girl that made us all uhhh and ahhh.
I had no contact with battles or magic or politics.
I threw stones at zombies when I got caught by nighttime and run from creepers. That's it.
So yes, after the attack on Heaven's reach and after knowing sir Darthcorey's plans to bring Chaos into every city I was distraught.
And by distraught I mean I had to have 10 torches around me at night and slept inside a chest just to make sure nothing scary went down while my eyes were closed.
I might have tried to bribe a cow to come home with me so I would not be alone. And a pig when the cow went on her merry way.
And I got extremely friendly with Bill in the Sorrowlands and happily heard him talk about wood and stone bricks for 7 straight hours just because it was night time and I didn't want to make my way to the boat in the dark.
See... insane, right?
Sir Kai would come to see me whenever he could but he had classes to teach and I felt bad for being the reason he was away from home so much... so I found myself traveling to Uthrandir every chance I got.
I met sir Auxilium, sir Willie, sir Dew and professor Drizzle and became quite fond of all of them.
I'm not going to lie... knowing that sir Bellon was close by made me feel a lot safer. The wise man acts in a humble way but he cannot hide the aura of power that surrounds him. Even a simple girl like me can feel it.
It took me a couple of days to summon up the courage to go talk to him and ask if he would give me shelter behind his walls.
He gave me a warm smile and told me Uthrandir would always keep safe those who asked for protection. When I stood there looking at him, trying to figure out if that was an yes or a no he dropped the formal tone and added " well, move along, go get your things lass!"
I was so relieved. I had to stop myself from hugging the old man. I'm sure it would be frowned upon... the new girl just jumping on the most respected member of the community. I can imagine the shock on the other wizards' face as I squeezed their leader saying " oh thank you, thank you, thank you!".
I ran to tell Kai the good news.
Ahhh, Kai... he not only makes me feel safe but at peace. There is something about the way he looks at me that makes me believe every word he says when he tells me I will not be in harm's way while he is around.
Oh look at me! Silly Alaila! Soon I'll be dotting my "i"s with hearts and writting sappy poems about sunsets.
I should snap out of it! I must not forget that when I look into his eyes what I see there isn't meant only for me but for a memory as well.
He told me in a rather straightforward away that he does not think of me as a replacement for Amber. Actually he told me a couple of other things in a *very* straightforward way that rendered me quite speechless.
By the raining pinecones.... he wrote me a love story! A book. A whole book! Before the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me was make a heart out of sheep's... hum... poop. Hey.. no mocking... We were 7 and the kid had nothing else to work with at that moment. I thought it was sweet... so I pushed him and ran away giggling because that is the appropriate response when you're 7.
I got sidetracked.. where was I?
Ahh yes, he told me all of those things but I see the way his eyes cloud over when the memories flash through his mind. Something like that you don't just put away in a neat little chest on the back of your head and move on with your life.
I better not over think it or I might go insane.
So... yeah... I said goodbye to Heaven's reach, thanked sir Aug88 for opening his town to me as a safe harbor when I lost my way, promised to visit often to see the new constructions he had planned and moved to Uthrandir.
Now, I know what you are thinking because the first time I visited the school I could not stop talking about it and no, it was not because of the hot baths, I swear!
