The sky was a crystalline sapphire, the sun shining through the more and more dense leaves.
I listened to the sound of bird calls, watching a golden patch of light on the grass right next to my knee. I found a secluded part of the forest behind the mansion's gardens, far enough for the gardener to not care about it anymore. The time of the most exuberant and lovely blooming was approaching.
I closed my eyes, sighing softly. I still wasn't exactly sure what happened yesterday... I woke up in bed, alone, like on any other normal day. At first I thought I was dreaming all of that... But when Sril didn't appear for breakfast and Yanka, who went to fetch him from his room returned with concern on her face saying, that he wasn't there, it became clear to me that it happened for real. Even so I lied to her, that he said something about an early morning flight the day before, and we ate alone. I was too ashamed to admit, that his disappearance was solely my fault.
I went to look for him alone, but wasn't very successful.
A small nightingale, sitting on a low-hanging twig nearby fell silent for a moment and tilted its head slightly, as if asking for advice for further melody. I sighed. I needed one myself at the moment... Finally I stood up from the spot where I took a short rest. I climbed the nearest tree a bit, and when the branches thinned out enough for me to attempt a safe start, I jumped into the sky above. I've searched the shore and its coves all the way to the north already. I've searched the gardens, the stables and a fragment of the forest to the east. It was time for the west then...
I raised my eyebrows a little. A bit to the south-west I noticed a spot of paler green, big and spread between the other trees like an irregular stain. I beat my wings a few times to take a closer look. It was a willow, an enormous willow, towering over the nearby forest like the mother of all life around her. Curious, I spotted a convenient branch on a hornbeam right next to it and settled down carefully.
I gently pushed the twigs of the willow to the side a bit and peeked underneath it. I saw an enormous space, a clearing situated on a small, gently sloped hill. There was a carpet of soft, emerald moss as far as the eye could see. Fascinated, I carefully jumped in and landed on it soundlessly. There was a tiny brook at the opposite end of the clearing that pulled gently on the willows twigs, and some of the roots reaching out to it looked like its tributaries meandering among the moss.
I walked across the clearing silently, delighting in the silence and liberty this place seemed to emit... and then stopped suddenly upon sensing something.
I cautiously circled the trunk and after a few steps something black caught my eye.
I wasn't sure if I was more relieved, or more afraid.
There he was, sitting on the moss close to the tree, his eyes fixed absently on the green of the rustling leaves. His soul didn't seem to be entirely present... and I suddenly felt the urge to use that opportunity.
I was about to back away, when Sril blinked once. The blood in my veins almost froze solid, when he turned his head to look at me curiously.
Moments passed. It could have even been a few minutes. And then he smiled...
Sril smiled.
There was so much pain behind it, that it almost broke my heart, but the smile itself...
... it was real...
I let out a feeble breath, my knees almost giving up on me. When he shifted slightly, making an almost unnoticeable movement with his head, I just stopped thinking. I went over to him and sat down on the green softness.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered finally, not being able to bear staying quiet anymore.
"Don't be," his voice was the same as ever, but different at the same time.
I summoned my courage and looked him in the eyes. It was as if I was seeing them for the first time. There was no more coldness, no more indifference. There was warmth and kindness, like the ice on the surface melted completely, allowing the water of the lake to bloom at last.
"I should be the one apologizing, Sian," he continued softly. "I've caused you so much grief... and just because I was so stubborn and didn't want to admit, that you were right... But, you know, when we soared through the air together a few days ago, some strange feeling overcame me... I saw your beaming face, your sparkling eyes, and suddenly started to wonder... did I really miss so much magic? Was I really lying to myself so much, that I actually started to believe, that the emptiness Trel's death left behind was the only thing left for me in this world?"
I hesitantly reached out and covered one of his hands with my own, trying to tell him, that it wasn't, that he had much, much more...
A tiny smile found its way to his lips, like a faint ray of sunlight breaking through rain clouds. "You know, at first I was a bit angry at you yesterday... No, not like that. I was angry because you forced me to see the truth, that I kept pretending not to see." He paused briefly, as if some thought just surfaced in his mind, and he was searching for the right words to express it. "It's curious isn't it... death changed me... and then friendship did the same..."
"But friendship isn't something you can obtain by force..." I finally found my voice. "It has to find a way into your heart..."
"... and you have to accept it, in order for it to affect you," he finished for me. I looked him in the eyes, and for some reason I found a glimmer of amusement in them, as he raised his eyebrows slightly. Before I knew it I was grinning at him, and he did the same.
"There is one more thing I have to apologize for..."
"What?"
"For saying, that it was my duty to save you..."
"Ah..."
"Well, it was, in a way, but first and foremost... it was my desire. A wish coming from deep inside my heart, even if I was too dumb to identify it for what it was. I can't imagine a world without your light..."
I felt the final wave of relief, as those words sparked a memory in my mind. I closed my eyes, fighting tears. I did it... I thought in disbelief. I did it, Yanka... Suddenly there was a warm hand wiping the stinging wetness from my cheek.
"Please don't... I'm not worth your tears..."
"You are, you idiot... you are worth all of them, especially these... when they fall in happiness..."
"I'm happy too... I..." his voice suddenly cracked.
I couldn't help but smile gently. It was only obvious that after all this time of stifling his emotions, that bit of crying yesterday wasn't nearly enough. I embraced him delicately, allowing him to bury his face in the fabric of my shirt on my shoulder and circled my wings around his back.
"I want to stay by your side..." I heard his trembling, muffled voice after a few sobs. "I want to protect you in every single fight that is to come and I want to see its end with you..."
"I will do everything in my power to make sure you will..." I whispered warmly.
I was certain we both would. The fact that I felt like I just found a long lost brother had to have a meaning...