Azriel was shell shocked as Wole and Tara hurriedly shuffled her into her room. She was shaking all over from the horrific visual of the lovely flamenco dancer dying in paroxysms of agony almost at her feet. It felt like death and destruction were following her everywhere she went and she had no idea how to stop it. She still could visualise the terrible scene by the lake, where so many people had died under the wraith's attack. She flung herself on the bed, her eyes filling with tears as she cried her heart out.
The Book spoke up in a gentle voice, breaking through her own sobs, "Death...much death....much pain and betrayal...for the young bird but then it will be better!"
"How is this better Book? Why are they after me? What have I ever done to hurt them?"
"You are.....you exist..., " said the Book and she felt a hint of sadness in it's voice. Then like always the Book was silent.
Tara silently helped her into another robe, and tucked her into bed, even as Azriel continuously sobbed. She gave a pillow filled with hot water to hold against her aching chest and told her it would calm her down.
Azriel tossed and turned all night. Graphic images of the dead and the dying at the lake kept coming back to her. She was disturbed beyond belief. She woke up in a cold sweat at one point in the night from a nightmare of wraiths chasing her across the ranges of the Kush mountains. She dreamt of a silver Phoenix in a cage, and of dragons fighting in the sky. She sat up and drank a sip of the water lying next to her and felt a little better. Tara woke up every time with her sensing her unease. She had realized that on most nights, Tara had slept in her cat form at the foot of her bed, but tonight she was sleeping in her human form, maybe to better protect her from an attack.
Tara murmured softly, "Sleep, Lady Azriel, please sleep. You will need your strength for tomorrow." Azriel tried to go back to sleep, but she was unable to. Every few minutes she feared an attack. Every scrape or sound became a source of terror for her.
Dawn broke, and with it Azriel sat up, her face pale, her hair askew and her eyes wild with dark circles under them.
She begged Tara, who was obviously a very light sleeper, "Take me to the Duke, I need to speak with him now itself."
"It's not possible, Lady Azriel." Tara said sadly, "He isn't here."
"He isn't here? Where is he?"
"he took Layla to her hometown. She wished to end her last few days in the monastery there, in peace and among her own kind. She never recovered from the attack she had at your dinner."
"Oh...but when will he come back then? I need to know."
"I cannot say, Lady Azriel...I have no word on the same."
Azriel nodded stupefied in shock. The day passed in a haze of oblivion. She barely ate or spoke to anyone and spent her day in bed, in fits of sobbing. One day turned into another and even Tara and Wole gave up their gentle insistence on her to let her be. The Book sniffed a few times, but Azriel barely heard it. Instead, she fell into a deep dark void of bad dreams and uneasy days. She had no idea of the time of day.
When Ilana stormed into her room on a balmy afternoon, she had been dozing off. She had been wearing the same crumpled white robe for the past three days, her hair had not been brushed for a while, and bits of bread crumbs were all over her bed. Ilana looked furious as she pulled away her coverlet and screamed, "Get out of bed!"
Azriel shook when she saw Ilana. The woman was like a strong dark gazelle and right now rage was across her face.
"I can't do anything Ilana, please leave me alone. I wish to die!"
Ilana stepped upto Azriel and slapped her tightly across the face, "You wish to die? People are dying for you everyday? People have died for you, protecting you, people who do not even know you."
Azriel looked at her numbly, "I...don't"
"Yes, Azriel you don't. You have no clue about what is happening, because you are locked here in your room. We have had a witch hunt in the past week and ferreted out anyone who even remotely might have a connect with the Dark forces and the flamenco singer's death. Our border patrols have tightened and even more people are desperately on the lookout, ready for any sign of attack. Aranus came back wounded from his reconnaissance trip and three people have died on their job. The job which mainly entails your protection."
Azriel shook in hurt as she said to Ilana, "I didn't ask for this, None of it is my doing. I want to just run away from here."
"And go where Azriel? Die alone and unsung like your mother?"
"My mother didn't die alone. Her sister helped her, and took me away to my father."
"Who? Nuria? Nuria poisoned your mother to death Azriel...and she only left you with your father so you could grow and come into your powers. She knew she would never have the patience to bring up a human child. She led you all into a trap in the mines. She was working with Ashmeer all along to get you to believe every word of her and trust Ashmeer till he could grab you and take you away with him."
"That's not true! Nuria is my only family."
"No, she isn't Azriel....she was Ashmeer's aunt. Never yours and she is one of the most powerful mages of the Dark Forces. She always works like this, undercover."
Azriel was numb with shock. Was nothing what it seemed in this world?
Ilana turned around and said to her, "From tomorrow, you will wake up in the morning, and follow lessons. Combat first in the morning and then Victus. Malia will call you when she will, but if I hear from anyone that you have been spending your entire day in bed, I will come and whip you myself, so help me God!"
Azriel gulped and nodded. There was no way she was going to cross Ilana.