Sam's POV:
I was going to come out of my shell today.
I didn't care if she wanted to get to know or not but I was going to tell the Jackal my mind.
Since our hunting lesson, she's been distant from me and Jaja.
Mine is something I'm used to but it was odd seeing her not talk to him every night.
She went alone to the creek to relax a little and I felt like that was the perfect place to talk to her.
When I'd gotten there, she wasn't relaxing but training and swinging her sword and an imaginary enemy.
For a girl she's really intimidating.
"I know you're here so what do you want?" her back was turned to me.
Guess there's no going back.
"I wanted to talk to you one on one-"
"later; I'm busy" she dismissed me rudely.
"that's the problem; you keep pushing me away like I've done something horrible to you which I haven't. Since I arrived here you've treated everyone with love and care but you're suddenly disgusted by the mention of my name"
"you wouldn't understand!" she turned to look at me.
"I will if you'll give me a chance I might-"
"don't pretend you know what pain is! Judging by how soft you are, the girls seem to have had a more traumatic experience than you"
"does it have anything to do with the people you love before you came here-"
"everyone I loved has either betrayed, died or left me! How am I sure you'll be different? I have to keep my guard up to avoid being hurt again!"
She looked broken.
"but the people here all love you and care for you and you feel the same way about them"
"they took me in after I was left with nothing and they're all I have left" she blinked the tears away.
"believe me I've been there" I moved closer.
"I grew up in Blacklake with my parents and four siblings. One was older and three were younger. I and my older brother were sent to gather wood for the cold days and when we came back, we found our family had been killed. We looked around and discovered everyone was dead except the youngest…my little sister. Turns out the murders weren't finished and attacked us. My older brother tried to fend them off and told us to run but we couldn't make it. I managed to escape with my sister and lived in Redlake for a few days before I was taken to the castle to be a gardener and shortly before I ran away, a personal slave"
I barley tell people my story but if I wanted her to open up to me, I had to.
"I'm so sorry" her voice was soft for the first time towards me.
"you might not totally trust me but I would never do anything to hurt you. I just hope you can learn to trust me" I turned around to walk away when I heard her telling me to wait.
"I'm sure Jaja told you about how I lost my sight the other day but I want to tell you the full story"
We both sat and the edge of the creek with our feet in the water.
"I grew up in a small village that had a lot of dark witches and lived a happy life with my parents. I was an only child. We didn't have much money but we lived our life as happily as we could. That was when I met him. His name was Philip and we were best friends who did everything together. My parents didn't complain about me having a friend and always welcomed him when we went to play but I didn't know he was an enemy! One day he came over with his mum when my parents weren't home and I welcomed him. I couldn't move all of a sudden. His mother was a very dark witch and he had asked her to take away my eyes"
I remembered Jaja saying something like this last night.
"I was born with the rarest eyes known to man and people had told me more than once that they would kill for my eyes. Philip told his mom to do something about my eyes and that he wanted them for himself. It seemed his mum wasn't very experienced but she did the next best thing. If her son couldn't have my eyes, then no one would…including me. Everything became blurry and I slowly lost my sight. I was 7 when this happened. My parents were absolutely shattered and moved to Bloodlake. They took care of me and treated me like I was very fragile until demons came for them and not for me since I was blind but they said they would reunite me with my family by burning down my house with me in it. I cried for what felt like days and began choking on smoke before passing out. When I woke up I heard the voice of Darya calming me down and asking me what happened. After telling her everything, she tried to give me my sight back but it didn't work then she enhanced my senses with magic. I've never felt the same way about outsiders ever since"
Wow.
I didn't know what to say but it must have been traumatizing for her and now I understood why she was like a stone wall.
"that's terrible…but at least now you have people who care about you for who you are" I tried to lighten the mood slightly.
Seeing as it was a boy that hurt her, it made sense that she didn't want to open up to me at first.
"I'll tell you something I've never told anyone before. But honestly, I don't think I can remember what my parents look like. Being blind didn't harm my memories but their faces are just gone. The royal family feels like my family as well"
"thank you for sharing that with me" I smiled.
"tell anyone about that and you'll never see the light of day again" she placed the sword on my throat and I rose my hands in a fake surrender.
"I promise your secret is safe with me""
After this whole conversation, we might get along well…I hope.
Lyra's POV:
I sat alone in my room thinking about what to do or where to go.
Darya had advised us to experiment and learn how to use the gateways but where would I go.
"this might be the perfect opportunity to come and visit my garden and visit me as well" mothers voice said lightly in my head a small smile crawled on my lips.
I stood and faced the window preparing my mind and remembering how the garden looked every time I visited it.
Stretching my arms forward with both eyes closed, I made the images stronger in my head while gathering magical energy to channel it.
I drove away any other thought that came to mind especially self-doubt.
The glow of the purple gate bounced off my skin as I opened my eyes and walked through.
On the other side was mothers' tree.
With her body right where I left it.
Roses and thorns over her skin and butterflies everywhere.
"hi mom" I smiled and sat at the foot of the tree.
"I always knew you could do it. Now you can go anywhere you want as long as you know where it is" it felt like she was still alive as she spoke to me.
She was right; my connection to her was stronger whenever I'm here.
"but where do I go? My only mission was learning how to come here and now that I can, my mind is blank" I huffed and laid down on the grass.
"why don't you go back to Redlake? Nadia was separated from your group so go pay her a visit"
The thought of going back and seeing the King sent shivers down my spine.
"don't be scared; your stronger now than you were before…believe in yourself and face your fears. You can't run forever"
She did have a point; it was time I go back but not alone
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