Author's Notes: I'd like to thank all those that reviewed the other chapters, and the ones that will review this one. Your comments are encouraging and very much appreciated. I try to answer all of you personally, I apologize if I missed anyone. kisses and cookies to all of you. Please point out any mean grammar mistake I might have, I try my best to rid my story of them, but I am far from being perfect, and I know they can be a huge story-flow killer.
Thank you to the annon. reviewer Eiluj for pointing out some nasty grammar problems. As for the water thing, good observation. I will have to re-read this chapter and the 3rd & 5th one again to see where I can add some of that.
Without further delays:
Chapter 4
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
When Melina woke up again, she was alone at the table; she noticed that the light filtering in the stable did not seem as bright as when she had fallen asleep. The sun must be setting, she thought. Looking around the empty stable, she wondered if the soldiers ever brought the horses inside. She got up from the wooden table with a terrible cramp in her back, but ignored it for the time being…she really needed to pee. She walked out to the back of the building and relieved herself quickly; afraid a guard might come by and see her. She sighed in pleasure as relief washed over her.
-"Well, what now?" she said out loud to herself and put her hands on her hips as she grinned and looked around for the answer.
Not finding anything resembling an answer out there, Melina decided to walk back to the front of the stable. While doing so, she noticed that the sun was actually ascending in the sky and not descending. How long had she actually been asleep on that table, a whole day and night? She grunted to herself, where was the man in grey? The guard at the front of the stable had been changed sometime during the night and did not seem to like her more than his predecessor had.
Wondering what she was going to do now, Melina rubbed her growling stomach, maybe a quest for food was in order. As she re-entered the stable, barely noticing the smell of horse manure and hay, she noticed that two more guards were sitting and eating breakfast. Her pride screamed at her to not go begging for food, but her body countered the argument with a very loud and painful gurgle… she headed to the table with a mission. Sitting down as gracefully as she could, and very close to one of the guards, Melina smiled sweetly before starring intently at his food.
They both tried their hardest to ignore her for a few minutes, but when she nuzzled a bit closer to the soldier and batted her eyelashes furiously, he gave in and handed her a piece of his bread and dried meat. The two items disappeared as soon as she had her hands on them; the trick was worthy of a magic show.
Now somewhat satiated, Melina sat back and thought about her next course of action. What if the man in grey had indeed left her here all alone? Where would she go? Then again, if he was never coming back, why were these soldiers not kicking her out of their stable? Maybe the man had told them he was going to come back for her after he did whatever it was he needed to do...like run after an insane horse...
-"I'm doomed." She said and dropped her head on the table. The guards glanced in her direction and then whispered something to each other; they think I'm crazy, she thought.
He has to come back, she thought. I just need to be patient, wait here, and hope that I am still allowed one more miracle.
And so Melina waited at the table for a while; when her buttocks protested at their over use, she waited with the horses; when her feet decided not to support her anymore, she waited in a hay stack; and waited some more as she received dinner. When the sun began to set, Melina had all but given up, except she still had not figured out what she was going to do all by herself.
She knew so little of this place, wherever it was, she was not even sure this was on earth...anything was possible now. After all, she had resurrected twice, was now in her 20 year old body and had seen demons with her own eyes.
She lingered with the soldiers as they gathered the horses and led them into the stable, an event she must have slept through the day before and considered her options. Leaving that very night was out of the question; who knew what dangers lurked out there in the day, let alone in the dark. She would have to wait until the morning to leave, if in fact she decided to leave. I could go back to the city, she thought, they could not possibly refuse to help a poor lost and confused woman…could they? And if the man in grey did return to find her missing, the guards would tell him in which direction she had left and he would come looking for her in town; she was almost certain of this…almost.
After the last horse had entered the stables, the soldiers locked the doors and settled down at the table around a candle. Melina watched them from a distance, having made a crude bed out of a pile of hay; better than the table, she thought. The soldiers were all young enough, probably in the beginning of their military service; all of them were handsome and, she noticed, all blond. Her own hair was as dark as the night.
As she slowly succumbed to sleep, she decided to wait for the man in grey until noon the next day, and if he was not back by then, she would leave.
The next morning, she awoke with hay all over her body; in her hair, her dress, her back, her shoes...everywhere! It stung, hitched and stank; she cursed herself for ever thinking hay was better than wood! It took her the better part of the morning to remove each and every straw from her body, which earned her quite a few giggles from the morning guards, but they still offered her breakfast...with a smile this time. She sat down at the table with the two off duty guards and listened to their strange speech. They laughed at incomprehensible jokes and talked more often with their hands than their mouths.
Melina suddenly felt very old, for the first time since she had woken up with the man in grey, it dawned on her that, though she had a younger body, her soul was old. It had seemed like such a blessing at first, to be allowed a second chance at this puzzling adventure they called life, but it was also a lot harder than she remembered. Especially now, alone and expected to take care of herself…she had never been forced to do anything on her own before. Spoiled is what she had been; and looking at these young men, enrolled in a military service, looking so happy, she realized that she had never been happy at their age. She had been to engrossed in trivial things, never truly realizing what a delicious gift life could be if handled properly; she promised herself that she would do all in her power to become like those men; happy.
Leaving the guards to their chat, Melina decided to get some fresh air and clear her head. The sun was now almost at its zenith, soon she would have to make a choice. She could see the city in the distance; it would not be difficult to make it there on her own. For a few minutes, she just stood still; starring at the horizon and thinking about her strange attachment to the man in grey. He is my online lifeline in this strange place, she thought. That enough would attach anybody; but there was something else, and she knew it, though she decided not to dwell on it. Thinking about the first time she had met the man in grey would only lead to thinking about the Devil and thinking about the Devil...Melina shook her head furiously; bad, bad train of thoughts.
-"How did I ever think I had luck?" she mumbled.
With that in mind, Melina resolved to return to the city. She may be cursed, but she was going to try everything in her power to change that, this was a whole new life after all. She began to walk, slowly at first and then with more determination. None of the guards stopped her, or offered to escort her, or showed any sign that they noticed her departure. This saddened her a little, but she kept her head up and marched as fast as her feet could carry her. The afternoon sun was warm, but not overly hot; the ground under her feet was a crude road which seemed to lead to the city; why had the man in grey not taken this road, she wondered but could not fathom the reason.
After she had walked for two hours or so, the city did not look any closer than when she had set out, she decided to pause and sit for a while. She felt slightly awkward and exposed, sitting alone in an empty field, but her feet were thankful for the break. Melina had not been sitting for 5 minutes when she heard the sound of a horse running on the road. Turning her head towards the direction of the sound, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she saw a rider approaching her at a break-neck speed. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Melina stood up, brushed her backside, and waited for the man to overtake her.
She did not recognize the rider at first, but as soon as he was close enough, she let out a startled cry...it was the man in grey, ridding that accursed animal he had set out after. A strange and warm feeling filled her belly and she could not stop a small grin from creeping on her lips; he had come back. The horse slowed to a trot as he got closer, though he was wearing neither bit nor saddle; and when he was close enough, the horse stopped and its rider offered her his hand. She hesitated, looking into his sparkling blue eyes and silly smile; there really was no reason for her to trust him.
But even as those thoughts formed in her minds, she took his hand and was pulled up in front of him. The feeling of the horse's bare back under her was new and exhilarating, as well as frightening. Her skirt, though wide enough to let her sit on the horse, made her feel slightly exposed in this position; Melina fumbled with it for a moment, trying to cover her legs as best as possible.
The man waited until she was comfortable before slipping one hand around her abdomen, her muscles constricted at the unexpected touch and she closed her eyes, fighting the urge to push his arm away.
The blade, shining brightly as it descended slowly towards her exposed body.
She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself and swallowed down her breakfast, which menaced to resurface. The man seemed to be aware of her struggle, and though he did not remove his arm, he eased the pressure on her stomach and waited until she was as comfortable as can be before setting the horse on a sprint.
The sudden movement from the horse jerked her body backwards and she was pressed against the warm body behind her. The touch was unwanted, but there was little she could do about it. Melina felt helpless, there was no reason for her to fear this man, but this simple physical contact was making her cringe. She had never been good when dealing with the opposite sex, but she had never been terrified of them either. Of course, that had been before the Tower…and the rapes.
Squeezing her eyes close, she dug her fingers into the horse's mane and clutched the soft hair tightly. With her head bowed forward, Melina tried to prevent the tears from falling, but she only managed to choke a few times before abandoning herself to her sobs. The body behind her did not budge, there was nothing he could do, her rational mind told her; but her heart did not want to hear rationality at the moment. She ached and was torn between the need to be comforted and the pain she associated with the man's touch.
Melina sobbed for what seemed like hours. For the first time since she had woken up in the castle, everything she had thought able to put behind her came crashing on her mind and the enormity of what she had been through dawned on her. A deep feeling of despair settled in her breast and she realized that she would not be able to simply forget about what had happened to her and move on.
She cried for a long time still before sleep claimed her exhausted body and her mind fell into a restless slumber.
The Torturer was looming over her naked body, she screamed and screamed, but no one could hear her...and no one would help her. She could feel his cold hand on her abdomen, right next to her belly button, simply lying there; reminding her that her body belonged to him in this room. She saw the shining blade in his hand, the way he moved it in front of her eyes, showing it off while he smiled at her. He traced the contoured of her left breast, not cutting the skin, but simply stroking it with the cold steel.
Her breathing increased and she screamed again, but her voice was hoarse and she began coughing, pushing her chest forward unintentionally. The movement caught the Torturer off guard and the blade slipped and sliced her chest, just above her left breast. She hissed at the unexpected pain and tears began flowing out of her eyes. She heard the demon chuckle to himself before he returned to his task. He left her line of vision and there was a moment of complete silence before a sudden wave of pain erupted in her abdomen, right next to his hand. She tried screaming, but nothing came out of her mouth; she could not breathe...she was suffocating...she was dying...
Melina gasped for breath and as soon as she realized that her hands were not bound anymore, she clutched at the demon's hand lying on her abdomen. But he was strong and though she dug her nails in his skin hard enough to make them bleed, he did not budge. She opened her eyes in order to face her opponent…only to be faced with a breathtaking view of gorgeous mountains in the distance and, closer to her, the silver head of a horse. Looking down at her stomach, she saw the bloody hand of the man in grey still encircling her body, thus preventing her from falling over.
Comprehension and guilt hit her like a slap across the face and she covered her face in shame. She whispered a hundred apologies, though he could not understand any of them; she felt renewed tears burn her eyes and her body shook silently. This time though, the man reacted to her distress; Melina felt his hand tightened protectively on her abdomen and his other hand came to rest on her left shoulder. She brought both her hands to cover the one on her stomach and pressed it hard, needing to be hugged more than anything else in the world.
He answered her unspoken wish and slipped his other arm across her shoulder and pulled her close in an awkward, but comforting embrace. She could feel his beard tickling her neck and she breathed in his soothing scent. Her breathing stabilized, and the tears slowly stopped flowing. Melina relaxed in his arms; as soon as she felt strong enough to face another day, the arm around her shoulders pulled back, though the one on her stomach remained. Her body protested at the loss of warmth and comfort, but she kept quiet; he was probably not comfortable with the situation either, she thought.
-"Thank you," she whispered, her voice sounding coarse from the sobbing.
She knew he did not understand her and that whatever she said would be useless, but she had needed to say it.
She heard him say something to her, and though she did not understand, she was grateful. She had never examined the importance of speech before; but now that she was in a world where she could not communicate, she realized that having someone speak to her made her her feel more human, more normal. It was a difficult feeling to explain; but to have him address her, acknowledge her presence with speech, felt like she had achieved a great victory.
He spoke for a while, and she tried to imagine what he might be telling her. Maybe he was explaining why the white Devil had been so mad at him; or why the King of the horse city had kicked them out. Or he might be recalling the adventure he had with the horse they were now ridding...how he had run after it for two days, not giving up until he had tamed the savage beast.
As the sun kept rising in the sky, and the mountains in the distance steadily grew larger, Melina's body slowly awoken…and it was not happy. She was beginning to lose sensation in her buttocks, her bladder needed relief and her stomach was growling loudly for food. The man had stopped talking a while ago, she had hoped that he was looking for a place to rest for a bit, but the horse had yet to stop. She grumbled to herself and cranked her neck to have a look at the man behind her.
He smiled, but his expression changed into a frown when he noticed her glare. He seemed to understand her distress after she pointed at her belly and rubbed it lightly, brushing his hand as she did so; he said something in that beautiful, but unknown language. The horse stopped his mad run, almost as if he had understood whatever the man had said. No sooner had the beast stopped running that Melina jumped off the tall horse and ran behind the first bush she saw. After relieving herself, she slowly walked back to where the horse was waiting; as she did so, she stretched her sore limbs and rubbed her numbed buttocks.
Now that one of her needs was fulfilled, she wondered about food…had they even brought any provisions with them? Her question was answered when she arrived by the horse and a piece of bread was shoved in her face. She looked up at the man, he was smiling at her and she took it happily. He helped her on the horse again and off they were again, ever getting closer to the mountains that were now quite huge on the horizon.
Later that day, they passed the mountains altogether and they were far behind them in the evening. She was only allowed one more stop after the sun had set that night, and she was also given another piece of bread accompanied, to her great satisfaction, by fresh water. They rode, as far as she could tell between her periods of restless sleep, all night long and continued to do so in the morning. Her companion neither ate nor relieved himself when they stopped; she saw him drink water on a few occasions, but nothing more. For some reason she almost felt jealous of him for this. When she use to be his age, or at least living in a body much like his, her needs had only increased, not decreased. And even now, as a young and somewhat healthy woman, he seemed sturdier than she.
They rode for the entire day and night again; Melina wondered how the horse could endure such pace; but, like a billion other questions she had about this world, she could not find an answer. She shook her head to stop her mind from thinking about these unanswerable questions and felt the man's beard tickle her neck. She shied away at the unexpected feeling and heard him mumble something. She turned her neck to glance at him and saw that he was pointing at himself and he repeated the same words again.
Word, she corrected herself, he was only speaking one word. Melina frowned in concentration, was he trying to tell her his name? She listened as he pronounced it a few more times…Gon..no…Ga…Ndal…ve? She growled quietly, maybe learning this language would be somewhat harder than she had expected. What hope did she have of learning it if she could not even learn one person's name? She had not noticed he had stopped repeating his name until she felt his hand on her shoulder, urging her to try. She cleared her throat and made her first attempt.
-"Gandalf?" she said timidly.
He smiled and nodded, seemingly happy that she had at least tried to say his name. She smiled back and repeated the name to herself a few times, her ears getting use to the sound of it and her mouth to its feel. She decided it would be kind to return the favour and, pointing at herself as he had done, she said her own name a few times. Gandalf seemed to understand, but frowned slightly; she concluded that it was because the name sounded very strange to him.
"Melina" he said with a hint of pride in his eyes.
She nodded, but felt a pang a jealousy grip her heart…he seemed to have gotten the hang of her name with such ease…while she had butchered his. Oh well; now at least, she knew his name. She turned her body forward again and took a deep breath; perhaps she was going to get through this after all. The sun was rising in the distance onto a terrain that was very different from the plains they had left behind. There were more trees here, more bushes and flowers as well. Though they seemed to be traveling by some public road, they had yet to meet any other travelers since they had left the stables. She had the feeling that it was better that way though; Gandalf seemed to be in a hurry to get to his destination.
Her buttocks were beginning to go numb again, and she feared she would soon not feel them at all. How long would they go on ridding like this…were they nearing their destination? What exactly was this destination…would she be welcomed there? Or would they look at her like they had done back in the horse city? Melina shuddered unconsciously; what would happen to her indeed.
It was pas mid-day when Melina began to hear sound of a flowing river. The sound grew louder for a long time until finally the river came into view. It was a large and tumultuous river, and there were no bridge to be seen. Their horse ran up to the shore, slowed to a trot and walked up and down for a few minutes, as if calculating his odds. Melina felt queasy, were they really going to risk drowning in this river?
She cranked her neck to look at her companion, but he was smiling calmly; not that it reassured her since she had come to the conclusion that he was slightly nuts. Well, she thought, this is going to be fun. The thoughts had barely formed in her head before she felt the horse sink under her as it entered the river. Melina clutched the horse's mane as she saw the water rising rapidly, was the horse tall enough for this? She felt Gandalf place a comforting hand on her back, but she was too tense to feel grateful.
The water finally stopped rising a few seconds later, and she held her breath as the horse struggled against the strong currents. She could feel the freezing water biting into her traveling boots and soaking the hem of her skirt. Against all odds, the horse never once lost its footing and in a moment's time, though not soon enough for Melina, they arrived on the other side. As if answering her prayer, the horse did not resume its mad run once it was ashore; instead it stopped and grazed a few blades of grass. Melina, not wanting to miss her chance, jumped off the horse and went to relieve herself in the nearby forest.
She did not risk walking in to deep into the thick woods, but far enough as to be hidden from view. She lingered back a bit after she was done, trying to dry her dress and boots. She opted for taking off the dress completely and shaking it in the wind a bit before putting it on again. Not a great improvement, but it felt slightly better. The boots were hopeless though, and they still sloshed loudly when she walked back. Classy, she thought.
When she came out of the bushes, she saw that they were not alone anymore. A new rider, sitting on an elegant white horse, had appeared out of no where and he was now conversing with Gandalf. Melina approached them slowly, though any hope to be quiet was botched by her boots. When she got close enough to her companion, the stranger turned to face her and Melina stopped in her track; shocked by the man's unspoiled beauty.
Unlike Gandalf, this man had no beard and his hair was devoid of grey; he was young, or at least he looked very young…Melina frowned, she was unable to put an age to the man; almost like her inability to put an age on Gandalf. The stranger was tall and fair, his eyes were grey and incredibly sharp. They made eye contact for a few seconds, but for Melina if felt like time stopped. If she had met demons and devils when she first arrived in this blasted world, then this had to be an angel.
Everything about him was angelic, and for a moment she thought she saw such an aura about him that would illuminated even the darkest of souls. She saw strength and wisdom in those deep grey pools, the sheer power that emanated from him shook her entire body with an unnamed emotion and her eyes welled up with confusing tears and she stopped breathing. When the man finally turned back to her companion, the spell was broken and she was left feeling like an empty shell, stripped of whatever beauty she had witnessed for that magical second.
Melina took a deep, shaky breath and turned away from the conversing men while she tried to compose herself again. When she was finally able to feel her knees again and her hands stopped shivering, she tried to listen to the men conversing for a few minutes; and wondered if she was the topic of their discussion.
You're not that important old girl, she thought…they are probably talking of matters much more important than a poor lost woman, at least so she hoped. But, after just a few minutes of speaking, they looked at her and she felt as if they had come to some sort of decision…this time regarding her personally.
For once hating being right, Melina began to panic when Gandalf, from his position on the horse, laid a hand on her head, his fingers entwining in her bushy hair; he then bent down towards her and whispered something she was not able to understand…frustration rose in her heart, and panic. In the midst of her increasing heart beat, shallow breath and flowing tears, she forced her mind to burn those words into memory so that one day she would understand them. And then he was gone…just like that; he sat up straight again, nodded towards the stranger and motioned his horse to a mad sprint, leaving her behind.
She took a step in his direction, the crazy thought of running after him fading away quickly as the distance between them grew rapidly. Despite herself, Melina felt more tears flowing down her cheeks as his figure disappeared on the road. Why was he abandoning her, where would she go now, all alone; would she ever see him again? The last words he had spoken to her had been soft and gentle, and she hoped that she had seen care in his eyes, but now he was gone…again.
She was startled out of her reverie when a hand, belonging to the forgotten stranger, appeared in front of her. Melina looked up and saw that he was inviting her to join him on his horse…not again, she thought. She glanced back to the horizon, nurturing the hope that Gandalf would reappear, that it had been a mistake, or a sick prank, or whatnot; but somehow she knew that he would not.
Her world, the world she had been beginning to build in her soul, the stability that she had been nurturing while ridding with the man in grey, shattered. She felt a strange emotion well up inside of her, something she had never even known she could feel for the prerequisites for it were love and trust; she felt betrayed. For once in her life, or her three lives, she had truly believed that someone had cared about her, had wanted to help her and love her; but now she had been dumped like an unwanted burden and it hurt. And oh god she could not breathe, her chest was on fire and her knees buckled; she fell to the ground.
Melina felt the earth under her spinning, her eyes were having a hard time focusing on anything, she sat back on her knees and panic gripped the last sensible part of her mind. Images began spinning in front of her; there in the bush the Torturer, to her left the Devil, all around her the sound of screams and demonic laughter. She gripped her head, it was hurting , pounding; she closed her eyes, but the spinning would not stop. Everything was falling apart, she could feel it! She was left alone again, back in the hands of her torturers with only pain and suffering as companions.
Another night, or was it day, left starving and parched in her cell. She had dreamt though, a nice dream this time. A dream of escape and beauty and warmth...and then it had turned into a nightmare of despair and loneliness. She hated herself for having dreamt such a nice dream only to wake up here again, there was no escape from this place. The Devil was standing besides her now, talking and talking and talking.
But then...then there was another voice. Melina could not remember such a gentle, musical voice in the Tower. Alone in her dark, stinky cell, she suddenly heard it, and soon...oh yes, soon she saw it! She was going crazy, sanity was slipping from her tired fingers and it was getting harder and harder to ignore this shining light that was calling her name. She reached out, her fingers brushing against something warm and soft, she could hear the Devil screaming after her, but it was easy to block him out. She felt a large and warm hand cover her own, and all of a sudden the dark cell disappeared and she was back on the ground, in the wilderness, looking straight into the grey eyes of an angel. She took a deep breath, the air was sweet, warm, and filled with the scent of the being in front of her.
Gandalf, she thought, Gandalf was gone. In his place was this new man, gentle, warm and yet, Melina realized as the stranger quickly moved away from her as soon as she had returned to reality, very distant. Deprived yet again of his comforting light, Melina shivered. She watched the tall, slender man leap onto his horse gracefully, and for the second time that day, he offered her his hand. Melina realized that there was only one option left for her, she could barely survive this world with a companion, she doubted being able to survive it alone. Surrendering to fate, Melina slowly got up, dusted her muddy dress, and took the offered help.
As soon as she was settled in front of him, the man spoke in a soft voice and his horse sprang into a run. The white horse, Melina now realized, was decorated with tiny bells which, when shaken by the horse's movements, emitted a sound very pleasing to the ear. Fortunately for her sore body they were not going as fast as she had with Gandalf; though this new horse still showed incredible stamina. Or maybe, she thought, I just don't know anything about horses…They rode for the rest of the day, and did not stop for the night. Melina was lost in her thoughts and barely noticed the change in scenery around her. The slip of her mind earlier frightened her to no end, she had truly believed and felt that she had returned to the Tower. Would this sort of thing happen often? Nightmares were one thing, but difficulty to remain in the present reality while wide awake was another, more terrible problem.
The sun went down without her realizing and soon everything was black. Night, darkness…all things she had begun to hate recently. In the darkness it was difficult to see; you never knew what was out there…who was out there. Maybe it was a friend, like Gandalf…or maybe it was someone else, someone who wanted to hurt you, who loved to hurt you and laughed at your pain…maybe it was the Torturer. She could see him everywhere in the darkness.
He was behind that tree to her right, in front of their path, he was behind her on the horse; leading her into a trap…he was in her mind and every time she closed her eyes she could see him, smell him, and feel his hot breath on her naked body as he mutilated her. She had thought that staying awake would keep her aggressors at bay, but they remained still and ever grew closer. Her body was weak and getting weaker; she felt so tired and her eyelids kept falling by themselves.
As much as her mind tried to keep her awake, her body tried to go to sleep. The result was a night of half-sleep, constant nightmares and not one second of rest. This went on for a good part of the night and she could feel the man behind her tense whenever she awoke from the ongoing nightmares. Was he worried about her? Did he even know what had happened to her…how could he? She was not even sure Gandalf knew all that had happened. Her eyes began to fill with tears at the thought of the man who had left her a few hours earlier. Did she already miss him that much?
What is wrong with me…
She could go an entire lifetime without getting attached to anyone at all and manage to die alone.
But in this world I meet one man and a few days later feel devastated by his departure?
The renewed feeling of despair that washed over her took her by surprise and she began to sob uncontrollably. Memories of the past few months flowed freely in her mind; Celine, the Devil, the torture…the man she had seen die on the table next to hers; how she had cried for him for weeks following his death; a man she had not known and felt horrible for it…he had died alone and had not deserved to…Melina remembered the rapes; in her old life she had never had any partners, she had died unmarried and untouched by a man…and then the Torturer had done terrible things to her. She clutched her abdomen tightly and struggled to catch her breath amongst her tears.
And then she remembered the day she had met him; the man in grey. How much pain and sorrow she had seen in his eyes, how surprised she had felt that anyone could look so concerned for her. She remembered that she had wanted to take away his pain, that she had wanted to tell him none of it had been his fault…she had never felt such compassion for anyone, let alone a complete stranger. What an idiot she had been…for so long, for a lifetime…and it had taken months of torture to make her realize just how selfish she had been, not only with others, but with herself as well. She did not deserve this second chance.
And now she was alone again; he had left her to go on with whatever mission he had to do…and she missed him. She felt cold, even the warmth of the body behind her did not seem to penetrate the frost that was taking over. Along with her sobs, Melina's body began shivering uncontrollably, waves of nausea came and went as the horse galloped, up and down, up and down. An awkward hand found its way on her forehead, the pressure of this gentle touch was enough to throw her off balance and she collapsed against the man behind her. His hand left her face and instead gripped her small body tightly and she heard him speak in his strange, but beautiful language. Under her the horse seemed sprung by renewed vigor and began accelerating, how it could see in the darkness, she knew not.
Pondering the unanswerable question was her last thought before drifting into oblivion.