It took a pitifully short time for Reyna to be back above ground, being sent off by Hylla, Queen Amelia and the guard Kinzie, as well as the Queen's personal guards. Thirty minutes. That was all it took, and then Hylla and Reyna were standing a little apart from everyone else and a little apart from each other, struggling to find something to say.
Hylla still looked shocked. It was a rather large bombshell for Reyna to have dropped on her, she knew; hey, I know I haven't really mentioned this, but I'm leaving and I don't want you to come along. Bye! Have a nice life and career or whatever.
Bellona, whom Reyna had partially met twice now, had severed her link with the person most dear to her: her sister. There was something to be said about that, but as Hylla wasn't aware of Reyna's dream, it would have taken too long. Although, Reyna supposed she had toyed with the idea of leaving. Bellona had just been a rather violent and effective catalyst, because how does one refuse a goddess without being blasted into dust bunnies?
"You're sure you don't want to stay?" Hylla asked again.
"I can't," Reyna said again. "I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't life the rest of my life with you constantly making decisions for me."
Hylla nodded like she understood, but her eyes said differently. Her eyes showed that she wasn't evaluating herself; she was evaluating Reyna. She hadn't yet found where the fault lay. Inside herself and her own actions.
At least, that's how Reyna saw it.
"Be careful who you trust," Hylla said, rushed.
Reyna blinked. "Of course."
"No, really, Reyna," Hylla said. "We trusted Papa. We trusted Mom. We—you—trusted Cass. Be careful who you let in close, because when they leave, it hurts."
This was a surprisingly deep comment from Hylla, but nothing Reyna didn't already know. "I will." With a small, humorless smile, she added, "Trust me."
Hylla returned the smile and hugged Reyna roughly. "I will miss you. Honestly. Come back and visit sometime."
"Aren't we enemies now?"
"Not unless you become praetor and I become queen," Hylla said, grinning. "And I doubt that'll happen, for a whole bunch of reasons."
Reyna nodded and started to pull away, but Hylla grabbed her hand. "Hey. I should have given this to you a long time ago, but Papa told me to wait until Mom spoke to you. This was before he went crazy, by the way. And I don't know if you've spoken to her or not, but if we aren't going to see each other for a while…" Hylla held her hand out, face up. A shiny silver ring sat in her palm, engraved with the sword and torch design of their mother. "I have one too. If you ever get in trouble, or you're in the area and you need help, get the ring to me. Or show an Amazon the ring. If the symbol doesn't do it, they can trace it to me. Good?"
"Great," Reyna managed, slipping the ring onto her finger. There was nothing more to be said. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Hylla echoed. She watched Reyna hike up the strap of the backpack the Amazons had given her. Then Reyna turned and, without ceremony, left.
A/N: and... this is the last we'll see of Hylla. Maybe. Who knows **wiggles fingers dramatically**. Also, who knows how long it'll be before the next chapter's up. I'm taking an online course that munches up my time like free cookies. So I will do my very best to keep these coming, and they will, I'm just not sure how soon.