�I still don�t understand how that would keep him from telling the humans where Sinistira is. The mages could send their spells up here to bring you down.�
�Well, the trees would warn us if a human or Orlan so much as set foot in this forest. Then we could combat them before they even got close. We are better fighters when we can fight from in the trees rather than on the ground, and since the humans had almost caught us without proper weapons...well; it just wasn�t a good situation to be in. Besides, if a human mage got here in the first place, the trees wouldn�t allow them to maintain their concentration long enough to perform a spell. We�re perfectly safe.�
�Good. I was hoping you wouldn�t have to move. This is a nice city you have here, even if it does have far too many steps.� Tavia grinned, lightening the mood.
�Why, thank you.� He replied, returning the smile. �But I bet you�re hungry. Just wait here and I�ll go get you something to eat.� Tansis left then, out into what looked like a hallway from Tavia�s very brief glimpse of it.
Relaxed for the first time since she woke up, Tavia laid her head back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She drifted in and out of sleep until the door opening woke her again. Tansis walked in, carrying a tray laden with a bowl and plate whose contents were steaming and followed by, surprisingly, Tirana and the two princesses.
�Tavia!� the little girls both shouted in unison as they threw themselves at her. The fire-mage found herself wrapped in a tangle of bed sheets and arms as Silla and Lirala competed to hug her.
�Children!� barked Tirana�s voice from somewhere above the mess, �Tavia is sick and does not need you little ones crawling all over her.� Suddenly, both girls were lifted straight off of Tavia�s chest and when the fire-girl looked up, Tansis was holding both of them by the collars of their shirts while Tirana held the tray. The nurse looked sternly at her charges and began to reprimand them about the proper behavior of princesses while Tansis set them down and tried to stifle his laughter.
Tirana concluded with, �So, I don�t want to see either of you doing something like that again, understood?� and Silla and Lirala nodded together. �Good,� she said and then turned to Tavia, setting the tray across her lap and patting her shoulder, �I�m terribly sorry, my dear, they just get so rambunctious sometimes.�
�That�s just fine, Tirana. It certainly woke me up, I can tell you that.� Tavia replied, winking at the children who grinned.
�Thank you for being so understanding. Now just enjoy your lunch. Do you mind if I leave the children here for a while? I need to go run some errands but I�ll be home as soon as I can and Tansis can tell me if they�re too much trouble.� Tirana looked hopefully at the elf and fire-girl, both of whom nodded. �Thank you. With the Lady so busy tending to the wounded the children have had to stay here with me and I know how they hate to run errands.�
�So this is your house that I�m staying in?� Tavia asked.
�Yes, it is.�
�Well, then watching Silla and Lirala while your gone is the least that I can do to thank you for lending me a place to stay.�
�Oh, don�t worry about it. There�s other elves that have at least one of the wounded in their homes, and some as many as two or three. After the infirmary overflowed, it was necessary. We�ve never had this many wounded at once and I�m afraid we weren�t quite prepared. I agreed to take you in because we�re rather secluded here and so the emotions of the others won�t bother you as much.�
So that is what that stupid buzzing in my brain is, She thought, all the pain I�m sensing from the wounded that are too far away. �Well, thank you anyways, Tirana. If not for you and your secluded house I probably would still be unconscious. Now go and run your errands before it gets too late.� Tavia made shooing motions with her hands as she said this.
Once Tirana was out of the room, Lirala and Silla launched into a barrage of questions aimed at Tavia. Most of these Tansis answered, since Tavia was shoveling food into her mouth in a most ungraceful but entirely expected manner. The stew was just as good as the first bowl she had had in Salak�s kitchen and the roll, venison, and peas were better than anything Tavia had ever had in Shavasta. Her aunt and uncle never cooked their food and Tavia was certainly nowhere near as good as Salak at cooking.
When she was done, the four of them sat and talked mostly about what had happened at the Battle of the Sacred Grove as the elves were apparently calling it. The children and even Tansis had tons of questions as to how she had made the wall of fire and how she could control it to keep it from burning the rest of the forest. The fire-girl said, �I just do,� so many times that she began to think that she ought to draw the words on her forehead and be done with it. If the rest of the elves were this curious, she was in trouble.
Tirana returned eventually and took the children to meet their mother in the palace before she had to return to her duties again and Tansis went to join them. Finally, Tavia was alone and could just sit and think. Every second that she stayed here, the buzzing grew louder in her mind as her powers returned to their former strength. Eventually she knew that the emotions would flood her and there would be no rest for her. She could possibly even fall into a coma again. As much as she wanted to help, Tavia knew that it was impossible unless she desired to be bedridden and then be only a hindrance. So she decided that when Tansis or whoever came in, she would tell them that she would have to leave today.
But where to next? That was the real question. The last time she had looked at her map, it had given her nothing beyond the Forest of Memories so she had no idea where to go or how to get there. So, thinking she might be able to get some more information now, she pried open the heart-shaped locket once again. The three dimensional map rose from the silver as before but this time, the yellow dot labeled Sinistira was all the way to the left of the map. The green triangles of the forest ended after only taking up a finger width of space and gave way to the tan of plowed lands. Cutting across the brown like a scar was a thick black line labeled �Forest Road�. The line ended on another yellow dot with the words �Orrin: next town 2 miles� over it. Once again, the map ended abruptly as if Orrin was the end of the world.
�So, she muttered to herself, �This thing only shows me so far ahead before it stops. It�s not the best situation, but at least I don�t have to squint to read the labels.�
After staring at the images for a while, Tavia decided that going to Orrin so soon after the attack in the Sacred Grove was a bad idea. She might run into some of the mages restocking in the town for the journey home. And if they recognized her face, no amount of protection she got from the amulet would help her.
So, she concluded silently, she would simply go around it and move on to the next town. Sure it would be nice to sleep in an inn rather than on the ground but getting captured and sleeping in a cold prison cell was even less pleasant than the ground.
Footsteps approaching her room made her flip the locket shut quickly and stuff it beneath the folds of her shirt. She trusted the elves, but she didn�t want to be known as the careless girl who let the fire-mage�s biggest secret go. Instead, she sat quietly twirling the wooden ring around her finger. This is quickly becoming a nervous habit, Tavia thought with a smile, seconds before Minerva, followed closely by Tansis, burst into her room.