|
Leafa clung to Bella, shivering and trembling. "Oh, I thought that you were the Elf, as well," she said, attempting a laugh. "I was so frightened. But it is better now that there are two of us." She gave a half-hearted smile, and suddenly she turned away and put her face in her hands, bursting into sobs. Bella's hand fell comfortingly on her shoulder and remained there until she had ceased crying. She looked up, brushing tears from her cheeks, and her smile was more genuine this time. "Forgive me," she said, "but it was such a relief to cry."
"Has anything happened?" Bella questioned. "Of course you need not tell me if you do not wish..."
"No, no," said Leafa, "I wouldn't mind telling you, Bella. Nothing very terrible has happened. But..." She dropped her head wearily and paused for a moment before continuing. When she spoke her voice was very low, but even that could not hide the trace of tears in its tone. "Ędegard says he cannot marry me."
"Oh..." said Bella, her exclamation beginning in a gasp and ending abruptly, as if words were not enough. She looked in mute sympathy at Leafa, who glanced up with a bitter little smile. "It's not so bad as it was a few minutes ago," she said, "though it is still terrible. Weeping has helped me. And now is no time for our thoughts to rest on my sorrows. We must find our way back to the camp, though... I'm afraid to see him... I might start crying again." A tear sprang to her eye, but fiercely she brushed it away, and stood, straining her eyes in the darkness to get some sense of her bearings.
"I don't know where we are," she said at last, spreading her hands out. "I paid no heed to where I went, and the darkness prevented me from noticing anything that would assist us in finding our way back. What would you suggest, Bella? Should we try to retrace our steps and find our way back to the camp, or should we wait her and hope that they will stumble upon us... before... something worse does?"
|