Page 62 of Daughter of the Serpent

The kind of looks that once again set her apart, reminding her of the weight she carried with her, no matter how hard she tried to push it away.

She knelt by Thyra’s bedside hesitantly. “I’m glad to see you still looking well.” Sylvie took the chamber pot from under the bed,replacing it with a new one. “I’m just here to complete my duties. The healers prefer I come before dawn.”

“I didn’t know you were assigned here.” Thyra cast a faint smile, but her gaze wavered.

“Not many do.” Sylvie murmured, busying herself with her work. “The high priest thought it a good place for me, where I could remain out of sight.”

The whispers and wary glances of others still clung to her, but as she met Thyra’s gaze, she felt a small spark of reassurance.

“How do you feel?” Sylvie asked, her eyes scanning Thyra’s face, searching for any hint of lingering pain or distress.

“Alive and well,” Thyra’s smile widened, and Sylvie thought she saw a light in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. “Thanks to you.”

Sylvie’s chest swelled with relief, her heart lifting at the sound of her words. Thyra’s gratitude was a welcome balm against the judgement that gnawed at her.

“The healers couldn’t find anything wrong with me, yet they insist I stay for observation.” Thyra’s tone was filled with wonder. “I don’t know what you did, Sylvie, but whatever it was saved my life.”

She reached for Sylvie’s fingers giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“I could feel the darkness overtaking me, I knew I was close to being taken to Hallva’s halls. But then, your energy - I could feel it pulling me back, healing me, filling me up again with life. You were like the sun itself. How did you do it?”

Sylvie hesitated, shaking her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that my magic… it acts on its own accord. I couldn’tnothelp you. I could feel your pain, I could feel everything you had ever felt, and I knew if I just touched you I could take it all away.”

Thyra searched her face, as if somehow she could discover all her secrets, all her truths.

“Well, whatever they say about you Sylvie - it isn’t true.” She said, drawing her closer. “You are truly the light. There is something so pure and powerful within you. I can see that now.”

Sylvie’s gaze lifted, absorbing her words. “How can you be so sure?”

Thyra smiled, a knowing glint in her eyes. “Because when you healed me - I could feel you too.”

Sylvie held her breath, unsure of how to respond. She wasn’t used to kindness, admiration. Until now, she had only seen Thyra in passing - through the halls, near the temple walls, just another face, another sister of the light. But now, after what they had shared, something had shifted. A certain connection was blooming between them, and for the first time in a long time, it felt strangely like home.

“Please say we can be friends,” Thyra whispered, her eyes sincere.

“Of course.” Sylvie offered a small smile, but caution gnawed at the edges of her relief as her eyes roved around the darkened faces that still surrounded them. “Yet, I would understand if you’d rather keep your distance.”

Thyra’s soft laughter cut through her thoughts, her blue eyes shining. “I owe you my life. Let them whisper if they must - it bothers me not.”

Thyra’s words were meant to comfort, yet guilt coiled deep in Sylvie’s belly, cold and unrelenting. Despite the sentiment, another face surfaced in her mind - unbidden, unwelcome.

Tara.

The last true friend she had, and she had paid the price.

Sylvie’s chest tightened as the memory resurfaced: Tara’s screams as the whip tore into her flesh, how she lay so wounded so weak, how the light in her eyes dimmed as she faded from the pain.

A knot formed in her stomach.

Was she still healing?

The weight of it pressed into her, a silent burden she carried with every breath.Would she ever forgive her?

Her eyes met Thyra’s.

How many more would suffer - had already suffered - simply for standing by herside?

“Maybe I’m a fool,” she murmured, her voice quieter now. Her gaze flickered across the room, as if searching for answers among the shadows. “To believe I can have friends here and keep them safe.”