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“The stone.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”

She smiled. “Just humor me.”

I sat for a moment, and fiddled with the necklace. The stone really was beautiful. “Alright,” I muttered my reply, even though I really didn’t understand what she wanted of me.

Trybe clasped her hands together. “Excellent,” she smiled. She stood and put her hand out. “Can I put it on you?”

I nodded and handed the necklace back to her. Trybe took it and stepped behind me. I felt her move my long hair to the side and place my new gift around my neck. For a moment, I thought I heard her whispering something, but Elias’s deep voice pulled my attention to him.

“It looks great on you,” he said from his position in the doorway.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“There. All finished.” Trybe patted me on the shoulder. I stood and turned around so she could see. “Oh, it’s perfect, Aura.”

I smiled. “Thank you so much, Trybe. I only wish I had something to give you.”

She put up her hand and shook her head. “No, no. Just meeting you has been a gift.”

I laughed shyly, and gave my new friend a hug. I felt bad for thebitter feelings I originally had towards her, simply because she was close to Elias. She didn’t deserve them at all.

Trybe stepped out of the room for a moment and came back with my bow, as well as the quiver and arrows I purchased. “Can’t forget this,” she grinned.

I accepted them graciously, and looked towards Elias. “We should get moving,” I said. Elias nodded and I watched as Trybe came up and they embraced each other for a long moment. I twiddled the new stone around my neck between my fingers and waited.

They finally separated, and Trybe wiped her eyes. “Take care of each other,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. I found her words interesting, as everyone else we had run into had only told Elias to keep me safe, Horus and Max included. This was the first time someone bade us to protecteach other.

Trybe led us out the door and blew us each a kiss with her hand as we exited. Elias and I walked away and made our way to the front gate of the kingdom in silence. I put the cloak of my hood up as we reached the gates and waited for the guards to lower the drawbridge.

“Come back soon, travelers,” the guard waved to us as we left. He was a different guard to the one we met on the night we arrived. I figured all of their guards must be nice, like most Monuvians. I alsopresumed that their scouts could be ruthless, if needed, based on the amount of weapons they each had attached to their belts. This made me nervous, as there were probably dozens of them scouting the forest for me, and my father very well may have requested that anyone aiding me be killed on sight.

We waved the guard a goodbye and headed into the vast woods once again. Keeping in mind what Max had told us about Queen Janness sending scouts to search the area for us, we made sure to keep off the beaten path and avoid any areas that showed any signs of fresh tracks.

Elias appeared to be an excellent tracker. While I saw no signs of anyone’s presence, he would assure me that someone had been there recently, and would lead us on a different path. With my undoubted trust in him, I followed without question.

We hiked like this for hours without rest, hoping to distance ourselves from Monuvia as much as we could before nightfall. As the sky began to darken, rain started to lightly drizzle overhead. We took that as a sign to find shelter and make camp for the night. In a short time, we found a tree with dense enough foliage that it blocked most of the drizzle. Luckily, it wasn’t a full rainstorm and the tree provided enough coverage to keep us mostly dry.

Like our first few days outside of Rimor, we knew better than to make a fire. Instead, I wrapped my small blanket around me like a robe as we sat and ate some of our newly purchased rations. We ate in silence before I could no longer hold back something that had been bothering me.

“I need to ask you something,” I said to Elias as we finished our final bites. “And I want you to be honest.”

Elias, who sat on the ground next to me, leaned his back against the tree that provided our cover. “What is it?”

I swallowed, even though my mouth was empty, my throat suddenly feeling dry. The night he asked us to go to Monuvia, I felt like he hid his true intentions. The way he snuck around and talked to himself… maybe he was preparing what he’d say when he saw her.

“Is Trybe the whole reason you wanted to come to Monuvia?” I watched Elias with trepidation.

“No,” he answered simply. “I didn’t even know she was there.”

That’s what he told her, but I questioned his honesty now.

“The true reason was so we could get supplies?”

He hesitated this time before answering, just enough for it to be noticeable. “Yes,” he said.

My eyes narrowed, and he avoided my gaze. Instead of pressing further just yet, I had other questions I wanted to ask. “Well,” I began again. “How do you know Trybe?”