91 Still My Friend

"Let go." Dawn sighed as she pulled her hand away from the man trying to entwine their fingers together. She was really confused by his behavior. What in the world was Raven trying to do?

He let his hand drop back to his lap. A bit of a smile played at his lips, and he sighed, "Dawn… I, can we talk?"

Dawn looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"We're here." Rena's voice broke into the conversation. They were in front of a rambling old house that was in rather good condition.

It was already dark out so it was quite welcome to see the place. Especially as it looked rather cozy.

"Welcome to the House of my Order. What is left of it…"

Rena let them in, after pointing Raven to the stables so he could situate the animals for the night. Dawn was more than a bit glad to get away from him for a bit. After he had kissed her she could not hep but feel uncomfortable being right next to him.

She was so disappointed in him. He had not seemed to be that sort of person to her.

She pushed such thoughts out of her mind as she walked into the building. The very first thing she noticed was that it was well lit. The second thing was the huge tapestry that hung from the wall facing the door.

The tapestry was a portrait tapestry. Of three people. In the very center was a smiling man. hands in front of him, with their tips touching, he looked like he was ready to talk about serious things. Brown hair curled around his ears, and his eyes were a warm brown color. A crown sat crookedly on his head.

The other two people were standing on either side of his chair, slightly turned to look at each other. On the right a woman with long golden red hair, and eyes lightly flecked with green. A circlet was on her head and she had a serene smile. On his left was a dark blue haired man, with purple eyes. An almost smile seemed to hover on his lips.

The tapestry itself was tattered at the edges and there were old blood stains on it as well.

"I see that that old thing has caught your eye." Rena laughed, "A female dragon left it here ages ago as she could not bear looking at it anymore."

"… Did she?" Dawn paused, then turned to look at Rena, surprised, "Wait, did you just say dragon?" Dawn was flabbergasted. Dragons were said to be solitary creatures, and they did not part with things easily.

"Yes." Rena shrugged, "She came to me to sojourn a while. I miss her sometimes. Even if I am upset at one of her descendants at the moment."

Dawn was not sure how to answer that, so she turned back to the tapestry. "Who are they?"

"They were the triangle of leadership in Nireal. The last ones." A fond, sad smile came to her face. "The one in the middle is High King Lucien. He was a good king and would listen to his advisors. The other two are the High Priestess, Xeltia, and the Protector Agreas. The three were always supposed to keep each other in check."

She shrugged nonchalantly, and moved farther in, "Make yourselves at home. All three of them have long been dead, or turned to stone, or whatnot."

It was about half an hour later that they were summoned to the woman's table for some supper before bed. As everyone was tired not much was said.

After supper, she told them that they could choose any room to sleep in, and let them pick according to their own preferences.

Dawn found herself aware that Raven was following her, and so she turned to confront him. "Yes? Raven?"

"I want to talk with you." He turned his face a little away, "I don't want to keep this from you…"

"What is it?" She let out a sigh. She did not really want to go to bed yet anyway. Her heart felt so empty.

"Not in the hallway?" It was but a whisper.

With a sigh, Dawn accepted that. She did trust Raven, even if he had acted like that towards her. He was still her friend.