Chapter 21 - The Map

Once they made it up the stairs, Evanna followed Axel into their room which was the equivalent to her own. There was a double bed, not even three beds for them; she wondered who would sleep on the chair or the floor. They all sat on the sides of the double bed as Axel grabbed the map and slid it open on the top of the sheets. Ger seized one of the lit candles on the side and brought it forwards so that they could look at the map.

Evanna leaned forwards to see how big the forest was; it truly was magnificent, a river seemed to weave itself in and out of different parts of the forest. She wondered if this was the river Stye that flowed passed her palace. The cartographer who produced it put a lot of detail into the drawing, even showing the different colouring and types of trees.

"The road we are taking tomorrow will lead us to here" Axel placed his finger at a spot near the start of the forest, "It will take us about four days to get there. Kuramji is the closest town to Direwood forest. This inn is the last comfort we will have for quite some time. It took us nearly three weeks to get through the forest, and that was on the outskirts. We need to go completely through it, so I am unsure how long it will take to get to the Flori's location. But I do know from asking around that the Flori live around this area" He moved his finger in a circular motion near the middle of the forest to indicate nowhere too specific. Still, the river passed through there, making it a waypoint to follow.

"The cartographer, do you think they have explored the whole of Direwood?" Evanna asked; she was somewhat dubious that anyone would be able to do that, considering the horror stories she seemed to keep being warned about.

"I believe the cartographer could have been an elf of the Flori. Although the map here is not written in Muranthian, on the right corner here-" Axel pointed again, "there is a tiny little symbol in white/ silver ink. It is the Flori flag. There were quite a few maps of Direwood today. However, I knew that a lot of them could not be trusted. Like you just asked, how could we know for certain that the map was not a counterfeit. That little symbol at the top is the distinction between a fake and the real map."

Evanna leaned back again to look at the barely-there ink that showed the Flori flag. It was quite simple. There was a white tree with twisted roots going up the middle, and a few stars above the tree with a crescent moon. Underneath the tree, there was some tiny writing in Muranthian.

"* Our strength lies within the roots,*" She spoke the words out loud as she traced her finger along with the cursive writing. The guys looked at her expectantly,

"Our strength lies within the roots," She translated it for them.

"I thought it sounded good in Muranthian. But I won't lie, that is quite a slogan," Ronan said as he looked at Evanna in awe again.

Whenever she spoke in the elven tongue, he could not help it; he got goosebumps. Her voice was so soft and sultry; it made him want her to speak to him in Muranthian all the time, even if he could not understand it. Ger nudged him in the ribs harshly. He did not realise he had been looking at her face, staring most likely; she was a beautiful woman with appealing qualities, he could not help it.

Evanna felt the stares on her face after she had once again revealed how fluent she was in Muranthian. Clearing her throat, she stood up.

"Thank you for showing me. It is getting late. I should get back to my room" Evanna did not register earlier that she had entered a room with three men, easily, without thought. If the nobles saw her now, she could not even think of the dirty lies they would spread about her. Shaking her head, she wished them all a good night and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

As soon as she entered her own room, she stopped walking; shock flew across her face. In front of her was Cilv naked in the bathtub, without using the room divider to keep herself hidden. Evanna hastily turned around and closed the door, locking it. Cilv chuckled at the princess's bashfulness. She did not care if she saw her naked; she was about six years older than the girl and had long been used to and comfortable about her own body.

"Did you not want the divider in between, so you have more privacy?" The princess asked. Cilv sighed; her privacy was long gone when she knew she would be sharing a room with her. Even though she tended to stick to herself, this was just simply something she was not concerned with. She had washed in rivers and lakes before, not caring who saw; most people would look away or scowl frustratingly at her lewdness.

"No, princess", Was all she said as she closed her eyes again, enjoying the warmth of the water, clearing her mind of the intruder to her alone time.

Evanna walked past and sat down on the bed, trying to keep her eyes away from Cilv; she knew from the expression on her face that she did not want to keep talking. The silence, however, made her feel awkward. So she searched through her bag for her book; on opening it, she felt more content once she started to read about the different creatures that could be found in Direwood forest. After some time, she found herself cross-legged, sitting on the bed as she leant against the wall, book in hand. By this point, her cloak, weapons and boots were slung on the side as she sat more comfortably.

She did not know how long she sat reading for or how long Cilv had been in the bath before she arrived. But she guessed not very long as the steam rose out from it when she entered through the door earlier. Evanna looked up abruptly after hearing the water slosh slightly out of the bathtub, she did not mean to look, but her gaze stayed fixated on Cilv's back as she began climbing out of the tub.

Her back was covered in scars. The long pale lines looked like claw marks, scattered in different places along her back. She even noticed what looked to be a bite mark near the end of her shoulder.

"Did no one teach you that it is rude to stare, Evanna?" Cilv said coldly, her back still facing her as she brought a towel around her body. Evanna quickly looked down, ashamed at being caught looking at her.

"I am sorry, Cilv. I did not mean to. I hope I have not made you feel uncomfortable," She replied as she looked at the closed book in her hand. Cilv laughed, making her look back up in surprise.

"I am just joking. The scars..they do not bother me. It was a long time ago."

"What happened? If you do not mind me asking?"

Cilv looked over at Evanna's innocent face; though she loved playing with people, she just did not have it in her to tell her a part of her dark past.

"As I said, it was a long time ago. You should get the innkeeper to refill the tub," Cilv murmured, averting her gaze as she once again stood naked, the towel on the floor as she started to get changed in front of Evanna.

Evanna moved her eyes away; she knew Cilv would not tell her what happened. She was a very closed off person. Maybe with time and possibly a friend could help heal some of her wounds, not the ones on her back but the ones placed with distrust in her heart. Even if Ger and the guys did not really like her, she could only guess what the woman must have been through to live off stealing and behaving the way she did towards others.

If their roles were reversed, she wondered if she would be the same as Cilv was. But that, she would never know.