They were all strangers but I wanted them to reassure me, I wanted to hear promises from all three that Helovia was safe and that I would know what it was to have a home again. They had all stayed here, after all, for whatever reason. I wasn’t sure if I trusted them but I was so tired, I didn’t know if I had the strength to find somewhere else to go. No, I definitely did not have the strength. Standing still was helping but my adrenaline was fading away with each passing moment and I feared that I might collapse then and there in front of them all. And when I woke up?

But no promises come forward, just apologies that they couldn’t. There was a moment when it was working, their reassurances - the promise that I didn’t have to be scared while they were with me - soothed me. That moment did not last long, however, as well intentioned as the gesture might have been.

I flinched away from the magic that Caenan used, ears flattened and a strangled scream managed the work of any words to convey my alarm. My golden eyes widened and I took a few steps backward until I felt the needles of a tree scrape along my back signalling that I had once again backed myself into a tree. I shook my head as politely as I could when an apple was offered to me, the calm I had felt moments ago gone and leaving me cold and trembling one more in its wake. I would have scolded him myself if I hadn't been so surprised. Magic! He seemed kind enough, he truly did, but it was too much. Wild thoughts of poisoned apples raged in my head and are not helped by the fact that neither Zandora nor Calder take him up on the offer.

I was quickly realizing that my only options were to go back or to go forward - so I needed to decide whether what waited for me on the other side of the forest was better than what waited for me here.

The turning point at that moment came from the purple mare. My fear became less sharp - in fact, my entire body softened - at the mention of Zandora’s pregnancy. There was no single emotion that could be picked out of me then - sadness for the foal I had lost, a fond longing at the idea that I could have it again. If she was pregnant and wandering about alone and had not been pestered by brigands, then my question was answered. They all spoke of safety in  numbers and I understood that but the freedom to be able to walk around on my own helped to sway my heart.

I returned to my previous spot, before Caenan’s magic spooked me, and attempt a gracious smile at them all. It was hardly anything, a few moments of peace could not completely erase everything, but it was a smile.  For I was thankful for their kindness, after all. And if nothing else, I reasoned with myself, if I found somewhere to rest up I could flee before becoming captive once more. “My name is Elspeth.” Normal formalities and manners had been forgotten for the time, but if I had thought to add it - it was a pleasure to meet them all.

And then I looked to Calder, recalling now one of the questions he had asked earlier, and thinking maybe I could get through this if they helped me. And if Caenan kept his magic quiet. “I am seeking sanctuary. What… what are your homes like?”