THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 152: Dear Dahlia

Chapter 152: Dear Dahlia

After speaking to Heather, I continued reading my scrolls and by the time I had finished, it was almost evening and I was starting to get hungry. Heather helped me up and I stifled a yawn as I allowed Heather to lead m e towards the bedroom. On pushing the door open I met Ivana who was busy sitting on the bed, doing absolutely nothing other than sitting. She didn’t even look up when we entered. Her hands were clasped firmly on her lap, her body still and her face looked puffy, like she had been crying.

Heather and I shared a look before we turned to look back at Ivana who sniffed, wiping the back of her nose with her hand. I immediately nudged Heather who looked at me and I shoved her towards Ivana. She gave me a look but I just glared at her in response.

She had no right to have spoken Ivana that way. Even if we were equal in the eyes of the sisters of the light, there still need to be some balance between us. It is true Ivana might have been whiny but she does not deserve the brutal words Heather had told her. We had all been on the road together, exhausted and unclear as to what to expect. There was a place and time for honesty and who gets to say it, Heather doesn’t get to call Ivana out and drop it like that plunge the silence within a room.

Heather turned to look back at me and all I glared at her. Accepting her fate, she walked towards Ivana who finally looked up at her. Heather drew in a deep breath before she spoke.

"So it has come to my attention that I might have_" I cleared my throat loudly and Heather turned to look at me before she released a resigned sigh, "I may have been a little bit harsh and spoken out of turn. For that, I apologize to my lady."

Ivana didn’t say anything but Heather already apologized just like I had wanted her to do and that was fine by me.

"Do you really mean that?" Ivana asked.

Heather stared at her for a minute before she replied, "No, not really. But I transferred my aggression towards you, all that anger I’ve felt for years, I just took it out on you and it’s not something that I should have done. So I deeply apologize."

Ivana did the strangest thing and she chuckled at that moment. "You know I am not even angry about the whole thing anymore. I already spoke with the keeper."

That immediately caught my interest, I shuffled forward and went to go and join her on the bed. I knew those two guards from earlier that had called her had not been for nothing. I was going to ask her about what it was but it turned out the keeper was the one who had summoned her and now I was interested in what the keeper told her.

"So what did she say?" I asked, unable to hide the curiosity in my tone.

"Just showed me another meaning to life." Ivana stated simply, "Made me let go of my anger, my hatred and what I thought was broken within me, and it just felt like something within me has shifted. I really don’t know how to explain it but it feels like the heavy weight that I’ve been carrying all my life just...fell off my shoulders I guess." Ivana said smiling.

Heather and I shared another glance not knowing what to make of this. We didn’t understand the words she was saying or what she meant by them but one thing we do know was that Ivana rarely ever smiled. When she did, she was always planning something.

"So the keeper told you all of this?" I asked her slowly and Ivana nodded her head. "No hidden prophecies and words in riddles?" I asked and Heather arched a brow up at me.

Ivana grinned at me as she shook her head at me. "She just spoke to me. She was very direct, looked at me and told me something no one has ever said to me."

"What did she tell you?" Heather asked, her voice soft as she moved closer.

"That it was okay to hurt." Ivana answered and I reached for her hand, "It was okay to hurt and that being hurt was nothing shameful. The pain I feel is just evidence that I’ve lived and now, I know what to do."

Heather heaved out a sigh. "Now I am truly sorry. I have no idea what you went through but now I know you have it just as hard as the rest of us...perhaps harder than some ways."

"You don’t have to be sorry for anything Heather. I know I just have been intolerable when I was being whiny. I’ve just been so used to not doing anything, I didn’t know how hard it must have been for you." Ivana said, turning to look at Heather with a faint smile on her face.

Heather’s lips parted like she couldn’t believe what Ivana said but she recovered and nodded her head in understanding and Ivana sighed again as if relieved.

"I guess I made a good choice when I chose to come here." Ivana explained, "But who would have thought that the keeper would be a child?" Ivana asked with a look of confusion crossing her face.

"Wait, you mean the keeper is a child?" Heather asked with confusion.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, she’s a very confusing person."

"Not so much as confusing, an interesting person is the right term for it." Ivana said and I nodded my head in agreement.

Heather looked from me to Ivana. "Yeah, am I still the only one who is confused out about the fact that the keeper is a child? I guess I always just thought she was going to be someone older."

Ivana gave a small wistful smile. "This one isn’t. She looks like she’s a bit old even though she is in the body of a ten year old. There was just something ancient about her, like she’s lived a hundred lives before."

"Well this place just got more interesting." Heather said in a curious tone, "Do you think I’ll ever get to see her?"

"You probably will." I said before I kicked off the sandals and laid down on the bed, "In the meantime I think I’m just going to hide out here because I am just tired and I’m not ready for the second reading." I said with a heavy sigh.

Ivana chuckled as she turned to look at me. "So you really don’t want to read those scrolls anymore?"

"At this point I think I might hate reading altogether."

Heather snorted in laughter. "Yeah I would have thought that was possible if you weren’t buried under a stack of scrolls this morning."

I moaned as I reached for a fluffy pillow. "Don’t remind me and I actually meant what I said, my eyes are still twitching from reading one paragraph all over again for the past two hours straight."

Ivana nodded her head at me in agreement. "I honestly do think you need the break. Those scrolls look heavier than they appear."

"They are." I answered with a pout to which she chuckled.

"How about you read something light then?" Ivana suggested and I turned to look at her.

"What part of I’m not interested in reading again do you not understand?" I asked but Ivana was already standing up and walking towards where she kept her luggage.

Ivana ignored me and rummaged through her luggage before she stood back up and approached me with a book in her hand.

"I think you might like this one."

"Gods save me!" I say with a groan as my friends chuckle.

"Regan asked me to give you!"

Immediately I heard Reagan, I sat up as fast as I could. I then stared down at the book in Ivana’s hands. With shaky hands and reached for the leather bound book and stared at it.

’A thousand Ways to say I love you!’ Was written in gold embossed script across the front cover, delicate and shimmering.

I lightly traced my fingers across the words as I stared at down at the book suddenly feeling emotional.

"Go ahead." Ivana urged, "Open it!" She ordered with a smile on my face.

I stared up at Ivana then down at the book. With shaky hands, I opened the cover and inside it lay a folded piece of paper and written boldly in intricate writing was my name.

My eyes became misty with tears as I picked up the letter. "Reagan."

"I think it’s best we give her some space!" Heather declared as she stood up and together she and Ivana left the room leaving me alone with my letter and my book.

I took in a few deep breath to steady myself before I decided to open it just to see what was inside.

"Dear Dahlia..."

The letter began.