Leona woke up the next day from a fitful sleep. She saw Jarael already dressed and was seated at the kitchen table, engaged in a jovial conversation with her grandparents.

Leona stumbled out of bed, washed her face, and came into the kitchen.

Bright smiles welcomed here. Jarael must have spoken to the couple already, or maybe he just hid everything Leona already knows. Either of which, Leona did not know what there was to be happy about.

“Good morning, Leona,” Jarael said, looking over the rim of his cup.

Leona nodded in reply. She was still drowsy due to the fact that it took her ages to get to sleep properly. Wearily, she sat down at the table opposite Jarael and started swirling her spoon into a bowl of hot porridge.

“Yanda here will be leaving us today, Leona,” Selia said.

Leona stopped swirling her porridge and blinked, suddenly aware.

To her grandparents, she might’ve looked as though she regretted the fact that Jarael had to go. To Jarael, he understood her look as that of disbelief.

Her eyes darted from her grandmother to Jarael who was smiling at her from his seat. She caught his gaze and understood.

He’s trying to protect my family by giving a false identity.

The thought almost cheered her up. Not until Yolance seemed to drop his ‘dangerous fugitive’ theory of Jarael.

The mood in the little house had been light and cheery all morning.

Finally, Jarael stood up and wrapped his cloak around his shoulders.

“I am honored to have hosts like you,” he said, “for helping me recover and giving me shelter these past days, I give you my sincerest thanks.”

Straightening up, he said, “For now, I must bid you farewell.”

Yolance stood up and collected Jarael’s belongings and dagger. He gave them to him and beamed at him.

“I’ve sharpened your dagger,” Yolance announced, “It’s of very skilled craftsmanship. Of what make is it?”

Yolance nodded enthusiastically. “Elvish weaponry are of excellent precision, I believe.” He winked meaningfully at Jarael.

“Try to make use of such qualities next time, eh, Yanda?”

Jarael laughed as he slid the dagger into his belt, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yolance shrugged. “I should give you my apologies.”

“Well, at first, I suspected you to be a renegade on the run,” Yolance said, Selia winced. He didn’t seem to notice the dark look that suddenly appeared in Jarael’s eyes and the flash of panic in Leona’s face.

Yolance clapped Jarael on the shoulder. “But I was terribly mistaken at that. And I would like you to know that I am deeply sorry.”

Jarael smiled, “No harm done, Bonn Yolance. I cannot blame you, though. It’s not everyday that you admit an unconscious and wounded stranger into your home. Everyone is entitled to their own speculations.”

He fastened the pouch securely to his belt and said his goodbyes.

“I hope you find her,” Leona said quietly by the gate, out of earshot of her grandparents. “Shaeryva, I mean.”

“You still owe me a lot of answers, Jara –,” she paused, “Yanda.”

Jarael stood in the daylight. The morning sun illuminated his face, and then Leona noticed that his features were not as pronounced as the night before. As if he had softened them. His eyes had faded from an azure hue to that of a blue sky on a cloudy day.

“I’ll make sure that we see each other again, Leona,” he said.

“Thanks for explaining things to grandma and grandpa.”

They were both silent for a moment, hearing only the chirping if the birds in the trees.

“I was wondering,” Leona said, cocking her head to one side. Jarael raised an eyebrow.

“I think it’s one of those, ‘who are you, really?’ questions, is it?”

“If you’re thinking of it, I’m not a prince, nor am I a nobleman.”

Jarael studied Leona’s disbelieving expression, “But I can tell you that I am an interesting person.”

Leona threw him an annoyed look. Jarael smiled a mischievous grin and turned away.

Leona watched Jarael as he disappeared over the hill.

She made her way back inside, mildly pleased that the tense ordeal was over yet still mystified with Jarael’s identity.

To take her mind off such things, she helped Selia tidy up the house a bit, and returned to her room to air out the beddings.

Something glinted on her bedside table which caught her attention.

“Jarael must’ve left it,” she said to herself as she held out a small round piece of glass that glinted like a diamond in the sun.

The glass had little facets cut into the edges surrounded by a silver band with strange symbols etched on it which Leona cannot decipher. A thin silver chain dangled from the ornate piece of glass. Leona realized what it was.

“It’s a monocle,” she whispered. Instinctively, she held it to her eye and looked out the window.

Leona stifled a scream and almost dropped the monocle in a mixture of terror and surprise.

Heart beating rapidly, Leona looked into the monocle again.

Outside was a myriad of colored lights that glowed with the sun. Tiny specks of light that danced as the wind blew gently.

Leona fumbled nervously with the monocle unsure of what to do. She hesitated before pocketing it and rushing outside.

Leona ran up the hill and expected to see Jarael a little way off. She was surprised when she couldn’t see him anywhere.

The road stretched out several miles before her and had a clear view of all the nearby roads. The lands below the hill were nothing but vast expanses of plains and fields of wheat.

He couldn’t have possibly gone that fast! She thought frantically, her heartbeat racing again.

“Jarael!” she called out, praying that he’d appear somewhere.

When nobody appeared nor answered, Leona ran back home.

A few minutes later she had mounted her horse and was galloping down the road towards Glavonica, much to the confusion of her grandparents. Leona assured them by calling out, “I have to speak to Tavus!”

As she rode, her confusion continued to annoy her to insanity.

Tavus, she thought, you better have answers.

Upon arriving in Glavonica, Leona scanned the busy crowd of the morning’s shoppers. She quickly found Tavus lingering around a pastry cart.

“Leona!” he greeted, smiling as he saw her through the crowd. He gobbled what remained of the pie he was eating and dusted the crumbs from his hands before he helped Leona dismount from her horse.

“You want some pie?” he asked. Gesturing towards the pastry cart behind him, Leona quickly shook her head.

“You look shaken,” Tavus observed as he lead Leona through the busy streets. Her hand was clammy so he grabbed her wrist instead.

“I’ll tell you everything when we get to your place.”

“Is this about the man we found a few days ago? I was planning on dropping by your house later today,” Tavus said.

Leona greeted Bonn Vedir as Tavus ushered her to the second floor where the noise of the shoppers did not reach them.

Tavus shut the door of his father’s study behind him.

She has never really set foot in Bonn Vedir’s study. Now she reveled at how many books the merchant had. Bookcases lined most of the walls, along with some maps of strange lands, and an elaborate chandelier shone brightly above as the yellow glass of the windows did not let much light in.

Tavus pulled up a chair and motioned for Leona to sit.

“Now,” he said, sitting behind his father’s huge oak desk. “What happened to our guest?”

Leona took a deep breath and said, “He woke up last night.”

Tavus raised his eyebrows, “Did you get to talk to him?”

Leona told Tavus everything from the strange language Jarael spoke in, the girl Shaeryva, up to the point wherein he had to change his name, how he somehow knew of magic, and how he disappeared from the top of the hill. All the while Tavus was listening intently and occasionally interrupted to ask a question.

“What do you think?” asked Leona anxiously, “I have a feeling Jarael isn’t human.”

Tavus was silent for a few moments. Finally he looked up and said, “To start with, Shaeryva is a name of an ancient goddess. I couldn’t remember what of, but a lot of people are named after deities so we don’t have a problem with that.

“And of the foreign language he spoke in,” Tavus continued, “I know father has a volume which tackles that. Hold on.”

He stood up and walked over to his father’s many bookcases and started skimming over the various titles. He stopped on a thick book and yanked it out with a little effort. A cloud of gray dust accompanied it as the book was removed from years of being crammed in the shelf. Leona coughed and grimaced as the dust irritated her throat.

“Now that looks pretty old,” she commented dismally.

“Yeah,” Tavus agreed, dusting the leather-bound tome out the window. He brought it on a table and began opening pages at random.

“Now,” Tavus declared, taking a quill and a scrap of parchment from a pile on his father’s table. He dipped the quill in an inkwell and positioned it on the piece of paper. “Do you remember what he said?”

Leona thought hard. Forcing herself to remember Jarael’s exact words. Slowly, she said, “Mu ba vroten…” she paused, thinking of the rest while Tavus scribbled away.

“…Tu me howit hwi pa’de,” Leona finished, mildly confident that she said it correctly.

Tavus scanned the book for a while, then straightened up and read what he had written, “It probably means, I am thankful for your care and hospitality in Old Erwaddian Elvish.”

Leona’s eyes lit up and she strode over to the desk, “Maybe that’s why he had an Elvin-made dagger with him! He’s an elf!”

“But, Leona,” he said, “There are lots of Elvin-made weapons in the market. They may be expensive, but they are not really rare. And the Elves have been lying low for the past few decades or even centuries. He may be a purist who supports the Elves.”

Leona opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it.

She felt the monocle in her pocket and wondered if she had to tell Tavus about it too.

Only Jarael can give me the answers I need, Leona thought. Besides, this is his monocle. I had better give it back to him.