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When Lenora finally mustered the will to pull away from her embrace, it was with the biggest grin that has ever filled her face. Her big, round green eyes brimmed with emotion as well as tears. And somehow, she exuded an air that felt so grand, massive... and yet she still looked so small.

And when she spoke, when her lips parted in a whisper, it was as if time had never moved, nothing had ever changed... and their lives together had never been the slightest different.

“Geth namur, Eshwlyn...”

The bigger Elf felt her cheek sore, only then realizing the wide smile permanently etched across her own face. Chuckling, blinking, unable to tear her gaze away from her sister, Eshwlyn replied no different. “You smell even worse, actually.”

“English,” Lenora said, her mouth in a gaping smile and with a glitter of amusement twinkling in her eyes. “Well, this is different.”

Once the initial euphoria had waned, at once Eshwlyn’s nurturing instincts had roused awake from a long-dormant slumber. Perhaps partly unwillingly, Lenora was subjected to a rigorous process where she was combed every inch for any signs of illness or injuries, or worse, a fatal mixture of both.

.....

There was a faint gash across her cheek, how did that happen? Her skin was rather pale, her arms rather skinny, had she not been eating in a while? Her fingers felt thin, were they always this bony?

“Eshwlyn, I’m fine! Really!” Lenora exclaimed for the umpteenth time, finally managing to wriggle free from her scouring hands. “Terra has been taking care of me, and anyway-it’s you that needs worrying for, sister! The last time I saw you, you were being beaten... you were... dragged... bleeding... and I thought...” a flicker in her expression, a flicker in a second, and the blistering cold of that winter night seemed to blow once more. “I thought I was never going to see you again...”

“There is no need for alarm,” Eshwlyn quickly reassured her, clasping a hand over Lenora’s faded scar. “The injuries I sustained that day had long healed. And in spite of my current circumstance... I am in a far better state than I could ever be.”

“Hor milu rita’gar, Eshwlyn!” The little elf blurted out in amusement again. “What are these words? What is this fancy speech? You’re better than I am at speaking! How is that even...? Formu’twa, are you sure you’re actually my sister?”

“Is it... is it really that strange?” Eshwlyn asked, frowning and for some odd reason, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I, uh... I never regarded it as such. Um, regardless, you do understand me, right?”

“No, it’s not that. I do understand you and I like it that I’m understanding you like this too! It’s just... wow!” Lenora gave a little bounce, blinking incredulously. “Talking to you in this language, I just... never expected it. It takes getting used to, but... dera’mur Elfa, Eshwlyn? Wouldn’t you rather speak in our language instead?”

Countless days spent pretending, hiding, had the calmness in her expression from breaking but in truth, she was afraid. If she spoke differently, if she directly disobeyed his orders, even if he wasn’t here to hear it, see it... somehow, Eshwlyn felt that he still could anyway.

“I...” Eshwlyn began, hoping to hide the stiffness of her voice with another smile. “In the first place, I am under strict orders that prevent me from doing so.”

Lenora’s chipper instantly dissipated. “Strict orders...?” and with a single glance, a softer voice, it was clear she already knew. “You mean from that man, right? He’s not allowing you to. Kimlita. Your, uh... your Master, right?”

The conversation was quickly steering to a darker course, this reunion being tarnished-Eshwlyn refused to allow it. She rose from her knees, and took her sister by the hand.

“Enough of me. It is you that is most curious,” She said. “Come, let us not squander this moment. Let us walk, and you can tell me of your exploits. How is it that you defied all odds, braved all dangers, and managed to be right here with me now.”

“Ooo, so grand...” Lenora giggled. “You are making me blush, Eshwlyn. It’s really not that special.”

“I disagree,” She said. “It is to me.”

Through stalks of grass and beneath the rays of the sun, they began leisurely crossing the plains of springtime... just the two of them... as close as close could be and with their fingers still intertwined and refusing to uncouple.

Lenora told a tale that spanned the long seasons. Alone for the first time in her life and waging a losing battle against the winter storm, she was left no option but to return to their now ruined burrow to begrudgingly await the arrival of spring.

“When I finally woke up, I felt like it must have just been a long nightmare. Then I turned to my side, and you weren’t there,” Lenora recounted, coiling herself around Eshwlyn’s arm. “I’m... I’m a little embarrassed telling you how many times I cried for you. I thought maybe I just had to wait. I thought maybe, one day, you’ll return... and I’ll see you coming out of the forest anytime now... finally coming back to me. But you never did. And that’s when I decided I had to come for you.”

Lenora’s books had survived unscathed from the attack, and they proved invaluable in teaching her about human custom, and habits, describing in great detail the history and locations of several kingdoms and villages from all across the realm, one of which resided not that far from their burrow.

“I made sure to keep my ears hidden, I put on a hood I stitched together, and after that, I just started walking, I guess” They were beneath the shade of a tree now, above them the chipper and melody of birds, and Lenora was resting her head on her sister’s lap while Eshwlyn simply sat against the rough bark and continued to listen. “I met some travelers along the way, merchants with caravans. I was really nervous talking to them, but I managed to pass off as a human, I guess. I think they thought I might just be a lost little girl trying to get home. They were very nice. They let me ride in their carriage.”

“Where did they take you?” Eshwlyn asked.

“A human village,” Lenora answered, and in her tone was a tinge of fondness. “After I explained I was looking for people wearing red cloaks, they didn’t know what I meant but they said I might be able to get more information from the residents in the village. They were also very nice.”

Once there, the villagers immediately took to her as one of their own, sympathizing with the lost child wishing to find her way home, they fed her, nourished her, and sheltered her in the few days she spent under their care.

“I think I might be too cute for my own good...” Lenora let out a bashful giggle. “If I hadn’t left when I did, somebody might have ended up adopting me instead. Isn’t it strange? Humans are mean, scary, and cruel... but they are also so kind, loving, and gentle. There are so many I encountered that are either one or the other. Even to their own. But we aren’t like that, right? I wonder, what makes them different from us?”

She pondered the thought for a moment, before focusing back on her journey. Kingdom and village-hopping was a process that Lenora rinse and repeated, from the breeze of spring to the haze of summer, each detour bringing her closer and closer to her goal, then finally in the somber skies of autumn weather, from a doting village chieftess from the township of Jotun, she was given a final destination.

“She told me there was a neighboring province, a two-day journey by cart, a town under the domain of a Hendrick person or something. She said the red cloak person I’m referring to might be there... that there was an encampment where a lot of them are placed... and that I may find what I’ve been looking for there.”

The rest, Eshwlyn did not need reiterating. That rainy day, the exploding storm and blinding lightning. It was not a day she’d ever forget. Lenora had a somber look on her face as if dreading even the memory of it.

“It was like they were expecting me to come for you or something...” She muttered weakly. “I tried sneaking in, to look for you, and then something hit me... like there was a big stone pressing down on my body, I couldn’t move... and then I was hit with another stone, and then another... and after that... after... I... I can’t really remember...”

Anger flared inside Eshwlyn like a burst of flames. She tried not to imagine it, the cruelty, the cackling laughter of those red hoods... and above all... the haunting image of Lenora’s vacant gaze staring back at her behind the rust of cold, iron bars.

“Terra was the person that woke me up, and I was so happy to see her again,” Lenora continued, her voice reverting back to normal. “Did you see her? She’s much more older now, right? Prettier too. Anyway, I wanted to speak to her, but she told me to be quiet, that she cannot talk to me just yet... and that she’ll try and see me again soon. A few days later, her promise came true. She brought me here, fed me, cleaned me, clothed me... and even better... she said that you were coming to see me again soon.

“And you did,” The little Elf finished, glancing up endearingly at her sister. “After so long, after all this time... you finally came back to me. Eshwlyn, we’re together again.”

Eshwlyn smiled back, but her eyes told a different tale.

A darker tale.

This should never have happened.

Deep in her heart, she knew.

They should never have been together again.