Chapter 46

The elf woman leads me up a gravel path through a thickly shrouded grove of trees. We're the only ones here so it doesn't make me feel overly uncomfortable about the fact that I'm moving up the path practically naked except for a flimsy-and now damp-towel.

We round an ivy covered boulder, moving closer to where the waterfall pours into the aquamarine misting waters. And there, around the bend, another slim elf woman stands waiting for me in the outcropping within the hollowed out tree.

I immediately recognize her as the female elder from the tunnels.

*Damion had called her Elder Aelrie*.

Elder Aelrie gives me a serene smile as I approach. I find that the closer I get to her that I have to crane my neck a little to keep my eyes on her face. Now that I'm not being carried and held up by Damion's towering figure, she's much taller than I had first believed she was. She gives me a graceful nod of her head and her long chestnut brown hair glints in the sunlight that filters through the thickly twined tree branches.

Her wise, wide set almond shaped eyes are the same shade as her hair. I can't decipher the expression on her smooth, ageless face.

"You look like you're feeling much better," she says, and the corner of her pink lips tilt up at the corner in a pleased smile.

"I do feel so much better," I say, matching her smile with a grateful one of my own. I tug the towel closer around me, "It's incredible. I've never felt anything like it," I admit.

She nods thoughtfully, "After surviving being cut off from the source as long as you have, I imagine the rush of energy you're feeling right now is coming as quite the shock."

Her words bring back the jolting revelations I had been brought to in the tunnels and my throat goes uncomfortably tight. The realization that the life I'd been living has a closet full of secrets that I've yet to unpack. I fight back the renewing heat behind my eyes and chew the inside of my cheek in an attempt to clear away the grateful tears that threaten to make a reappearance.

"I've spent my entire life believing I was sick," I admit, "I had no clue that I had any elven blood. I always thought I was a full-blooded fae. None of the fae healers had any idea of what was wrong with me or why I was different. Why I was always ill. Why I was weak. Why I couldn't connect to the daylight's power like the other Seelie fae can."

She considers my words carefully, a thin line forming between her eyes in her previously smooth skin, "It makes sense that they wouldn't understand what was happening," she says, "Even before the war, elves and fae never mingled or imparted such information with each other. I must admit, though, that I'm still in complete awe at the fact that you were able to survive as long as you did being cut off from any source of an elves' magic and power. You should be proud. It's a truly incredible feat. It's not something many would be strong enough to replicate. The power and determination required to do as much as you have is beyond commendable. "

*Strong. Incredible. Admirable.*

Those have never been words attributed to me before and as she says them out loud, an embarrassed blush heats its way up my neck and into my cheeks.

"Thank you," I say, my throat feeling thick. I swallow roughly to push the unexpected, though not entirely unwelcome, emotions away.

She smiles softly, "I look forward to getting to know you, Liliana."

"You can just call me, Lily."

She nods, "Lily, then." She gestures to a door leading into what appears to be a thick tree trunk behind us. "There's a changing area through there. We weren't sure of your sizes, but we found some robes that look like they should fit you. "

I follow her pointed finger and step carefully into the massive hollowed out tree that has been turned into a dressing room.

"I'll wait out here for you," she says, closing the silky curtain into place that would afford me some privacy while I change.

The clothes she'd mentioned are laid out over a single chair tucked in the corner that stands beside a floor length mirror. The gold-leaf encrusted mirror stands propped up against the smoothed-out siding of the tree and my breath catches at the sight of the person within the glass reflection.

I barely recognize the woman staring back at me.

Her long white hair that hangs down her back and her pale skin no longer appear wan and washed out as it once had but now *glows* instead. There's a healthy color in her cheeks, and a sparkle in her silver eyes. Her thin body no longer looks frail but the way she stands-straighter than she had before-makes her look stronger somehow.

My breath catches in my throat and I stare flabbergasted at my reflection until I can blink myself away from the shock of it all. The robes left out for me are made of a deep green silky fabric that ties along the front. It looks similar to what Elandorr and Aelrie had been wearing in the tunnels, so while I'm not familiar with the style of clothes I know I won't look out of place among the elves.

It's a little big, but the ties in the front help me to adjust it to where it fits me well enough. I comb through my tanlged and still-damp hair with my fingers until it looks somewhat presentable. I twist it into a somewhat smooth braid and step back out of the dressing room where elder Aelrie waits for me.

She gives me a once over with that same assessing gaze I've come to expect from her and she nods in what looks to be approval, "It looks to fit well enough. But I'll look through our supplies again to see if we can find you clothes that fit you a little better length-wise. You'll want to spend a few more sessions in the springs over the next couple of days until your energy levels stabilize."

Hearing her talk about spending more time in the springs reminds me of something I had meant to say to her before, "Thank you again for letting Damion stay with me in the springs. All of this is so new to me-"

A knowing, meaningful smile stretches across her face,"It's alright," she says, "We should have expected him to request access, honestly. It has been many many years since we have had a Bond pairing. I seem to have forgotten how territorial the Shifters in a Bond pair can be."

It takes a moment for her words to sink in and my muscles stiffen with shock. *What did she just say?*

I choke out a breath, "I'm sorry, did you say a *Bond pair*?"