“What happened?” Layla asked Lana intently. “How is he well? What did you do?”
“I… don’t really know,” Lana responded hesitantly. “I simply laid down with him and held him because I didn’t want the poor thing to die alone. I guess I fell asleep and when I woke, he was sitting up next to me.”
The boy smiled at her and then at Layla.
“She was in my dreams, grandma,” he said, as if there was nothing extraordinary about that statement. “We found the music together.”
“The music?” Layla asked him, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“Yes, the music,” he said, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You know, the trees and the grass. The music. I couldn’t hear it anymore and then I started to feel bad. I went to sleep and then I dreamed about her and she showed me how to find the music. I can hear it again.”
He beamed at Lana and then grabbed a piece of bread and started eating as if he was starving.
Layla looked at her grandson and then at Lana, tears in her eyes.
“You brought him back to us,” she said in awe. “You brought him back.”
Suddenly, she flung her arms around Lana, weeping in earnest and Lana patted her back, shooting a confused look at Nym who was staring at her with wide eyes. Something had happened, something significant and Lana had no idea what it was.
* * *
Lana and Nym were trying to prepare to leave the small village but the elves were making it very difficult. Every time Lana turned around, someone was nearby waiting to catch her attention. They would hug her or give her a gift of cloth or fruit. No one would meet her gaze directly and they acted deferentially toward her. It was making her extraordinarily uncomfortable. It didn’t help that Nym was also treating her with some newfound respect that bordered on fear.
The two other children in the tent were now awake and none of them were sick anymore. They all repeated the story of how Lana had appeared in their dreams and helped them find the music again. The story spread and suddenly these elves were acting as if Lana was some celestial being and they treated her with a reverence that was almost worship. She couldn’t stand it any longer.
“How did you heal that child? What did you do?” Nym asked her when she was able to get Lana alone.
“I didn’t do anything!” Lana exclaimed, exasperated. She had been asked this question many times by now and she was getting tired of it. “I just laid down with him and fell asleep and then he was well, that is all!” She paused for a moment, thinking back to when she had laid her hand on the boy.
“Actually, there was something… odd that happened,” she said slowly, frowning. “You know how we can feel the trees? I could feel the boy’s thoughts in the same way. His emotions. I didn’t realize that elves could do that.”
“We can’t, Lana,” Nym said, color draining from her face, her blue eyes troubled. “That isn’t something I have ever heard of an elf doing. Are you sure that’s what happened?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, pulling her hair over her shoulder as she tried to think back to that moment she felt Josiah’s mind. “Perhaps I only imagined it. But he felt sad and lost as if he was searching for something that was so important to him and he couldn’t find it no matter how hard he tried. It was heartbreaking.”
Nym looked away, apparently lost in her own thoughts. She seemed to have nothing more to say so Lana continued packing her things away, trying to ignore the cluster of people waiting nearby, watching her preparations. A man approached and Lana turned, ready to politely send him away but she paused. It was Ilann, the elf who had been sitting with Nym at breakfast. He was more muscular than most elven men Lana had seen, with close cropped, sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He smiled and ducked his head respectfully to Lana then grinned widely at Nym and she blushed, smiling back at him.
“Nym, Lana, I would like to journey with you if you would have me,” Ilann implored. “I’m a collector of stories and I think that perhaps your story will be an interesting one, to say the least.”
Lana looked at Nym with raised eyebrows, letting the other woman know with a glance that it was up to her. Nym gazed at Ilann and chuckled softly then nodded.
“Yes, you may come with us,” Nym told him warmly. “I wouldn’t mind the extra company.”
No, I don’t suppose you would, Lana thought wryly, watching the looks exchanged between the two elves. There was definitely something between them, Lana had no doubt. She was happy for her friend but it also made her feel a little sad and lonely. Banishing thoughts of Clay for probably the hundredth time already that morning, Lana turned to leave and then froze.
It looked like the entire elven village had come out to see them off. They were gathered in a half circle outside of the tent where the women had been preparing for their journey. Lana looked at Nym, frightened, and the elf looked back at her, shrugging. They were blocking the way through the village and Lana didn’t know what to do.
She stepped forward and the crowd gazed at her expectantly.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” she said to them, unsure of what they wanted from her. “You are all very kind to take us in.” She shot Nym a questioning look, wondering if that was what the people wanted to hear from her. Nym was watching the crowd, clearly troubled. Her black hair was swept behind her ears and her brow was furrowed. Shaking her head at Lana, she adjusted
