Rowan woke early the next morning. There was much that needed to be done and hardly any time to do it. That was how it felt at least. Unfortunately, Seres was still sleeping and Rowan wasn’t prepared to wake her up when it was still dark outside. It had been a long night with the performance and everything that had followed.

Everyone wanted to talk to the two of them, Rowan because of the performance and who she was and Seres because she was a princess. They were so relentless in their pursuit of conversation that Rowan was denied the chance to talk with Tehri. She wanted to confirm what she had heard, but instead people kept trying to hit on her or ask what it was like being an Ardent.

By the time Rowan had broken free of the inquisition, Tehri had already retreated to her rooms, as had everyone else from Aran Village. Rowan wasn’t exactly surprised. They must have all been exhausted after the forty or so mile trek from the village and everything else they had been through.

After half an hour or so of trying to fall back asleep and failing due to her thoughts being too busy, Rowan chose to pass the time in the bath. It was a way to relax and the hot water really helped to release the strain on her muscles. After the stunt she had pulled yesterday, it was definitely needed, especially as she hadn't given herself a proper chance to relax.

Even so, the run had strained her a lot less than she would have expected. If anything, she felt confident that she could maintain that kind of speed for at least an hour. What she really wanted to know, however, was how close she had gotten to her top speed. It was difficult to say for sure, as she wasn't sure how fast she was going and her upper limit was nigh impossible to calculate.

There were just too many factors to consider. First was her natural top speed according to her various physical characteristics. Then there was the basic enhancements from being an Ardent, which weren't exactly universal, and whatever strength and speed she could get from Elan Fiir. After that, it got complicated as her base abilities were further bolstered by an amount proportional to her emotional state. Add in the fact that different emotions could interact in different ways and some directly interacted with her physical abilities.

It was an interesting quandary, and one that she'd have to look into testing at some point. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure how useful it would be in a combat scenario, as she wasn't exactly the best at being introspective in really tense situations. If anything, the more she actually thought about it, she was awful at it most of the time. This was one of those relatively rare occasions that she was making an effort to consciously reflect on things. It certainly beat letting her subconscious do it for her. That almost always led to downward spirals or unpredictable mood swings.

Rowan eventually left the bath when she heard Seres stirring. Her skin was like a prune as she dried herself, a depressing sign that she had been in the bath far too long. The fact that her stomach was rumbling and the sun was shining brightly through the window hammered the point home.

Seres was stretching dramatically as Rowan walked into the room. "Morning, Rowan," she yawned. "Is breakfast ready yet?"

"I haven't checked yet so I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing it is. We can go down as soon as you're ready."

"Why have you stopped using your accent?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your accent. You were using it all of yesterday, but now you've gone back to a heartlands accent."

"I didn't mean to. It just feels weird using that accent when its just the two of us."

Seres gave Rowan a deep, meaningful look that spoke volumes. It made Rowan feel a little guilty as she realised it was a sign of her treating Seres differently than the rest of her family.

"Well I think it's a nice accent," Seres declared. "If anything, I prefer it to the heartlands accent. It's part of who you are and you seem more relaxed when you're using it. Don't hold back on account of other people. Especially me."

"I'll do my best to keep the accent, then."

"Just do what's comfortable. If it helps, I think Lady Alena will also find it rather charming."

Rowan started steaming as her face tried to turn a deeper shade of red than her hair. "Let's go get breakfast," she stammered awkwardly as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

*****

Liadra and Lochlan were ready and waiting for the two girls as they went down for breakfast. Rowan and Seres joined them at their table. It made things easier if the unlikely situation arose where Seres needed any protection.

The villagers started trickling down towards the end of breakfast. Hana and Byrden looked particularly ecstatic as they came down with Tehri. Rowan immediately pushed aside her bowl of porridge as she rushed out of her chair to hug Tehri.

"It's a miracle," Hana was saying as Rowan skidded towards them on her knees, "Tehri actually said something."

Tehri was making some small sounds of protest at all the fuss. It wasn’t much, but it was significantly more than it had been yesterday.

"I hope you all slept well," Rowan said after greeting everyone.

"Better than the past few days, that's for sure," Byrden answered.

"Have you heard Tehri speak yet?" Hana said.

"Aye. Last night, right as I finished singing. I wanted to talk to her about it last night buy I didnae get the chance."

"You did seem pretty swamped," Byrden said.

"Well that's not going to stop me today," Rowan said, giving Tehri another hug.

Tehri blushed furiously from all the attention. She tried to say something, but it came out as barely more than a broken whisper.

Rowan saw that she was struggling. It wasn’t difficult to see why; after years of not speaking, Tehri's vocal cords had probably atrophied by a fair margin. Not only that, but it was naïve to think that Rowan had cured all the trauma that had stolen her voice. This was just the beginning, and the road to her recovery would likely be a long one. Rowan was determined to help her as best she could.

She gave Tehri a warm, comforting smile. "You dinnae need to push yourself, Tehri. I know it's difficult, so take all the time you need. It doesnae need to be today or tomorrow or even next year. Just keep working on it and you'll be able to talk my ears off whenever you're ready. In the meantime, I'll learn how to sign so we can talk like that, okay?"

Tehri nodded as a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

"Excellent. I've got a few things I want to do today and I was hoping you'd join me for some of them. It might be painful though, so I'll understand if you dinnae want to or you dinnae think you're ready."

Tehri signed something back that looked like an affirmative prompt, but Rowan asked if either Hana or Byrden could translate. With the go ahead from them, Rowan was able to continue.

"Well the first place I want to visit is the memorial. We lost so much during the eclipse and I want to pay my respects. We'd be able to say hello to Ma as well. Is that okay?"

A few more tears and couple of signs let Rowan know that Tehri would do her best to be strong and that she would go. Rowan whispered some barely audible thanks and continued on.

"The next bit might be a little bit more difficult. I'm planning on going back home and giving it a full clean. Seres has already agreed to help, as have her guards. It might involve seeing Da though and I know that might be difficult for both of you."

There was an audible gulp from Tehri as she started signing, I can do it.

"Only if you're sure."

"We'll help with the cleaning as well," Byrden offered.

"I have a lot to say to him," Hana added.

"He might not be what you're expecting," Rowan said, "but I appreciate the help." Her face was sullen at the memory of how her father had been when she saw him yesterday. If anything, she was more worried about how he would handle the reunion.

"Anyway, I'll let you have breakfast first. This is likely going to be a busy day, so you'll need the energy."

Rowan gave Tehri one last hug and then returned to the others and the cold remains of her porridge.

As she sat down, Seres whispered something into her ear. "There's something I think you might want to know. It's about Tehri."

Rowan pulled her head back immediately and whipped it around so that she could look directly at Seres. Her heart started to race. Seres could have seen any number of things with her eyes. "What do you mean?" Rowan stage whispered.

"I'll tell you upstairs after you finish your breakfast."

"But it's gone cold already." Cold porridge didn't bother her that much, but that wasn't why she was complaining. It was more of an excuse to hurry things along so that Seres would tell her what she apparently knew.

Seres wasn’t having any of it. Instead she gave Rowan a knowing look and a sly grin. "I thought you might say that so I ordered some nice warm honey milk that you can mix in."

Rowan had to stop herself from salivating at the mention of honey. It appealed too much to her sweet tooth. There was no helping herself. She wanted to know what Seres had to say as quickly as possible, but she had been countered perfectly. Only one solution came to mind. Rowan poured the milk into her bowl and then wolfed the contents down in a fashion that made it look like she was inhaling a tornado. A few seconds later, there was nothing left.

"That was just impressive," Liadra remarked.

"A woman after my own heart," Lochlan added with a heavy sigh and a fluttering of his eyelashes.

Rowan kicked him in the shins and took hold of Seres' hand. "Let's go!"

Unsurprisingly, Rowan had managed to inadvertently draw a fair bit of attention with her actions. She may have also accidentally given the rumour mill enough fuel to spawn countless inaccurate tellings of their non-existent love affair, not that Rowan cared.

Once they were in the room, Rowan repeated her request for Seres to let her know what she meant. Seres answered with, "I think Tehri is on the verge of Awakening."

Several emotions danced across Rowan's face as she processed what Seres had just said. "W-w-what? Why didnae you say anything yesterday?"

"I would have done if I was sure, but I wasn't. The cracks were only just beginning to show, but I think your singing last night may have pushed her a little further along."

"Is there any way of stopping it?" Rowan wasn’t exactly sure why she was asking. Maybe she was worried about how Tehri would handle it if she did Awaken, especially with her mood swings. Then again, she couldn’t exactly talk, especially with her own mood swings. Even before she Awakened they were just as bad as Tehri's, if not worse, and they were also significantly more reactive and unpredictable. If anything, to deny Tehri her Awakening would be to reject everything that had led her to this point. Rowan didn't want that.

Seres just shook her head. "It's probably just a matter of time at this point. Trying to stop it would be like single-handedly trying to stop a boat with several sprung leaks from sinking."

"Any idea on how long she's got?"

Seres answered with a look that said something along the lines of, "How the fuck am I supposed to know?" The swearing wasn't even an added affectation by Rowan; she could see it in the eyes.

"Point taken, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to prepare her for this."

"Just do your best and I'm sure she'll understand. Maybe write it down? That way she'll be able to digest it at her own pace."

"That's a good idea. I'll do it later, but first we have to visit my mother's grave."

Seres nodded and went on to say, "Are you sure you're ready? This isn't something you should rush."

"What do you mean?"

"You've only just been reunited with Tehri and you want to go straight to the heavy stuff before you've even had a proper chance to be sisters."

"You might have a point there."

"Of course I do. And don't worry, I'll be there to help every step of the way."

"Thank you."

With a few new items added to their agenda, they went to find Tehri. It was time to start the day for real.