Sitting back in her chair, Kaelyn picked up the note and re-read what she had written. Another pang of hurt stabbed at her heart and she swallowed past a lump in her throat. “It’s for the best…” she told herself softly. Once the ink was dry, she folded the parchment and then sealed down the flap. After writing Kaden’s name on the front, she set it aside and then lay down on her bed, wanting to get a few hours of sleep before she left.

When Kaelyn awoke, her room was awash in soft light from the moon, and she blinked a few times to get her bearings. Sighing softly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled on her boots. She fastened her cloak on around her before shouldering her pack and picking up the note she had left. Silently leaving her room, she walked down the hall, and paused for a few moments outside her brother’s door before kneeling and sliding the note under the door. “Goodbye Kaden,” Kaelyn whispered and then turned for the stairs and slipped out the front entrance without anyone noticing her.

Sticking to the shadows, Kaelyn made her way down the darkened streets toward the edge of the city. Soon the houses gave way to the plains that bordered the northern edge. Stopping at the edge of the plains, she turned and surveyed what she could see of the city of her birth. With a sad sigh, she whispered a goodbye and then walked into the plains. She didn’t know where she was going, but knew that she had to leave Gallantria. Tentri will probably be the best place for me…assuming that they don’t kill me on sight… she thought as she walked.

Kaelyn walked for several hours, and as the sun was just starting to rise, she started to look for a place where she could rest for a while. Seeing a rock outcropping in the distance, she changed direction and then found a cranny that she was able to slip into once she reached the rocks. Curling up on the rocky floor, she used her pack as a pillow and wrapped her cloak around herself tightly as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Kaden had woken during the night thinking that he had heard something, but he soon drifted back to sleep when he saw that nothing was amiss. As was his custom, he woke early and sat up and stretched. As he swung his legs over the side of his bed, he spied something on the floor next to his door and went to see what it was. “Someone left me a note?” he asked himself as he bent to pick it up. Recognizing his sister’s handwriting on the front, he broke the seal and then read what the note contained, his mouth dropping open in shock. The events of the previous day crashed back into his mind and he now kicked himself at the way he had acted. Grabbing a robe, he stuffed the note into its pocket and very nearly ran down the hall to where his sister’s room was. Not even bothering to knock, he burst into Kaelyn’s room and then slumped against the doorjamb when he saw that it was empty.

“Idiot!” Kaden told himself. “Master Bethan was right… How could I have said that to her?”