Lucky for her, she had found Syon to help with delivering the letter.
He seemed trustworthy enough not to open the letter, but if he did, well then, that was on him.
“Are you sure this will not be difficult for you? After all, your presence isn't supposed to be noticed here,” she asked him before handing over the letter to him.
“Worry not. I will be fine and he will get your letter.” With that Syon had left.
Aniya stayed up for more hours plotting the rest of her plan, and finally, when she was supposed to go to sleep, she found something strange in her room, like a shadow of a being that she couldn't see.
She screamed and someone rushed in, with a stick in his hand and a lantern in another.
“Syon?!”
“You screamed, Milady. Are you alright?”
She panted, breathing heavily as she looked around the room and right back at the spot where the towering shadow had been.
“I saw something?” she whispered to herself, her voice laced with doubt.
Syon moved forward, rushing to check her windows to ensure that no intruder was on his way to escaping the room.
There was no one there. There were no signs of any other presence in the room besides them either.
“Maybe it is because I’m sleep-deprived,” she finally said, waving it aside.
Now that she was thinking about it, the room had been really dark. The stone providing light to the room had suddenly gone dim.
She told Syon about this. He checked the stone and told her that it was time to get a new one. “It is old. No longer useful.”
“I will set this one here and I will bring you a new light-stone in the morning.” He set the lantern on the side table and she watched the flame glimmering in it. “I delivered the letter.”
“Thank you, Syon. I don't know what I would have done without you.”
He smiled, shyly, looking away. “I will go now.”
“Where do you get the lantern? It looks like something from Ignas.”
“Is that your Realm?”
She nodded, trying to stop herself from crying. Never would she think she would miss Inaymi and the people in it so much. She missed her sister too, and even her son, who was in the same Realm as her.
She wanted to go home.
“It is.”
“Some warriors travel realms. I ask them if the things they see in these realms, they tell me and I make them. I’m a Maker.”
“That is lovely. I wish I could see the things you have made.”
He smiled shyly as if he wasn't used to that much attention.
“They are not much and they are not so beautiful either.”
“I’ll be the one to decide.” She smiled, sitting on the bed and patting the side next to her, inviting him to sit.
“There are more beautiful things I wish you could see,” he continued, still standing.
His eyes sparked with excitement. “The Wuri Festival.”
She hummed, interested. “Tell me about it.” She patted that side of the bed again and this time, he took his seat next to her.
It was surprising that he wasn't asking her about the order she gave to Ula that I combed Eldrick. He respected her boundaries and that pleased her.
She liked him.
If Ikrus was a little like Syon, maybe she wouldn't hate him so much.
Syon seemed like her only true friend here.
She wanted to learn more about this Wuri Festival. She wished she could go with him.
“Costumes, masks, songs! The roads are filled with people dancing and singing! So much life under the night sky.” Then suddenly he went red. “It can get very intimate as well,” he said, picking his words.
“Sex on the road?”
“Well, it is usually the night before the Hunt begins. Many will not return alive so they must have their last night of pleasure.”
“I see.”
“I will bring you many things from the festival, they always sell food and many drinks that you might only get to taste once in a long time.”
They both knew she couldn't go out to see the festival, so none of them brought it up. Aniya was grateful that he was willing to help her enjoy the wonderful things of the festival by bringing them to her; he was so thoughtful; he didn't even have to be, yet he was, and she was grateful for that.
“And see my son?”
He went still, the spark in his eyes dying. “It will be very difficult, impossible in fact. The Temple is usually highly guarded during the Wuri Festival to ensure that the Moon Guardians in Training and the Priests remain uncompromised while also looking out for those who will break the rules so that they may be severely punished. During the Wuri Festival, it is their responsibility to pray to the Moon Goddess till the festival begins.”
Well, it would be impossible then. That made Aniya so sad.
She looked towards the window opposite them, the starless sky wasn't comforting.
She missed home.
“Have a lovely time with your family during this festival. You work too much, they deserve to have you around.”
“I am an orphan.”
Her attention snapped right back to him. “I cannot imagine how painful—” she paused. “By Ignas, I forget.”
Syon looked at her confused. “Forgot what?”
“I am too.”
They looked at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter.
When their laughter died, she asked him, “Did you love them?”
It was his turn to stare out through the window while actually seeing something else. “I did.” Then he looked at her. “Did you love yours?”
She furrowed her brows. “I don't know. They were horrible. My father gave me this scar, my mother, well, she ruined me. Destroyed my life and made my sister my enemy.” When she looked at him, he was already looking at her. “Don't look so sad, I’m better now that she is dead, now that they are both gone. How were yours?”
He looked away once again.“They loved me. We were so happy. A war brought our moment as a family to an abrupt end. It still gives me night terrors; that is why I don't sleep, and I roam the hallways.”
She could see how he was trying his hardest not to cry. “It is alright to grieve them,” she said.
“I have been grieving for more than ten years. Do I still have that right?”
“Of course.” She declared. “That right will always be yours.”
A smile played on his lips.
“I cry no more.” That was what he said, but his eyes glimmered with tears that soon rolled down his cheeks. Her hands itched to wipe away his tears but she remained still, remembering that Syon was the type to flee from a simple touch no matter what the intention was.
“Do you have anyone waiting for you at home?” He asked, wiping away his tears.
“Yes, a best friend, my sister, and— I miss them. They must be so worried about me and Arlo.”
“It is good that you have someone.”
“You?”
Silence.
She shouldn't have asked. It was obvious what the answer was.
“I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn't be.”
“Well, it is a lucky night for you. I was on the lookout to be someone's someone before but I think you will fit perfectly. If you like, I can be your someone.”
He slowly turned to her, watching her intently, as if those words had never been said to him before.
“Syon’s someone. How does that sound to you?” She asked with a smile.