Chapter 106 - Home Again

The two unicorns, with Elenie and her mother on their backs, materialised in the ruins of a building, high above a valley.  As they were dismounting, they noticed a large shape fly overhead and shortly afterwards Evie and Talfryn walked up to the ruin. 

As Evie came over to her, Elenie asked "So where are we?  I thought we were going home, but this doesn't look familiar in the slightest?"

"We are home; do you remember I told you about the fae realms changing from time to time?  Well, a lot has changed while you've been gone - I don't know if you realised it, but time has passed faster here than it has for you.  Amaethon and Murigen have had a child at last and in honour of her birth they decided to change the entire look of their realm.  Don't worry, your home is still the same, it knew you were coming back, and we'll show you the way."

Elenie stared at her in amazement, but before she could say anything, Talfryn followed Evie over to her and gave her a warm hug.  Releasing her, he took hold of her arms and said "I'm sorry we weren't in time to save Ieaun, but always remember that we're your family and we're here for you whenever you need us."  

After he said this, Evie elbowed him aside, mock-scolding him with the comment "Shoo, we were talking dear"

Turning back to Elenie, she said "We came as quickly as we could when we knew you were in danger, I wish we could have gone with you in the first place, then maybe we'd have been in time to save Ieaun.  If you need anything, we're here for you." 

Elenie embraced her, too choked up with a multitude of emotions to say anything.  Evie held her for a long while, stroking her back and murmuring soothing comments before suggesting that maybe they could set off to take them home.  Elenie pulled away, dried her tears and agreed. 

When they got to the house, Elenie was glad to see little had changed there, despite all the changes in the surroundings.  As they went into the house, everything there reminded her of Ieaun and the fact she'd never see him again.  Making her excuses to her mother, she went up to her bedroom to cry.

Dory wandered round the house for a while, until she found a bedroom which seemed to have designed itself specifically for her.  Looking in the wardrobe, she found some fresh clothes in her favourite colours which looked as though they would fit her and, having had a quick shower she changed into them. 

Walking over to the dressing table, she took a long look in the mirror.  Whilst it felt good to have clean clothes which fitted and weren't rags, she still looked a fright.  "I deserve to look a fright" she muttered to herself in the mirror, "Why did I trust that monster?  How could I let him take over my life like that?  And now my baby's lost her husband in rescuing the fool mother who ignored her all her life". 

Shaking her head at herself, she decided that, even if she thought her current appearance matched her sins, she should probably do something about it anyway.  She didn't want to put anything more on her daughter, not after everything she'd done and allowed to be done. 

Elenie had recovered her composure a little, though she still felt empty inside.  Feeling a little hungry she decided it would be a good idea to eat something and went downstairs to cook a meal. 

When she had finished she called up "food's in the kitchen if you want it".  Feeling somewhat ambivalent about eating with her mother, she began eating her own portion without waiting.  When Dory came downstairs they both ate in an uncomfortable silence, neither quite sure what to say to the other.

Meanwhile, the little fox cub (who had come back with them) had been exploring the house.  Slipping cautiously into the barn, she met Nerys who came over and sniffed at her. 

Nerys decided the new addition to the household was acceptable and had a lengthy conversation with her, explaining the ground rules and enquiring about her likes and dislikes.   

Position and ground rules established, she played a few cat games with the little cub for a while, the two of them playfully chasing each other and generally being a bit silly. 

After another brief conversation, the cub told Nerys about what had happened, both to Ieaun and her own mother and Nerys nuzzled her in sympathy.

After eating, Elenie decided to bury her sorrow by taking a look at the plants in the greenhouse.  Most of them had stood up well to their absence but a few were now dead.  She began to carefully remove those from their planters and to dispose of the dead leaves and branches.

As she was doing this, she felt her stomach lurch; covering her mouth with one hand she looked down as her stomach churned, the meal she had just eaten threatening to come straight back up.