Chapter Forty-Four

  I awake the next morning cuddled into my soft white sheets. I am first aware of the soft fading moonlight casting a silver glow in my room. Slowly and reluctantly, I uncover my body. Sitting up, I drag my feet off of the bed and rub my knuckles into my eyes. I stretch my arms above my head and yawn.

    Pulling myself off the bed, I brush my hair and clothe myself and just like yesterday, I decide to walk to the lake instead of fly. Leaving the castle, I head into the woods that I have come to love so much. The woods surrounding the city remind me of the forest around the horde. It is places like this that I feel most at home. I am surrounded by beauty and silence, but most of all I am alone. Here I do not have to deal with people's harsh words or judgmental stares: I am alone and at peace.

    In the forest, there is a sense of kinship with the flora, of an ancient soul that stretches into everything that lives. It is here under the