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There was a crash of thunder outside. Ren pressed himself into the sheets, pulling Lizzie’s pink blanket over his head.
He had been looking for Lizzie when the storm hit, and he’d ran into her cottage to escape from the weather. He could hear the rain pounding on the roof, and he whimpered.
There was a soft creaking as the door opened and shut, and gentle footsteps on the wooden floor. There was rustling, as someone shed their wet cloak and boots, and dried themselves off.
A weight settled next to him on the bed, and Lizzie’s fingers ran through his hair.
“When I was little,” she said softly, “I loved the rain. Whenever it rained, I would go under my covers with one of my favorite books and read until the rain stopped. It was my favorite noise in the whole world. I remember that whenever something exciting happened in my book, there would be thunder. It was like the sky was playing music just for me.”
She pulled back the covers so she could see his face. She smiled at him, scratching behind his ears. “I had a little stuffed wolf named Merri who always read with me. She loved the rain, too.”
Ren smiled at her shakily. “Yeah?”
Lizzie laughed lightly. “Yeah.” She hummed. “Do you want to read with me?”
“I’d like that,” Ren said softly.
Lizzie stood up, padding across the floor to her small bookshelf. Her fingers brushed over the books, then she settled on one and pulled it down. It was on one of the higher shelves, so she had to stand on her tiptoes.
She came back to bed, getting under the covers with Ren and arranging them both how she liked. She had him sit up against the headboard so she could sit between his legs and lean against his chest. Once she was satisfied, she started reading.
“There was a girl who didn’t have a name. A nobody from nowhere, with no empire to call her own, who wandered the lands in search of something she could not name…”
Ren had never heard the story before, but he found himself liking it. It followed the girl with no name, as she searched for the thing she could not name. She travelled through the eleven empires, meeting strange characters and hearing strange stories. Slowly, as she learned more about the land, she learned more about herself. The strangers became friends, and they helped her on her journey.
Some of the characters felt almost… familiar. The slightly mad king of Mezalea, the strong and determined queen of Gilded Helenthia, the careful and strategic king of Rivendell.
The protagonist, most of all, felt like someone he knew. As she read on, it came to him- Lizzie. Lizzie was who the protagonist reminded him of.
The girl travelled through ten of the eleven empires, meeting their people and their emperors and learning their culture. Each one had its own, different from the rest and deep as the ocean. It felt almost like the author was writing about places they’d been to, people they’d met.
Lizzie began the last chapter. The girl knew nearly everything about herself, except for her name and what she was searching for. She made her way to the eleventh empire- the Codlands, in the swamps. She spent some time there, learning their culture, and eventually she met the king. The Codfather.
Finally, she knew exactly who she was and what she was searching for.
“...and there, at the edge of the ocean, Lizzie finally knew what she’d been looking for. She held her little brother safe and sound in her arms, the sound of the waves echoing like a heartbeat. And at last it started to rain.”
Lizzie shut the book, looking up at him with a smile. “Well?”
“I liked that,” he said, smiling back.
She listened for a moment, then her face brightened. “I think it stopped raining!”
Ren… probably wouldn’t have minded if the storm lasted a little longer.