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Evangeline sighed as she walked up the stairs of her estate. The Arishok’s painful vagueness had lead to more trouble than it was worth and now the younger Hawke twin was looking forward to collapsing in her giant pile of pillows that had replaced her bed.
That thought was wiped clear from her mind, however, the instant she walked into her room. Elia had set herself up comfortably in Eve’s nest of pillows, her usually playful and happy demeanor was gone and she looked absolutely miserable. Evangeline said nothing, just turned on her heel and left the room, jogged down the stairs and went into the kitchen to make tea. When she began her trek back to her room she quickly turned to address Bodhan in doorway.
“If anyone comes knocking tell them to come back tomorrow.” She ordered.
“Of course, messere.” Bodhan nodded but then a thought struck him, “Um, what if Lady Merrill or Ser Fenris come around?” He asked cautiously, he’d caught Elia’s mood earlier and was naturally concerned about asking.
“Tell them to come back tomorrow.” Evangeline threw over her shoulder, she didn’t have the time to worry about anyone else at the moment.
Upon entering her room, Evangeline wasted no time in placing the mugs in front of her sister and plopping herself down next to the normally boisterous girl. The second her sister was in reach, Elia shattered. Tears began flowing from her eyes like a never ending waterfall and she clung to her sister for dear life, sobbing until she could barely make a sound. This was rare to say the least, Elia was always happy and ready to have fun, something must have really gone down for this to happen.
Elia continued to cry into Eve’s shoulder while the younger twin wrapped her in a comforting embrace and ran her fingers through her sister’s unusual ginger hair.
“It’s okay, you’re okay.” Eve cooed, she had no idea what had happened but that was okay, Elia would talk about it eventually.
“No it’s not!” Elia sobbed, her voice broken and croaking, “I killed them! We were trying to help Feynriel and I killed them!” Elia’s tears started up anew as Eve’s grip tightened.
“You killed who, Elia?” Eve asked, her voice straining a bit. After all they had gone through to help Feynriel at first she couldn’t believe that Elia would kill him.
“Isabela and Merrill!” Elia croaked.
“What?” Eve asked, panic rising when she didn’t get an answer, “Elia, sweetie, I know this must be hard but you need to tell me what happened.” She demanded softly, pulling Elia away so that she could actually see the broken girls face.
“It was- the fade. Demons. Temptations. They- and then I.” Elia couldn’t string a coherent sentence together but the words ‘demon’, ‘fade’ and ‘temptations’ made things clear enough and Eve drew Elia into another embrace.
“Shh, it’s okay. The fade isn’t real. They’re okay. You didn’t really hurt them, they’re fine.” Eve’s voice was just above a whisper but it was enough to keep Elia grounded.
“But I-”
“No buts. You didn’t kill them, they’re not hurt. You’re all okay. Okay?” Again Eve brought Elia to arms length and smiled. Elia’s face was a mess all red and blotchy from crying but the light was starting to return to her eyes. Elia nodded just a tiny bit and sniffed, she still wasn’t fully convinced but the bite of the situation had dulled.
“Okay.” It was no better than a croak and Elia knew she was going to pay for the pain tomorrow but she didn’t care.
“Okay.” Eve’s smile grew a little more as reached over for the forgotten tea mugs and hands one to her sister, “You’re favourite, Strawberry bliss with half a jar of sugar.” She joked and Elia giggled just a bit, taking a sip of her tea.
The sisters were fully prepared to enjoy their tea in silence but they both made a face after the first sip.
“It’s cold.” Elia stated. There was silence for a moment while the girl’s stared at their drinks and then at each other before they started giggling and fell back into the insane amount of pillows that made The Nest.
“Alright, you need sleep and before you ask, yes you can stay in The Nest.” Eve smiled and pulled Elia into another hug, gently planting a kiss on the top of her head.
For the rest of the evening the two sisters ignored the world and they were children again. Sharing their problems and helping each other without a hint of doubt.