“I’m coming. Of course, you would be completely lost without me.” Dris grinned as she looked over the maps with eager eyes. She would no doubt have everything memorized by morning.
“I’m glad you’re my friend. Thank you for everything you did before, and well . . . not treating me differently.”
“Pishh. You’re still you. Only now you have a bigger room for us to hang out in.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You love me for my bigger room and not my big heart. I see where your loyalties are.”
“Oh yes, that’s exactly why I went with you to that horrid city and will travel with you again. Your big rooms.” She winked as wind rattled the stained glass of the library.
“It’s going to be a cold journey.” Winters in the Fae realm were different and crueler than the human side. We couldn’t wait until the weather warmed. We’d wear warm clothes and make fires around camp to fight the chill.
When we finished studying the maps, I headed to the arena to train and work on weapons skills. Since I didn’t remember everything I could do before. Power hummed beneath my skin and I rested against the beam of the weapons shelter as my vision swirled. The magic within me stirred. I hadn’t touched that chasm of power within me for fear I couldn’t control it. Memories floated in my mind of me using each unique gift I’d absorbed. However, I was apprehensive . . . I didn’t want to rely on them, either.
Najen continued to help me grow with the passing hours, and his teaching method calmed me. He made me laugh, as did his husband when he came into the ring from the artisan part of the city for a visit. Rojan and Najen were cute together. Najen was tough and brawny while Rojan’s blond hair and warm brown eyes piled on top of a smaller frame body made him look so sweet. Rojan was an optimist that believed anyone could do anything if the person believed it themselves. He was a painter in the city, where they had both lived together for the last 25 years.
“Don’t worry, Sapphira, the general will come around.” Najen bumped me on the shoulder with his while his husband nodded. I wanted to ask if they were mates, but after spending twenty minutes with them I had my answer. I could see that everlasting bond between them with every smile and touch they gave one another. I wonder if Rune and I looked like that.
“Thanks.” We chatted for another thirty minutes about their relationship, and how it was hard for Rojan to see his husband battle in the fight against Verin’s soldiers on the day magic disappeared. He’d been hurt, but only a scar claimed his back instead of death at his throat. After saying goodbye, I walked around the gardens with a contagious smile on my face. I had nothing on the agenda and everyone seemed to be giving me free time today to do as I pleased. I briefly wondered if Nyx barked orders at people to give me space. I loved my friends.
I nodded at the guards I passed by and watched the birds fly as the sun set on our day.
“Celestineee.” A cool breeze called to me, and I looked up to see my feet had taken me to Celestine’s cave.
Chapter Twelve
Sapphira
I followed the dark cave path to where Celestine sat by her fire in the familiar woods, with tea and food ready for me.
“This tea isn’t laced with your blood and opal is it?” I sat in the grass and tossed a grape into my mouth. Celestine’s owl eyes shifted to me and a mischievous smile tilted her lips.
“It’s lavender and honey, my dear.”
I lifted the cup to my nose and sniffed it for anything odd. She’d used that other blend on me so I would have visions and memories to help move me closer to my destiny of becoming Fae again. Rune liked to call her a meddlesome old hag, but she’d been helpful to me.
“Meo-hoo.” One of her strange owl cats twisted its head toward me. They were sort of cute, although I wouldn’t have one as a pet. I couldn’t find anything strange about the scent of the tea, so I took a sip and nothing but the ingredients she said coated my tongue.
“So quiet, Sapphira. Having troubles?” She sat on a large branch across from her fire and her owl cats surrounded her. Some purred and others hooted, with their tails twitching from side to side.
“I’m doing better. I should have come for some of that calming tea you gave me before now.” After the words came out, I wanted to kick myself for not having thought of that before. I would have been much more relaxed than I have been.
“You’re doing fine. Everything is coming together nicely.”
“I hope so.”
She knew everything I wanted to say, and what would happen. She had set everything in motion with my fate. From telling my parents how to protect me from Verin, then she sent Tor to rescue me.
“I was starting to fear that I wasn’t the old me again, but I wasn’t human, either.” I sipped some tea and tore off the piece of bread she had set on the plate for me with honey drizzled on top.
“You are a new you, and only you can decide who you are.”
I nodded, having come to the same conclusion. I didn’t have time to try to be like any of the old versions of me. I began to accept who I was in this moment.
“I know you can’t give me anything that could change the course of destiny, but do you have any words of wisdom on what’s to come?” I asked.
“You were always my favorite royal.” Her whispery voice sounded like a purr and she grinned sweetly. I sipped on the tea and waited to hear any clues as to what my future held for me.
“Bring that handsome mate of yours to see me, and I’ll tell you what I can. I would like to see his face. It’s been some time.” She scratched the ear of one of her pets, and I sighed. As the princess, I could call Rune here and he’d have to come, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.
“You sure you don’t want his grumpiness to mess up your comfy space?” I semi teased, mostly because I wasn’t sure I wanted to face him after what I said to him last. Warmth stirred in my belly as the thoughts of his kiss rushed through my head.
“He spent many days with me after you left twenty years ago. He begged, willing to do anything to save you. I told him that he had to wait and wait he did. I haven’t seen him since. Bring him, my dear. Let me look into his soul, and then we’ll talk.”
She disappeared with a fog in true Celestine fashion. Curiosity had me wanting to follow her into the dark woods and search for where her true home was. This fire pit was a front . . . a place where people could chat with her without being in her sanctuary. I ate the rest of the honey bread and finished my tea.
As I headed back to the palace, I asked the first guard I saw, “Hey, have you seen General Rune?” He shook his head while remaining tight-lipped. I walked around the palace, hoping to catch him stomping nearby but he wasn’t in sight. A flutter tickled my stomach as déjà vu hit me when I stopped in front of his quarters. The last time I had approached his wooden door, he’d been shirtless, and I’d wished he was mine while he belonged to another.
I sighed deeply, then rapped my knuckles against the sturdy door. I didn’t hear any movements, so I leaned my ear against the wood and listened just in case he chose to ignore me. With my attention focused on the room beyond the barrier, I didn’t hear the swift footsteps of someone until my hands were pinned above my head, and my body squished between the hard surface and a body.