Esterpine

Leah felt Jovari's presence before she saw him. She wasn't sure how, only that she had an inexplicable awareness of him whenever he was near. Like now.

She was flat on her back, a bed of moss cushioning her body, gazing up at the canopy above. Birds swooped about, building nests and flirting. They weren't like the birds she was used to. Instead, they were bright and colorful, similar to the tropical birds she'd seen on nature documentaries, only, even more beautiful.

She'd been here for hours, just killing time. Thinking, mostly, about how things had turned out. Being in Dragonwall was a lot to digest, but being here on the outskirts of Esterpine felt like a dream. She needed time to process.

"There you are."

Chills spread over her skin but she ignored them. She couldn't afford to develop feelings for Jovari. Perhaps if it was someone else, she might let herself, but something about him, specifically, terrified her. If she fell in love with him—which she undoubtedly would if she allowed it, because it would be too easy with him—then he'd break her heart. She couldn't afford that. She'd suffered too many losses already, and didn't intend for another.

"Here I am," she said blandly.

A shadow fell over her. Jovari stared down at her, his hands on his hips, before sinking to the ground beside her. "They've only been gone a few hours and already I'm anxious," he muttered.

"Claire and Talon?"

"No, the sun and the moon, gods woman. Yes, Claire and Talon."

She shrugged, but realized it didn't show in the position she was in. A position she didn't like to be in, with how he was looming over her, even sitting, so she pushed herself up, bringing them eye level.

Claire and Talon had left on a supposed quest-thingy earlier this morning, though she knew it was in search of the king tree, which was, apparently, a magical tree that governed the world here. Normally, Claire would have gone alone for something like this—according to Taylynn—but Talon refused to let her out of his sight. He was quite dangerously adamant about it, in fact. So they'd set off and would be gone for who could say how long. A day? Two?

"Do you think the tree will heal her?" she found herself asking.

"It better," Jovari said. He exhaled and scrubbed a hand over his face. While he appeared as perfect as ever—stupid magical creatures with their stupid magical healing abilities and their stupid long lives—his expression made him look stressed and tired. It was different from the usual devil-may-care look he often displayed.

"Jovari...are you okay?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Why wouldn't I be?" He sounded almost defensive.

She sighed. "Everything has been focused on Claire and the kingdom, on what has happened, on getting her home to her people. Understandably so. But...the rest of us are important too. You're important too. So yes, are you okay?"

"I... No, Leah, I'm not okay." He wasn't looking at her, instead, he was focused on something far away.

She reached out, trailing her fingers down the side of his jaw, then quickly retracted her hand, cursing herself. His eyes darted to hers, sharpening. "Sorry...I..."

"It's all right," he said, his voice soft. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, like he was digging into her with his gaze, like he was trying to find every hidden secret she carried, everything that made up who she was.

"I should..." She was going to say go, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it. Silence fell.

"The other day," he said, startling her. "When you said that your mother died because of you, what did you mean?"

She went rigid. "I should go." This time, it was easy to say.

"No." His hand shot out, fingers wrapping around her forearm. "Stay."

"I shouldn't have said anything." She exhaled, cursing her carelessness. "It was just a game. Forget about it, all right?"

"Oh I don't think so. We're going to talk about this."

"Why do you care?" she snapped. "You didn't even want me coming on this trip, if I recall. You can't suddenly care—"

"I've cared for a while," he admitted. "And you can't go and mention something like that, then expect me to ignore it. Now, tell me what happened."

Her breaths came faster. She really, really really didn't want to talk about this. Not with him. Not with anyone. Even Claire didn't know. Yet, she couldn't pull her gaze from his, from the intensity in his eyes.

It was like he'd frozen her in place with magic. Wait, maybe he had. Was that possible?

"Well?"

She blinked. "What?"

His mouth pulled up at the corner. "You were about to tell me why you feel guilty over your mother's death."

"Oh. Right." She blinked again, tearing her eyes from his. When she next spoke, her voice felt like someone else's. Far away and detached. "When I was younger, I used to do dressage—it's a competition show thing with horses. Not important. Anyway, I had an event coming up. My mom was my biggest supporter. She always went to my events, even painting signs with my name and all that. This one was really important, so I needed her there, but the hospital had scheduled her to work a shift." She hesitated, clenching her jaw. "I begged her to come. When that wasn't enough, I guilt-tripped her, telling her I'd lose if she didn't, that I wouldn't forgive her, all that. So...so...she switched her shift with one of her coworkers. If I had just let her keep her shift, she wouldn't have been driving home when..." A breath whooshed out of her. "She wouldn't have been on the road when that driver fell asleep at the wheel. She wouldn't have gotten into the accident and died," she said bitterly. "I was so selfish."

Jovari's lips parted. "Leah, you can't—"

"No. Stop." Her throat felt thick, making it difficult to swallow. "I know what you're going to say. It's why I've never bothered telling anyone the details. You'll say it's not my fault, but it is. If I hadn't made her change her shift, she wouldn't have been on the road at that exact moment." Jovari's jaw clenched. He looked like he wanted to say more, to argue. "There is nothing you can say that will change my mind. And don't you dare feed me some bull shit about how if she was meant to die, then changing her shift wouldn't have mattered, because trust me, I've already been through every possible thought on the matter."

"I wasn't going to," he said at last, his voice low, concerned.

Her shoulders relaxed. "Good."

"What about your dad?" he found himself asking.

"What about him?"

"You said he died, that you..." He grappled with the next words. "That you tried to kill yourself after his death."

She blew out a breath. "Is this some kind of question-Leah-expose you've got going on?" He stared at her. "Fine. I guess it's my fault for opening up about that. Yes—I wasn't in a good place. The guilt from my mom's death, and then when my dad died from cancer, it just..." She trailed off, trying to find her voice. "It was hard. I'd given up on college because of it, and then in the end, he still died, and there was nothing I could have done to change that."

She glanced at him and their eyes locked together. Jovari said, "I misjudged you—terribly so."

"What do you mean?" She seemed to lean in towards him, desperate to hear what he'd say.

"I didn't want you coming to Dragonwall initially. I thought you were a silly girl seeking adventure. I was wrong. You're strong—so strong, to have been through all that. There's nothing silly about you."

"I can be silly," she teased, because the moment between them had suddenly become too heavy.

The corners of his mouth twitched. Their eyes remained locked. H was so close, she felt his breath fan over her cheek. Her heart took off at a gallop. He was looking at her like...like... Was he going to kiss her?! He was! He was going to kiss her!

"What about your parents?" she blurted. He startled, then jerked back.

"My...oh. They're..."

"You said that you had a good relationship with them?"

A soft smile touched his lips. She couldn't stop staring at it. "I do. I love them. They can be a bit much, sometimes, being an only child and all. My mother likes to fuss. But, they're good people."

"That's good—"

There was a rustling. Bedelth appeared. "Ah. There you are," he said to Jovari. "Koldis and I are going to meet up at the sparring grounds. You up for it? I bet you've grown rusty in your time away." Jovari shot a glance in her direction, like he was asking for permission. She lifted a shoulder.

"You're welcome to tag along," Bedelth added. "Saffra will be there."

She hesitated, then, "All right. Let's do it."

Jovari jumped to his feet then reached for her. She took his hand, ignoring the way it made her stomach flutter. He held on a moment longer than necessary before dropping it. She swore she felt his thumb graze the back of her knuckles. Or maybe that was just her imagination.

"Would you like a tour of the city first?" Bedelth asked. She managed a nod. It was hard to keep her head around Jovari, but harder still with more of the king's shields about. Two of them in the same place was almost too much. They were all so...so...gorgeous and drool-worthy and downright befuddling. It didn't matter that Bedelth and Koldis were taken. She still felt heat rising in her cheeks anytime any of them paid her attention. What would it be like in the same room with all six of them? She'd probably be reduced to a babbling idiot.

Fortunately, she was soon distracted by the spriten city. There were glass houses fitted into the roots of massive trees, nothing like Taylynn's little cottage. Staircases that wound around the tree trunks, disappearing up into the canopy. Paths that were lined with statues. She could only blink and gape at everything.

"This here is the gathering area," Bedelth explained as she took in the large communal space with low tables. It was surrounded by trees and garlands of vines and florals.

"It's beautiful."

"Wait until you see the crystal palace," he said.

She felt a pressure against her lower back as Jovari led her away. She tried to ignore the feel of his hand there, but it was impossible.

"Oh. My. God," she managed as a giant palace loomed up before her. Like its namesake, it was made entirely of crystal, even the stairs that led to its main entrance. "Claire is the queen of this? She...she lives here?"

"Not permanently," Jovari said. "But she did, for a time. Technically, her seat of rulership is in Kastali Dun, the Dragonwall capital south of here. But as she's also the spriten queen, so this is hers."

A deranged laugh burst from her chest. It was unbelievable. That her friend—the girl she'd known since they were children—was the queen of all this. It was like Claire was living in a fairytale and she...well...she was not. Nothing about her life had ever been even remotely fairytale-esque.

She swallowed.

"I'd give you a tour of the inside," Bedelth said, "but Koldis is already waiting for us. Besides, something tells me you'd rather see it with Claire by your side?"

"I...yes. Right." She turned away from the massive palace, indicating for Bedelth to lead the way.

"Are you okay?" Jovari asked in a low voice.

"It's a lot to take in," she said.

"That wasn't what I meant. You had a look on your face."

"It was nothing."

"Tell me," he urged.

"It's just..." She blew out a breath. "I'm trying not to be jealous. Actually, jealous isn't the right word. I guess I'm just wondering when I'll get my own fairytale. I don't even need it to be of fairytale proportions. I just...is it too much to want a little bit of happiness? A bit of something just for me?

He stopped her, reaching for her wrist, circling it with his fingers. Her heart kicked up a notch. "It's not too much. You deserve that and more, Leah." She swallowed, wondering if he was right. Did she deserve that? After what had happened to her mom? "This is your chance at a new life," he continued. "Being here in our world. Something tells me good things will come for you."

"I hope," she found herself saying. He brushed his thumb over her pulse and her breath caught—

"Hey, you two coming or what?" Bedelth called.

A small laugh bubbled up in her chest. She shared a grin with Jovari before he released her. Maybe he was right. Maybe good things would finally come, even if she didn't feel like she deserved it.

They reached the sparring grounds. If she thought being around the king's shields was difficult, being around a bunch of scantily clad spriten warriors was even more challenging. "Be still my heart," she breathed.

"What was that?" Jovari asked, grinning.

"Nothing," she shot back. They shared a look, because surely he had to know what this was doing to her. God! Was she really that distracted by so much flesh on display? Okay, yes, yes she was. She had eyes, after all.

"Over here," Bedelth called. She followed Jovari over to an area they'd claimed, and found a comfortable bench. Watching the sprites trade blows, listening to the ethereal sounds of their weapons, transfixed her. All of that was nothing compared to the sight of Jovari shedding his shirt before taking up a stance against Koldis while Bedelth played mediator.

She gaped at the sight of his muscles, corded and thick, the way they moved as he began to spar with Koldis. She swiped at her mouth. Was she drooling? No, but very nearly.

She realized something with absolute clarity. It would be impossible, no matter how hard she tried, to ignore her deepening feelings for Jovari.

...She was in so much trouble. 

💕❤️💕Don't forget to vote for this chapter!❤️💕❤️

Hi Bookdragons!

I have to admit, I'm having so much fun exploring Leah's character and getting to know more about her and Jovari. It's always refreshing to have someone new enter the fold.

Next week's chapter is from Claire's POV. We get to see how her meeting with the king tree will go. Do you think she'll get her memories and magic back from the tree? 

See you then!

--Mel