15. Elianna
Chapter fifteen
Elianna
The wind roared in my ears as Nox descended upon the endless rolling hills with grass that swayed in hues of green. The heat of the sun was diminishing as it hung low in the sky, setting the valley aflame under its light.
“Alaia is vast, fixed with our main headquarter city, Anerys, and neighboring villages spread through the countryside. It's ever-growing and changing. The city isn’t far from here,” Jace said as my eyes wandered around the scenery before us.
“It’s beautiful,” I admitted softly while Nox gently landed.
He reached out and tucked my flowing strands of hair behind the tip of my ear and then moved to guide me down to the earth with him. Jace leapt from Nox’s saddle and then effortlessly caught me in his arms after I jumped out from behind him only a moment later—our laughter floating around us.
“Wow,” I whispered as my gaze roamed once more.
“It’s almost entirely untouched by man. When they began to build, originally, the idea was to have a mirrored city to Ellecaster on the opposite end of the passageway, but it was later decided to push it a few miles from the entrance—gods forbid we were ever discovered or attacked. This way, the city wouldn’t be visible upon exiting the path between the mountains.”
“That’s very smart,” I interjected. “I can see why the mortals named it a valley. Does it all truly look like this?”
“Aside from our colonized areas, yes. And there is still much uncovered.” He paused for a moment. “There's so much I wish to show you, so much I have been eager to have you experience—with me.”
The corners of my lips tilted. “Show it all to me, handsome.”
His eyes gleamed with love as he reached for my hand and firmly pressed his lips to the back of it.
Behind him, the endless fields and rolling hills of wildflowers stretched out infinitely, and the scent in the air was intoxicating—a fragrant blend of floral sweetness and the earth beneath us.
Suddenly, shouts were being called out in the distance. My neck snapped in the direction the calls rang out from to see two figures on horseback galloping toward us.
Jace lifted his arms above his head and began waving his hands in the air at them as he marched forward, yelling back in their direction.
I glanced back at Nox. “Be nice, please.” He huffed out a breath of hot air through his giant nostrils, and I shook my head with a laugh in response.
I moved to follow my mate as the horses and their riders drew closer. As they approached, I could make out an older gentleman with salt and pepper colored hair and a well-kept beard to match. The other rider was a woman with short blonde hair whipping around her face as she rode with grace at his side.
“It’s about gods-damn time, Cadoria,” the man called as he brought his horse to a halt before us. A smile formed on my face at their effortless banter beginning so soon.
“Wonderful to see you as well, Leon.” Jace crossed his arms and smirked as the man leapt down from his mount.
He reached out his hand to shake Leon’s in greeting, but the man laughed in his face as he extended his arm and wrapped it around Jace’s back, pulling him into his chest for a hug. “A handshake. How rude of you, lad.”
A giggle slipped from me as I watched from a few feet behind them.
The woman then gracefully lowered herself from her mare.
“Nephew,” she greeted him then went in for her own hug the moment Leon released him.
Once their embrace ended, they all turned to me, and heat instantly rushed to my cheeks. My heart fluttered as nerves eagerly tried to take over me.
Jace cleared his throat. “Aunt Lynelle, General Vern,” he began, and Leon huffed out a shocked breath at the use of his title. “This is Elianna Valderre.”
Lynelle’s eyes widened as my name left his lips, and Leon’s stance went rigid.
“We have much to discuss, but her arrival shouldn’t be entirely a surprise,” he continued, his voice stern, as if warning them not to react how they typically would have .
“Nephew,” Lynelle breathed. “The next time you send a letter by falcon stating that you have found a way to win the war by means of a ‘powerful’ mortal sympathizer…you may want to include that she holds royal lineage.” A nervous chuckle left her.
She took a hesitant step toward me, and my breath caught as I focused on her face. She was the image of Zaela aged by only a few decades’ time. Her hair was a sandy blonde and chopped short at her shoulders while Zae’s flowed down her back. The only other difference was their eyes—while Zaela possessed the same eyes as Jace and his mother, Lynelle’s were a greyish blue. But their facial structures were nearly identical, only apart in the finest of age lines.
“Hello, Lynelle. My name is Elianna, but you can call me Lia.”
“Lia.” She spoke my name into the air as if trying to get a feel for it on her tongue. “How lovely.” A soft smile formed on her lips.
She turned back to my mate. “And she is what exactly to you, nephew?”
“Everything,” he answered without hesitation—sending shockwaves of love rippling down our bond.
The general’s eyes flared, but Lynelle’s smile beamed brightly. “Jace Cadoria—a man in love. I never thought I would see the day. Come now,” she demanded gently. “If the others are moving through the passage, we still have hours until they arrive, and there is much to discuss.” Her eyes warily lifted to my wyvern behind us, and she took a hesitant step back .
I glanced back at Nox to see he was playfully snapping at the small hummingbirds as they hovered around his head, seeming to forget about me entirely.
Lynelle cleared her throat as if my hesitance of leaving him behind was making my movements too slow for her to bear.
“You know,” she began as she mounted the general’s horse—he moved to sit behind her in the saddle. “When you wrote that you would arrive by wyvern, I assumed that was a code I didn’t understand. No wonder why this one laughed and brushed it off.” She gestured to the general behind her with her chin.
Jace chuckled and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “I didn’t know how else to put it.”
“Is the beast to be trusted?” Leon asked cautiously.
I tried to hide the scowl that wanted to form on my lips, reminding myself that it was normal for others to be wary of Nox.
Jace answered before I could. “He will be fine, so long as you don’t have any cattle in the area.”
Lynelle’s eyes widened. “Not in this area, no.”
“Then he will be fine,” I chimed in as I approached the mare she rode in on.
Once Jace and I mounted the horse together, the other two sent theirs into a gallop straight into the horizon, where the day was turning to dusk.