Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
ONE WEEK LATER
I ’ve recovered from my bleeding and Nueena and I are in the command room with her parents and Lillian, taking a rare break from the makeshift apothecary.
Tavien, Leon, and I work from sunup ’til sundown on the elixir, stopping only for meals or coronation planning. Leon and I have avoided speaking about the events at Quartzridge. I catch him staring at times, but he always looks away when I notice.
I’m weaker and weaker every day, the magic taking its toll on me, but I do my best to hide it from them, not wishing them to worry.
Plans for the coronation are strewn about with the estimate of food that will need to be traded and the amount of palace attendants needed. The late-afternoon sun brings a glaze of gold to the room.
Kaylena runs into the room, the doors slamming behind her, rattling her family’s portrait.
“Delly, can you take me to the chocolate shop? Everyone is busy with the crown party.” She sends a pout in her mother’s direction for emphasis.
“As long as your mother says it’s fine, I would love to go to the shops.” We both look at Nyvenah with the same hopeful expression.
Nyvenah just chuckles as she puts down the quill she was writing with. “You may go. Bring me back some of those chocolates with the buttercream inside. Take a guard with you.” We’ve never needed a guard for a simple shopping excursion before, and my surprise must show on my face because she adds, “We’re so close to the coronation, I don’t wish to take any chances.”
“Of course.”
Lillian leaves and returns with Everett, who is carrying the leather-bound book I lent him a while ago. He hands it to me with a lopsided grin. “Here, I wanted to make sure I got this back to you. I heard some chocolate was in order?”
“Everett!” Kaylena shouts with delight, racing over to him.
“Hello, Kaylena! Are you ready for some chocolate?”
“Yes! Yes! Delly, let’s go!” She bounces around before taking his hand and pulling him out the doors.
He looks back at me with a playful expression. “Come on, Delly!”
Everett’s carefree attitude and kind disposition make him cheerful company on the short walk out of the palace and into the bustling city center. The Lavencia market around us is rich with the scent of perfumes and oils from the perfumeries’ open windows, mingling with the rare spices and roasting meats from street vendors. We pass shops selling delicate candles, custom stationery, and specialty foods, moving out of the way of the lively crowds teeming from one business to the next.
“Della, are we in danger?” Kaylena asks.
“No, no. Sometimes a little extra protection can go a long way,” I say, trying to sound like she has nothing to worry about. Nyvenah requesting a guard means we are no closer to discovering who the traitor is.
“Can I wear your dagger?” she asks Everett eagerly. “Then I can protect myself! ”
“You may, but you cannot take the dagger out unless you are in danger, and you can only wear it until we get back to the palace. Deal?” He holds out his hand to shake her small one.
“Deal!” she squeals.
I laugh at this, and Everett slips off a thin belt that holds one of his daggers in its sheath and puts it over her shoulder.
She puffs out her chest with pride, holding on to the belt as we walk. She drags us over to a flower shop and stops to smell the bouquets on display in front of the frosted windows.
“Sorry you’re on babysitting duty,” I tell him as he leans down to smell the lavender bundles.
“That’s quite all right. Anything is better than listening to Kole harp on how you rejected him,” he says, his eyes sliding to mine with a playful glance.
“Ah, he told you about that, did he?” I mirror his mirth.
“Oh, yes, he may be grumpy about it ’til the next coronation.”
“Good! His ego needed it.”
Everett laughs. “That it did; that it did.”
“I’ve made it increasingly clear I have no interest in him.”
“That only adds to the allure, I’m afraid.”
I roll my eyes. “It really shouldn’t.”
“I’ve repeatedly told him to leave you be, but if it happens again, let me know. I will shove him into the harbor and make him swim to shore. It’s not as if he could complain to Lillian about it.”
The mental image is a delightful one. “I would appreciate that. How’s your family? Is your mother excited for the coronation?”
“Oh, you know her. Obsessed with nature, as always. She’s definitely looking forward to the coronation, though. We all agree Nueena will make for an excellent ruler of Ellova. Even when we were dewlings, she was a natural leader. Remember when our teacher fell ill unexpectedly and no one from the Ink Court sent another scholar to teach for the day? Nueena just took over the lessons without a second thought.” We both laugh at the memory.
With the coronation so close, every shop seems busier than expected. Hiliyah’s display windows are full of new fabrics to entice customers, lush velvets and shining silks, and she has a line wrapping around the corner.
We can smell the chocolatier before it even comes into view.
Everett holds the door open for me and a bouncing Kaylena. The three of us are greeted with the gratifying scent of roasting cocoa beans. The chocolate confections sit behind long countertops covered with arching glass, and the shelves have everything from tall chocolate liqueur bottles to chocolate-dipped candied fruits.
Kaylena rushes to the sweet treats, her face pressed to the glass, gazing at the rows and rows of luxurious truffles dusted with a thick layer of cocoa powder.
Everett lifts up Kaylena and asks for Nyvenah’s buttercreams. “Should we get some for your sister too?”
“Yeah!” Kaylena scrunches up her nose, leaning against me. “She likes the salty ones.”
I laugh and order Nueena a few of the buttery caramel pieces with salt from the Elbasan Sea and some smooth hazelnut truffles for Tavien. Leon seems to love how overly sweet everything tastes here, and I find the perfect one for him among the decadent selections: a milky chocolate with a creamy brown sugar center.
Rich like all the fae food, and sweet like him.
We leave with our trades and head back to the palace.
Everett holds out his bag. “Here, have some. I know they are your favorite.”
I peek inside and reach for the dark chocolate kneaded with crushed walnuts. “You remembered!”
“Of course, they are my favorite too.”
I eat a few more pieces and lick the rich and velvety texture off my fingers as Everett escorts us back to the palace.
He looks back and forth, surveying the crowd, before his hand goes to his sword. I pick up speed, tightening my hand in Kaylena’s, and turn to attempt to find where he is looking but he quickly spins around. I desperately search the crowd but I see nothing suspicious or out of place. No one is paying us any mind as they walk from shop to shop .
Kaylena looks from me to Everett, who has drawn his sword, and eagerly asks, “Can I take out my dagger now?”
“No, no, Everett is just being careful,” I say, still scanning around us. I feel nothing, no eyes on us, and no sensation of being followed.
Everett makes a whistling nose and two guards from the Court of Swords appear. “Take them back to the palace,” he orders before he dashes off into the crowd. The new guards take their positions on each side of us. They keep their swords tucked in their sheath but continue to assess for some invisible danger.
My stomach is in knots by the time we arrive at the palace steps. “I need the commander now ,” I tell the first honeyguard I see, who dashes back inside.
Lillian must have been near. She comes racing towards us, Nyvenah on her heels. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Lillian frantically looks over Kaylena, and then at me for injuries.
Nyvenah picks Kaylena up, showering her with kisses. Before I can answer, Kaylena shouts, “Everett’s back!”
Lillian, Nyvenah, and I spin to find him stalking towards us. “There was a hooded figure following us. I tried to follow but they escaped,” Everett explains angrily.
“Where?” Lillian demands, sending honeyguards to search for whoever was foolish enough to attempt to harm us, and he tells her everything.
“Thank you, Everett.” Nyvenah opens one arm to me, and I join Kaylena in their embrace. “No one leaves here without multiple honeyguards from now on.”
“Della, are you all right?” Everett asks, placing his hand on my upper arm. “I’m going to come check on you later tonight, all right?” I nod and he gives me a sad smile.
Once Kaylena is taken upstairs with Nyvenah and Everett escorts Lillian back to the market, I go in search of Leon. Light crystals keep me company during the journey to the royal gardens. Once my heart has stopped racing, it is a pleasant walk. The sun has set, and now the stars shine above me, a slightly sweet evening breeze in the air .
Through the foliage, Leon’s lone form is visible as he works. He checks a plant’s leaves and writes something down in his book before moving to the next one and taking more notes on its progression. A bird with blue wings sits on a branch near him, but it takes flight when I get closer.
I want to tell him what has happened, but I also know how he will react.
Leon’s shoulders are tight and exhaustion is evident in his body, yet he continues to document, unwaveringly, assisting with the creation of the elixir. When he finishes, he walks towards the small flowing water basin, rolling up his sleeves, revealing the tight muscles in his forearms while he washes his hands of the day’s soil.
I stand there, staring at his arms, my mouth dry, desire snaking through my body. A memory flashes of those arms flexing as he moves his fingers inside me beneath the flowing spring.
There’s been tension between us since he soothed my pain away last week. We have not brought up what happened on the beach or the kiss I gave him on my bed. Every night this week he has worked late with Tavien, slipping into his own bed, away from me. I have spent the midnight hours torn between calling out for him and leaving him be, knowing this is all for the best. Even if it feels like I’m ripping my own heart out in doing so. It’s been days of longing glances, polite conversations, and this aching physical distance that gnaws at me.
I hate it.
He notices me watching him, half-hidden in the dark of the archway.
“Come here. I want to show you something,” he says, walking over to where he had been taking notes.
Since I’ve known him, he’s spoken of finding a cure, spending countless hours seeking an end to the suffering of the Adreanians. How many bedsides was he called to only for them to pass away before him? How many white sheets did he pull over faces while families wept around him? Leon is a selfless man, pouring all his energy into helping the mortals, desiring nothing in return. It warms my heart, and as we stand before each other in the garden, I am overwhelmed at the sight of him.
New vines twist around his ankles, and Leon looks down at the plant attack taking place at his feet. He laughs. “I think the strawberries are happy to see me.”
Deep red strawberries bloom out along the vines and Leon reaches down to remove one before biting into it. He closes his eyes and lets out a contented sigh.
“Are you not sick of that traitorous fruit yet?” I mean the words, but they hold no bite.
He turns to face me and steps even closer to me. “Never.” His voice is low, unwavering. “How could I ever be sick of them? They are the sweetest reminder, tangible proof, that you feel for me what I feel for you.”
Emboldened by the darkness and the selflessness of his heart, I can no longer bear to keep my hands to myself. I wrap my arms around his neck, knowing I may regret it but unable to deny myself of this touch. He makes a startled noise and drops the half-eaten fruit on the ground, hauling me to him, his hands sliding on my hips, wrapping around me.
“I need you. Kiss me. Touch me,” I beg.
I will not hold back from him a moment longer. I need all of him, desperate for him to fully consume me. For the fire between us to burn away the fear of losing him.
“Always.” His voice is just as husky as my broken plea, and he kisses me with all the lust and longing that has been building within us for so long.