Episode 199 Stronger Together
Stronger Together
As everyone gathers around Rafelis in the arena, Arisanna rises to join them, but Cerian grabs her hand and pulls her down onto his lap the way Rominy did with Elowyn.
Stars above.
“Shall I let you go?” Cerian asks softly, and a nervous laugh escapes her.
He loosens his hold, but she doesn’t move, and a smile slips onto his face before fading again.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Just thinking about those tattoos.”
“Cerian. It’s all right. I don’t expect—”
“What if I want to?” he asks, and she gazes into his eyes. Those emerald windows into his heart.
“Do you?”
“Honestly?”
She almost laughs at that. “Always.”
“I think I do. I’m just not quick to work up my courage to speak when everyone else does.”
There’s a vulnerability in his voice, and before Arisanna can talk herself out of it, she meets his lips in a gentle kiss. Then she presses her forehead to his.
“I don’t have an Elvish rune,” she whispers.
“You...yes, you do. Have you never seen it?”
“I do? Since when?”
“I don’t know. Someone must have assigned it for our records years ago, but I’ve seen it numerous times.”
“What does it look like?”
He smiles and glances away before finding her eyes again. “It looks like the sun with a vine wrapping around it.”
She stares at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am completely serious.”
“Will you show me?”
“I’d have to get up, and I’m enjoying this too much.”
Her cheeks heat. She’s still sitting on his lap.
Wearing her leathers.
Mother would need her smelling salts.
Cerian steals another kiss before helping her stand. “Where did that pen end up?”
Arisanna spots it on an abandoned stump, and Cerian grabs it before stepping back to her side. He looks thoughtfully down at it for a moment.
“What are you thinking?” she asks softly.
“Just trying to decide where I want it.”
“You really don’t—”
He cuts her off with a kiss. And not a sweet, simple kiss. His hand digs into her hair, and smoke and berries fill her senses.
Her gentle prince. Brave. Strong.
So many things she never would have guessed when he first glared at her in Feressa.
So many reasons to love him.
And she gives in to his kiss. To the way his heart races when he deepens it. To the tantalizing taste of his magic. The gentleness of his hand in her hair even as he holds her like he’ll never let go.
He will never let go. And neither will she. No matter what happens today or tomorrow, Cerian will be the constant in her life. Cerian and his kisses that leave heat pooling deep inside her to match the fire warming every part of him that presses against her.
When he finally pulls away, he looks a little shocked. She feels a little shocked.
That...that was quite the kiss.
“Please tell me no one is watching,” Arisanna whispers as their foreheads touch. The smoky sweetness of his magic fills every breath she takes.
“I think they’re all still enamored with Nestial.”
Arisanna licks her lips and laughs lightly as she attempts to catch her breath. The taste of his magic lingers.
“I know where I want it,” he whispers.
“What?”
“Your name.”
“My name. Right.”
“You sound undone.” He seems amused by her scattered thoughts.
“Undone. Is that what you do to me?”
Cerian steals another soft kiss in response before letting her go. “I believe Father had the right idea.” He hands her the pen and reaches for the hem of his leather shirt, pulling it over his head in one smooth motion.
Stars above.
“Well, now who’s showing off?” Rominy mutters as he approaches the fire again with his arm around Elowyn’s shoulders. They both smile as Elowyn’s eyes light up with amusement.
Cerian’s cheeks turn a little pink, but he doesn’t respond, and Arisanna’s own face warms.
He breathes out slowly before pressing the tip of the pen to the smooth muscle over his heart. It’s an awkward angle, but he has no trouble forming the beautiful rune on his skin.
That’s her name?
She frowns as she looks at it. She has seen it before, with all his wooden figurines in his room. He grew it into a full sun with vines encircling it, just like the shape he draws on his chest now.
When he finishes, he meets her gaze again.
“You grew a figurine out of my name?” she asks softly.
“I like creating beautiful things,” he whispers, and Arisanna’s heart melts.
“Get a little warm, Cer?” Tharios teases with a grin as he saunters to Cerian’s side, and Cerian clears his throat.
“I’m always warm.”
Tharios laughs at that, and Arisanna can’t help smiling at the two of them together.
“This is permanent,” Tharios says more seriously.
“Until the beating of my heart fades.” Cerian nods, and Tharios presses the ink into Cerian’s skin with his magic. Cerian doesn’t even flinch.
“And there you go,” Tharios says.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Tharios claps him on the shoulder before returning to Viala and wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“Now put your shirt back on before Jonas decides he needs to take his off, too,” Rominy says, and Elowyn bursts into laughter as Arisanna struggles not to smile.
“Very funny,” Jonas mutters. He tosses a twig at Rominy, which Rominy dodges.
“I wish I had my guitar,” Rominy says when everyone settles around the fire again, and Cerian slips his shirt back over his head.
“Will this do?” Cerian reaches into his pocket and pulls out...a harmonica? “Grandmera found it in an old trunk.”
Cerian holds it out to Rominy, and Rominy laughs as he takes it. “It’s been a while since I played a harmonica. This is an old one.” He blows gently into it, and an unpleasant sound fills the arena.
“I could have done that,” Cerian says, and happiness fills Arisanna at the teasing smile on his face. He’s in a good mood tonight.
With an amused shake of his head, Rominy cups the harmonica in his hands and works his own magic as a cheerful tune springs from the tiny instrument.
Rominy is so talented.
Cerian settles Arisanna on his lap again, and this time she snuggles close.
Let people think what they will. She belongs here, with her elven prince.
And they’re not in Nunia anymore.
When Rominy finishes the song, Arisanna calls for an encore.
Rominy needs to let his music out more. He’s so much happier when he does.
“What does that mean?” Elowyn asks. “Encore?”
“It means she wants another song,” Rominy says. “I don’t want to annoy anyone.”
Everyone talks at once, and Rominy laughs.
“Please,” Lorial finally says. “We need more music at Windhaven. Especially at times like this.”
Rominy nods and scratches his brow. “All right then. I’d take requests, but—”
Elowyn whispers in his ear before he can finish, and he laughs.
“You want that one, huh?”
She nods, and he glances around the circle before his eyes land on Viala. “Are you using that spoon?” Then he shakes his head and repeats himself in Elvish.
“Cook gave it to me to keep Tharios in line, so as long as he behaves...” Viala lifts a brow Tharios’s way, and he looks at her with mock indignation.
“I’m always very well-behaved.”
Even Cerian laughs at that, his chest rumbling against Arisanna’s shoulder.
Viala whispers something in Tharios’s ear that leads him to steal a kiss, and Cerian groans.
As if he wasn’t kissing Arisanna ten minutes ago.
Viala passes the spoon around the circle to Rominy, and he taps a beat on his leg as he sings that ridiculous song he loves about the talking donkey.
By the time he’s done, everyone is laughing, and Lorial even has tears streaming down his face. “Thank you, Rominy. I believe we all needed that.”
Rominy grins. “Happy to help.”
As the night wears on, he sings one song after another, some ridiculous and some more serious. He even convinces Jonas to join him for one of the two-part ditties they sing in the army.
“How about an Elvish one?” Lorial asks.
“Can your father sing?” Arisanna whispers to Cerian, but before he can answer, Lorial begins a haunting melody in a clear voice that sends chills racing through her.
It’s a beautiful song about the heart of an elven warrior standing firm against all odds, and Tharios joins him on the chorus. Eventually, Elowyn, Nestraya, Taliel, and Rafelis add their voices as well. When Cerian sings softly with them, Arisanna’s breath catches.
Cerian can sing?
His voice doesn’t have the rich timbre of Rominy’s, but it’s beautiful, with a soft, ethereal quality only an Elvish song could do justice to.
“That was beautiful,” Arisanna breathes when the song ends.
“As we face tomorrow and everything that’s coming, I want you all to hold on to that,” Lorial says. “No matter what this journey asks of us, we will stand for what’s right, and we will never lose sight of who we are.”
“And you are ours. Every one of you,” Nestraya adds as she meets their eyes across the flames that still burn tall. “And we will be stronger together.”
“Don’t stay up too late,” Lorial rises and helps Nestraya stand. “Morning comes early.”
They take their leave, and soon Rafelis and Averyn say their own goodbyes.
“I suppose we should all go to bed,” Rominy says as he gazes into the fire, but he makes no move to leave.
No one does.
“We should get a good night’s sleep,” Tharios adds.
Still no one moves.
Eventually, Arisanna lets out a light laugh. “I suppose someone had better grow some moss beds, or we won’t sleep at all.”
Cerian presses a kiss to Arisanna’s temple before glancing at Tharios. “Together?”
Tharios nods as he stands. “Stronger together, Cer. Always.”
The story continues in the next season. Want to read more from the world of Elven Heartbound now for free? Turn the page to learn more about Jonas and Taliel’s companion story!