Episode 92 That Part’s Unnecessary
That Part’s Unnecessary
“I don’t want to get out,” Arisanna whispers as she leans back against Cerian’s chest in their enormous bathtub.
He holds her close and rests his cheek on her wet hair. He’d stay here with her all day if their absence would go unnoticed.
Their fathers might think it best to leave them be, but Arisanna’s mother would surely worry, and the last thing he desires is her knocking on their door. Or worse, barging in.
“I don’t even know what time it is,” Arisanna says as she traces a pattern on his knee. It’s a good thing he’s not ticklish the way Elowyn is.
He turns to look at the large window across the room, where the sun hangs far from its zenith. “It’s still early enough that our absence shouldn’t be noticed.”
She sighs contentedly against him, and he tightens his arms around her, pushing his heat into her.
“I love being married to an elf,” she whispers. “My elven fire wielder.”
“You love it now. Perhaps not when I almost set the rug on fire.”
She chuckles drowsily at his words. “Even then.”
He glances at the charred spot on the small rug beside the tub. They’ll need to pay to replace it. Hopefully, the hotel owner won’t hold it against them.
He’s not eager to explain to Father how the rug was ruined, but surely Father will understand.
At least it’s a small rug.
“Why don’t I get out first again?” Cerian nuzzles Arisanna’s neck and presses his lips to her silky skin. “Then I can help you.”
“I suppose. It will be lonely without you, though.”
A smile tugs at his lips as he resists the urge to laugh. “I promise not to go far.”
“We’re really married now, aren’t we?”
“We were married before. Banish all the thoughts of others’ expectations from your mind. None of it matters.”
“Just be yours?”
“Always mine.” He kisses her cheek and gives her one last squeeze. “I’m going to get out now. As soon as my hands are dry enough to spark, I’ll help you, all right?”
She nods and gives him room to crawl out from under her, and he quickly grabs a towel while she leans back in the tub until only her head and shoulders are above the waterline. With a soft sigh, she slides her eyes closed. She looks so content. He’d keep her here in this moment forever if he could.
He dries off and finds his leathers again. Both their clothes seem to have dried overnight, thank the fates. By the time he finishes dressing, his spark has returned, and he collects a dry towel for Arisanna.
“Are you ready to get out?” he asks softly as he gazes down at her. Did she fall asleep? Maybe she should take a nap. It didn’t occur to him that he should have let her sleep longer after keeping her up late last night. He needs to remember she requires more sleep than he does.
“If I have to.” She smiles up at him. “Has your spark returned?”
His lips threaten a smile to match hers. “It has.”
It grows stronger by the moment as he looks down at her, but he keeps that to himself and blankets the air above the water with his heat.
She lifts a hand to him, and he takes it to steady her as she stands. It’s an intimate moment, and she briefly meets his eyes while he wraps the towel around her.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Then he gently presses his lips to hers because he can’t seem to do anything else beyond offering her more of his heat.
“Are you warm enough?” he asks softly, watching her eyes to ensure she answers with the truth. Not that she can lie to him. But what she believes about her own wants and needs doesn’t always reflect reality.
She opens her mouth to answer, but when she meets his gaze, she pauses before speaking. “I...I could use some more of your heat.”
He floods the air surrounding her with his warmth before wrapping his arms around her. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you. But you’ll get wet all over again.”
The thought had crossed his mind, but he can’t bring himself to let go.
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
“A little. I seem to have worked up an appetite this morning.”
“As have I.” A smile slips onto his face before he can stop it, and he nuzzles her ear. “I have apples.”
“Why, Cerian, are you offering to share your apples with me? I must have done something spectacular to curry such favor.”
His smile grows at her teasing. “You are spectacular.”
It doesn’t come close to describing her, but hopefully, she knows the depth of his feelings for her.
“I’d give you all my apples if you wanted them,” he whispers.
She pulls him into another kiss, and when she lets go, she trails her fingers gently along his cheek. “I would love to share one of your apples, my elven prince. Just let me get dressed first.”
“That part’s unnecessary.”
Laughter fills her, and he steals one more quick kiss before retrieving her gown and handing it to her.
“Thank you,” she says as he strides to the door to collect his apple bucket.
The candy sitting on top of his apples brings reality crashing in again.
They should check on Elowyn soon. Elowyn and Rominy.
Their little hideaway has offered a welcome retreat from their worries. A chance to rest, as Arisanna said.
Hopefully, Elowyn and Rominy are resting as well.
Rominy stares up at Elowyn’s tree and holds back a sigh.
It didn’t magically transform into a treehouse overnight.
At least their wood is dry today.
“Look, Rominy.” Elowyn holds up a book. “The heartlanding gave us instructions.”
“It what?”
She steps through the sandy overgrowth toward him and holds out the book. “See?”
He skims the open page. She’s right. The directions are detailed and simple, clearly intended for someone who has no idea what they’re doing.
Someone like him.
“Unfortunately, it’s written in Elvish,” Elowyn says as she reclaims the text. “I’ll just have to translate.”
Rominy frowns. “Elvish?”
She turns confused eyes his way. “Do you not know what written Elvish looks like?”
“I do, but that looked like Nunian to me.”
They stare at each other for a moment.
“You see Nunian?” she asks.
“Don’t you?”
She shakes her head.
“Let me see it again,” he says.
She hands it to him this time, and he flips through the pages. There are diagrams accompanied by letters forming very clear words. Nunian words.
“You don’t see letters?” he asks.
“No. Those are Elvish runes.”
“I see letters.” He reads a section to her, and her eyes grow wide.
“You translated that perfectly.”
“I didn’t. That’s what I see. I’m just reading it.”
“Fascinating.”
That actually is fascinating.
And convenient.
“I guess we should start at the beginning,” she says.
Having something to do seems to be helping her mood. He’ll spend all day attempting to build this treehouse of hers if it will keep that smile on her face.
He flips to the first page. “It’s a materials list. I think we have everything we need. We don’t need to count the nails, do we?”
“Rominy! We want to do this right, don’t we?”
He eyes her as her mouth twitches.
As if this elf of his wouldn’t self-destruct from the tedium of counting nails. He’s still learning so much about her, but that facet of her personality seems pretty obvious.
“Go ahead,” he says. “I’ll work on pulling out the wood we need to start.”
Her teasing smile immediately falls away. “I wasn’t serious. We don’t need to—”
“I know exactly what you were doing, love.” He steals a kiss. “I can give it, too.”
He winks, and her smile reappears. “So, no counting nails?”
“Definitely no counting nails. If we run out, we’ll ask for more.”
“Brilliant.”
He shrugs. “I have my moments. Occasionally.”
“You have many moments, my love. So, wood. How do we know what we need?”
“They should be marked. Find all the pieces marked with the letter A.”
She picks up a piece of wood and frowns. “Let me see the book.”
“It looks like a peak with a line across it,” he says as he hands her the book.
“Fascinating.”
Surely that’s not new information to her. She can read some Nunian. Quite a bit, actually.
She holds out a board. “What do you see?”
“That’s an A. We just need eleven more of these.”
“You search for A’s. I’ll search for Elvish runes.”
He eyes the letter on the wood. “The heartlanding is a strange place.”
She smiles in response as they work on retrieving all the wood they need to get started.