7. Like the Sunshine – Elias
Like the Sunshine
ELIAS
She must have known I'd follow her to her cottage, hidden beneath brush and bramble. My steps were soft, silent as I navigated the dense forest, allowing her to believe she was alone. She never glanced back, her disregard bringing a genuine smirk to my lips.
I froze under two ancient trees leaning toward each other, forming an archway draped in moss.
Taking a deep breath, my lungs filled with ease.
Woodland critters scampered above, their chittering suddenly louder.
Wildflowers bloomed freely across the forest floor, defying the chill of changing seasons.
I glanced up at the clear sky as tension melted from my bones, wrapped in the warm embrace of magic.
It made perfect sense that she would make her home in this hidden magical pocket. Who would think to search for her here?
Rosemary emerged from the woods into a small clearing, hesitating briefly before crossing and vanishing into her cottage.
I kept to the shadows and watched her through the windows.
She unloaded her burlap pack onto the table, revealing new ingredients.
With swift efficiency, she sorted them and prepared new mixtures.
Another pack sat at the table's edge, a clear sign she planned to leave today.
She shoved several bottles into it and strapped it shut, frustration etched across her face.
I'd delayed her this afternoon, forcing a change in her plans.
As the sun dipped lower, I settled against a tree trunk.
Inside, she lit a fire, the flickering light casting shadows that wrapped her in a soft orange glow.
Nostalgia swept over me. My heart pounded at the sight of her, radiant and focused.
She sat in an oversized chair, absorbed in writing, nibbling her lower lip and tapping the pen against her mouth.
The lone bedroom at the back offered the occasional glimpse of her slumbering sister, Briar. I didn't dare move closer. Rosemary's quest for the rare flower mirrored my own, and the path ahead was steep. Letting the weight of her sister's curse sink in would only weaken my resolve.
The sight of her sister lying motionless in that bed stirred something uncomfortable in my chest. For decades, I'd convinced myself that the unseelie way was the only way.
That compassion was weakness, that caring made you vulnerable.
But watching Rosemary tend to someone she loved with such fierce devotion challenged everything I'd been taught.
My mother had never shown me such tenderness.
Neither had my father. Love, in the unseelie court, was a transaction.
A tool for manipulation or a weakness to be exploited.
Yet here was this woman, risking everything for someone who couldn't even thank her.
Someone who might never wake up to see the sacrifices being made.
I thought of Darius, trapped in his own curse, and felt the familiar weight of guilt settle on my shoulders. Had I ever shown him the kind of loyalty Rosemary showed her sister? Or had I simply done what was expected, what was convenient?
The questions followed me as slumber found me. Memories haunted me in my dreams.
"You are far too pretty to be so wretched, Elias," she chided me.
With every step she took around the wide ledge of the oversized fountain, her long braids swayed in a mesmerizing dance.
They drew my attention completely, and I found my hand reaching toward them.
A thin slip of blue ribbon wrapped around the end, holding her twists in place.
My fingers toyed with the ends of her hair until I tugged the ribbon loose, freeing half of her hair until it hung in soft waves down her back.
"All I heard is that you think I am pretty," I replied, my fingers making quick work of the second ribbon. With her hair loose, I had the sudden urge to untangle every braid with my fingers.
"Stop that!" she demanded, swatting my hand away as her freckled nose wrinkled with anger.
My hand reached between us again. "Or what?
" I challenged, relishing the ghostly smile that stretched along her rosy lips.
My fingers moved closer to the strands of her hair, but she halted my progression by wrapping her nimble fingers around my wrist. She enjoyed this play between us almost as much as I did, she just didn't want to admit it to herself yet.
Another teasing challenge was on the tip of my tongue, but before I could utter it, she slammed her palms against my chest and shoved me hard.
I lost my balance and tumbled backward. My gaze widened as I stared up at the mischievous glint flashing within her warm brown eyes.
My arms flailed as I fell the long distance from the wide ledge of the deep fountain into the depths of the churning water below.
I couldn't swim.
Of course, I had never told her that. We were supposed to be enemies. Why would I freely offer any of my weaknesses? And yet, as I looked up at her through the bubbles of water fleeing for the surface as I sank, I knew I couldn't be her enemy. Even now as she drowned me.
I thrashed, desperate to reach the surface, but every movement pulled me deeper. Panic surged as my last breath escaped in a whirl of bubbles rising toward the fading light.
Darkness crept into my vision, my head pounded, and my chest burned for air.
Then, a flicker caught my eye, more bubbles, damp skirts sinking beside me.
I blinked, a slow smile forming as I surrendered, inhaling water while watching her swim toward me, her reddish-golden hair flowing like a crown.
She was my last vision as darkness overtook me.
The sunlight blinded me a moment later as tiny fists pounded against my chest and water spewed from my lungs in agonized coughs.
"Why the bloody hell do you not know how to swim!" she screamed into my face as she hovered over me, her fists still slamming against my chest while anger and fear warred across her features.
I coughed another lungful of water before gasping for fresh air.
Tears streamed from the corners of my eyes, but I told myself it was just the water dripping down my cheeks.
She'd swam us to the other side of the fountain's rim.
Glancing up into her worried gaze, I let an easy smile lift the corners of my lips. "I knew you couldn't live without me."
She huffed as she fell backward until she sat at my side on the soaked stones. Her hand swatted at my chest, but there was no anger behind it. Her brows drew forward, and her button nose wrinkled as she stared down at me. "Elias, why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?"
My gaze fell shut as I breathed deeply, reminding myself that she was not my enemy. That she never would be.
"You never asked," I replied. When she opened her mouth to argue, I halted her words with a slight shake of my head.
"I never had a chance to learn to swim. It wasn't deemed necessary for life at court or for battle.
Swimming is something seen as frivolous unless its purpose is to provide sustenance from the waters.
Mother never deemed it necessary for her sons to learn the art of fishing; therefore, we never learned how to swim. "
She looked around us then, anywhere but where I lay prone next to her. To the trees of dancing leaves that ringed the courtyard. To the beds of flowers of every color and scent imaginable. To the expertly crafted benches positioned around the wide rim of the fountain that had just tried to kill me.
"Well, I like to swim. So you'll just have to learn," she said, her voice so quiet that I barely heard her words.
It took me a moment to swallow back my usual playful banter. I didn't want to sully this moment between us. "Are you offering to teach me?"
Her warm brown gaze settled on me again, and she drew her lower lip between her teeth while she inspected me for a long moment. Then she nodded. With a smile, she answered, "I'll tell you what. You stop tugging on my braids, and I will teach you."
"Why would you teach me though? I'm just a ..."
"A boy who just got saved by a girl. So truly, you must let me teach you so this indignity never happens to you again," she interrupted, lacing her words with frustration.
I sat up slightly, leaning back onto my elbows for support as I laughed.
The sound was so foreign to me, something I didn't do nearly as often as one would expect, but it was foreign to her as well.
A blush crept along the skin of her neck until it colored her cheeks.
She tucked her drenched hair behind her ear as she tilted her chin upward.
"Who knows, maybe one day, you'll even save me. Then we will be even."
She stood then, winking down at me before turning her back to me, running away from where I lay with her own laughter bubbling freely as she put distance between us. She was happiness. She was life. She was like the sunshine on even the darkest of days. And I knew...
We would never be even.