Chapter 19 #3
We ate dinner outside as the sun set. Oranges, reds, and yellows painted the sky, transitioning into purple, until the sun finally settled below the horizon.
Finn and Griff had dug a pit in the sand and filled it with driftwood.
Everly had supplied the twins with a pot full of seafood that they’d placed directly in the fire I provided.
I originally viewed it with skepticism, this food that came in shells and took some work to eat, but was soon converted.
It was delicious. Apparently, it was a common meal here, and something the twins had grown up loving but couldn’t get at the castle.
They paired it with a local white wine that brought out the crispness of the seafood.
The wine kept flowing as all three of them entertained me during dinner, telling stories of them growing up.
Finn kept us laughing as he regaled us with their antics, some of them stories Everly had yet to hear.
“And then,” Finn was saying, “Griff managed to convince them that it hadn’t been us at all, that they were mistaken and there was certainly no way we could have been in two places at once.”
Everly wiped her eyes. “This was before everyone knew you were a teleporter?”
Griff grinned ruefully, leaning back and stretching out his legs, accidentally brushing mine in the process. “Back when, in my anonymity, I could accomplish so much more.”
“And then there was the time that Griff—”
Griff clamped a hand over his brother’s mouth. “They really don’t need to hear that story.”
Finn roared with laughter and opened his mouth again.
“If you tell it,” Griff started in a warning tone, “then I’m telling—”
Their eyes locked over the table.
Finn promptly shut his mouth, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Truce.”
“Have they always been like this?” I asked Everly.
“Oh, yes. Ever since they were little boys. They could always communicate without words, even before Finn’s channels appeared. Used to drive me mad.”
Finn leaned over me to grab the wine bottle. Finding it empty, he stood. As he passed his mother’s chair, he dropped a kiss on her cheek. “You’re all talk, Mam. You know you wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She laughed and touched his shoulder affectionately as he went back into the house.
“I’m raiding the stash, Griff. Any requests?” he threw over his shoulder.
“Just none of that swill Freya conned you into buying simply because her friend was making it,” Griff called back.
Finn clapped a hand over his heart as if he was wounded. “That’s how I’m treated when all I was doing was helping a friend?”
Griff lobbed an empty shell at Finn, who redirected it with a flick of his hand. It hit the house instead.
I found myself grinning, the laughter infectious. Taking the twins out of Valdris had wrought a bigger change than I ever could have imagined.
I reached over the table to grip Griff’s hand. “Thank you for bringing me.”
He covered my hand with his, his eyes softening. “Anything for you, Princess.”
We stayed like that, the sound of the distant waves a cocoon of gentle noise, focusing the world to just this moment.
Until Finn let out an exclamation inside and I jumped, moving my hand back to my lap.
Everly was watching the two of us with a shrewd look in her eyes, an indulgent smile on her lips.
“What did you find?” Griff shouted, attention diverted back to his brother.
I cradled my hand in my lap, still feeling the warmth of his touch.
Finn popped back outside, waving a new bottle as if it were a trophy. “I found a bottle of wine from Aurantia hiding away. Mam, you’re holding out on us!”
I had no idea why Finn was so excited, but both Griff and Everly oohed over it.
“I didn’t even know I still had a bottle of that!” Everly hastened to his side to examine it.
“So Lexie,” Finn said, as he was opening the bottle and pouring generous glasses for everyone. “You’ve survived a few months at the castle. Embracing royal life yet?”
I took a sip, the wine sweet and fruity. I scoffed at him. “Hardly. Although to the best of my knowledge, I haven’t heard of anyone threatening to blackmail their siblings with embarrassing stories at the council meetings.”
Griff raised a brow. “Then you’re clearly not paying attention.”
“Speaking of which.” Finn grinned wickedly and waggled his eyebrows in my direction. “Remember, Griff, when you tried to impress… what was her name again? You tried to teleport onto her balcony—”
“We are not discussing that,” Griff said flatly.
“Oh yes we are.” I leaned forward. “Do tell, Finn.”
Everly smothered a laugh. Clearly, she remembered the events. “That truce didn’t last long.”
Griff glowered at Finn, but undeterred, Finn continued, “Griff ended up materializing a few feet too far to the right, and landed in a bush. Roses, wasn’t it?” At Griff’s menacing look, Finn roared, “Spent the rest of the evening picking thorns out of his—”
“I was sixteen,” Griff bit out. “And if we’re talking about romantic disasters, what about you accidentally broadcasting your thoughts about the… hmm… attributes of—”
“That was a learning experience in shielding.” Even in the dark, I could see Finn’s face go red.
“And what were these attributes you were so enamored with?” I asked innocently.
As Finn spluttered, Griff stepped in. “I suppose we shouldn’t be discussing my brother’s adolescent learning experiences at dinner.” His eyes gleamed with amusement.
“You know,” I started, “I think I have a fair idea that you both had mortifying experiences in your teenage years. Why don’t you call it quits before one of you says something that results in the other plotting revenge for the next decade?”
“Too late for that,” Griff said dryly.
“Definitely too late,” Finn agreed with a grin that promised trouble.
“You two must have been exhausting as children,” I muttered.
“Still are,” they said in unison, and grinned at each other.
“A toast.” Everly raised her glass. “To the most entertaining Ignistar we’ve had in years.”
As we all clinked our glasses, I realized I agreed. I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate the High Day.
Everly dismissed me from cleanup, saying it would take longer to explain how to do it and where everything went than if she did it herself.
Instead, I wandered out to the small beach, sand soft under my bare toes.
I sank down, mesmerized by the sight and sound of the waves crashing in the surf.
It was the most peaceful sound I’d ever heard.
I tucked my knees up to my chest and circled my arms around them.
There was a slight chill in the air, reminding me that up north there was snow on the ground.
A light blanket settled over my shoulders. I recognized his presence as he sat beside me, shoulder barely brushing mine, and I felt that familiar flutter.
“Has it come here?” I said quietly, hesitant to disturb the peace, but needing to know.
He knew instantly that I referred to the dorchas we saw in Terraleth. “Not yet,” was the equally quiet response.
I turned to face Griff fully, his face half in shadow. “Is there a large structure where everyone gathers?”
He knew what I was asking. “I can take you there tomorrow.”
I played with the sand, digging my fingers in. “You’ve read the prophecy, right?”
He gave me a look, question in his eyes, but just said, “Yes.”
“What do you think about it?”
“I think for something that’s supposed to be an instruction set, it’s sadly lacking.”
My thoughts exactly. “And the obscured words?”
His brow furrowed. “What obscured words?”
Everyone I asked had the same answer. Why could only I see them? “Never mind.”
I turned and faced the ocean again. No wonder he loved it so much. We sat in silence, shoulder to shoulder, listening to the crash of the waves, seeing the stars twinkle in the sky, neither of us needing words. His hand sought mine where it laid in the sand, engulfing it in his larger one.
After some time, I excused myself. Griff stood when I did, ever the gentleman, but stayed behind when I headed back to the house.
I paused in the kitchen to thank Everly again, and she gave me a warm hug, reminiscent of the type Nana would give me.
I blinked away tears. She kindly pretended not to notice, but I think she understood.
I was climbing the staircase when I heard their voices.
“What’s going on between you and Lexie?” Finn’s voice was accusatory, but of what I wasn’t sure.
I paused, just out of sight.
“Nothing,” came Griff’s deep rumble.
I snorted at the same time Finn did.
“Nothing?” he echoed. “You were practically fucking her on that dance floor.”
I could feel my cheeks burning. I mean, I agreed with him, but I didn’t realize others had thought the same thing.
“And you brought her home. Have you ever brought a girl home?”
“She was alone. It was the right thing to do.”
“Cut the bullshit, Griff. Is there something there?”
“No.” His voice was so definitive, I took a step back. It was as though Griff was offended Finn would even suggest it. “She’s the princess and I’m her Champion. That’s all it is. We’re friends.”
“Friends, huh? So she’s unattached?”
It sounded like Griff was grinding his teeth. I waited for him to say something, anything, to tell me that this hope blossoming inside me wasn’t in vain.
“She is.”
Feeling ice run through my veins, I fled to my room.