18. An Unexpected Guest Interrupts Kaelen’s Bath
An Unexpected Guest Interrupts Kaelen’s Bath
SAPPHIRA
K aelen can fly much farther each day than he did on the journey to Mork Kall. His body has healed substantially, and they no longer have to raise a Hybller hatchling.
When they are close to home, they make camp in the deadlands just outside Cielo, spreading their packs out in a clearing by a river. Kaelen announces that he will go ahead of them. It’s late, and Sapphira is preparing dinner, having told Isabel to rest awhile.
“What do you mean you’re going ahead?” Isabel asks her friend. This doesn’t sound like him. What are those two planning? She looks between him and Sapphira who is pretending like she isn’t listening to the conversation, but her eyes keep darting their way.
Kaelen shrugs. “It’ll only take you a few hours to walk in the morning, and without passengers, I can get home before nightfall and sleep in my own nest.”
Isabel tries to argue, but Sapphira steps forward and speaks up. “If he wants to be lazy and ride alone, let him,” she says. “I don’t mind walking.”
Isabel gives Sapphira a strange look, but Sapphira refuses to meet her gaze. It’s obvious that something is going on, but Isabel can’t figure out what it is exactly.
“I guess so . . .” Isabel says. “Have a safe trip, and may the stars guide you.”
Kaelen gathers his things and then stops beside Sapphira. He whispers something into the woman’s ear. She looks down at him with a lopsided grin.
“Here,” Sapphira says as Kaelen flies away.
She hands Isabel a stick of grilled fish and breaks off some bread.
“I’m glad to be rid of him,” Sapphira says, biting a chunk of fish.
“Honestly, that journey was too long to be stuck with him. He smells like a boy and wet fur, and his jokes weren’t funny. ”
Isabel laughs so hard that tears gather in her eyes. “You don’t mean that,” she says.
“I do. Really, I do. I can’t say it in front of the guy though. He’s sensitive.” She whispers the last part as if he might overhear, even though they’re alone.
It’s obvious she isn’t serious. There’s a wry curve to her lips as she looks up into the sky where Kaelen disappeared, and Isabel becomes suspicious that Sapphira knows exactly why Kaelen really left—and had a hand in it. She doesn’t mention it though.
Sapphira keeps Isabel entertained all through dinner. So much so that Isabel forgets about Sapphira’s weird behavior. And she can’t deny that it’s nice to be alone again. They haven’t talked much about the kiss.
“So,” Isabel says when Sapphira has tied up their bags and comes to sit on her pack beside her. “We’re alone.”
Sapphira raises an eyebrow. “We are.”
Isabel twirls a curl around her finger. “You’re going to give me nothing, aren’t you?”
Sapphira smirks. “It would be too easy otherwise.”
Isabel huffs and rolls her eyes, but she scoots closer to Sapphira, her hand resting over the other woman’s and their fingers threading in the sand.
“I really hate sand,” she whispers as she leans in, Sapphira’s breath against her lips.
Sapphira presses a smile into her kiss, and Isabel’s thoughts are dusted away as she presses farther into the warmth.
Sapphira lays her down and holds her close. “What are we?” she asks when their lips part. Sapphira’s eyes flutter open, deep as the ocean. “Are you mine?”
Isabel smiles, her fingers tracing Sapphira’s hip and settling on her waist. “Does a Hybller thrive in the snow?”
Sapphira bites Isabel’s lip, and she hisses. “ Damn . You and your twisty little mind,” Sapphira says, “I actually got that reference.”
“Yes,” Isabel says, leaving no doubt. “I’m yours. And you’re mine, Sapphira the brave.” Her eyes sparkle as she rolls the words, “Sapphira the warrior.”
When Sapphira and Isabel arrive home the following day, and the cottage comes into view, they aren’t expecting the scene they come upon.
“H-he’s hurt,” Kaelen says, his voice panicked when he spots them. He looks ill, and a man is leaning heavily on him, dripping wet and bleeding. “He needs your help, Iz.”
Isabel’s eyes aren’t on Kaelen though. They’re on Sapphira, who has gone still beside her. Her eyes are bugging out of her head like she’s seen a ghost.
“Dorian?” Sapphira gasps.
It clicks for Isabel. She remembers Sapphira’s stories about her best friend from home. The knight she thought had died.
Sapphira rushes forward to help Kaelen support Dorian, and they get him inside. As soon as he’s on the table, Isabel reaches for her tools and sterilizes the man’s wounds.
“This isn’t too bad,” she says to calm him and Sapphira, who’s pacing. “He’ll be okay.”
Dorian is gritting his teeth and groaning at the sting of the Seraphela water. A sterilizing water with a sting. Isabel sneaks a few glances at Sapphira as she works. The woman looks happy now that she’s no longer worrying. There’s a glow to her that Isabel hasn’t seen before.
“What happened?” Sapphira asks her friend.
Kaelen, who Isabel is surprised to note, hasn’t turned away at the sight of blood but is watching at Dorian’s side and looking very panicked, says, “He got himself attacked by a Water Brogh. It’s karma for the idiot trying to peep on me in the bath.”
Isabel’s eyes harden as they snap down to Dorian. “He what?”
Sapphira whistles, grabbing Isabel and separating her from Dorian. “Calm down, feisty. Hear him out.”
“But—” she starts.
“I was not peeping on you!” Dorian shouts, wincing as he looks at Kaelen, who crosses his arms over his chest and purses his lips.
“I came across you, and yes, you happened to be in the lake—or bath, whatever—I mean, who cleans themselves in a lake? Even the servants at the castle don’t stoop so low. We aren’t animals.”
Kaelen gasps, and Sapphira winces, letting go of Isabel’s arms.
“You probably should stop talking, Dorian,” Sapphira says. Chuckling, she waves at him. “Ah, yeah, this is my best friend from back home. Dorian, meet Kaelen and Isabel. Both are part animal.”
Dorian’s eyes trail up Isabel’s face, noticing the curled horns and light spots. He bites his lip, eyes widening. “Oh.” He chuckles. “Whoa, I’m not going to lie. That’s a bit freaky.”
Kaelen glares, arms crossed over his chest. “Are all of you skyfolk assholes?” he asks.
Sapphira gasps. “Skyfolk,” she mouths.
He cuts a glance at her, smirking.
Instead of blowing up, as Isabel expects her to do, Sapphira turns back to Dorian and lets the cheeky comment slide without teasing.
“How did you even find me?” she asks her friend as Isabel begins to heal him again, fixing up the cuts and slathering salve over the pink scars marring his dark skin. “And how did you get here?”
Dorian shakes his head. “It’s a long story, Saff. But things got terrible under King Cornelius after you left. And he’s had people out looking for you.”
Sapphira gnaws on her lip, her face scrunched in a way that Isabel finds cute.
The chimera can see the guilt written all over it.
She can tell that Sapphira feels like this is her fault for not being there, and she just wants to hold the princess and tell her that’s not true. But she knows her words won’t help.
“Anyway,” Dorian continues. “When I heard they were closing in on your location, talking about . . . portal worlds? I don’t know.
I just knew I had to find you. I snuck around and waited for the right opportunity.
And when I had it, I followed them down into one of those eggs they had.
It led me into some trouble. I’ve been looking for you since. ”
Isabel surveys Dorian’s skin as she works. He’s right; he did get into some trouble. She can see older scars on his skin that haven’t had time to heal properly. She shares a worried look with Sapphira.
If this “king” is looking for Sapphira and has a portal to come to the Sand Isles, that would be really bad for us, Isabel thinks. But if Dorian is right, I’m unsure of how they used the portal to get here. Portal worlds aren’t meant or known to be tamed.
“You’re good,” Isabel croaks, moving away from her patient, her mind racing with the possibilities. Dorian stands, tugging at his shredded and dripping clothes. “You can borrow one of Kaelen’s shirts,” she adds.
Dorian glances at Kaelen, looking him up and down. “Are you sure I’ll fit? In the bath, he looked quite sm—”
Kaelen’s cheeks redden, his eyes looking Dorian up and down. The knight’s shoulders are nearly twice as wide as the takops’s. “Oh, shut it! Of course, they will,” Kaelen says. Then he marches toward the door, and Dorian tries to follow. “Stay there!” Kaelen shouts, rounding on the man.
Dorian looks taken aback as the door slams shut in his face. “What an angry little guy.”
Sapphira tries and fails to stifle her laugh. “Finally, someone who understands my pain.”
Once Kaelen returns and Dorian changes, Isabel moves to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She’s not planning anything too intricate, as she’s still exhausted from the long journey and healing Dorian.
Dorian is shocked when he sees Sapphira in the kitchen with her and asks many questions with a full mouth.
“And you said you weren’t an animal,” Kaelen sniffs haughtily. The words only linger.
Sapphira sits, setting down her plate. “I should have been there,” she says when the table’s quiet. She hangs her head, her food untouched.
Dorian shakes his head, swallowing down his food with hot tea.
“No, Saff, you did the right thing. You would have been in a worse position if you had stayed, and so would we. King Cornelius hasn’t been able to focus on properly establishing himself because he has been putting out all his forces to find you.
And worse, now that he knows of this place, he wants this too. ”
Isabel drops her cup, her eyes bulging as the dregs of mango juice spill on her kaftan. “I—”
“How are you even alive?” Sapphira says.
Isabel snaps her mouth closed.
Dorian wraps his hand around his steaming mug, looking down into the dark, swirling liquid.
“The king kept his promise and brought me to the infirmary.
The herbalist patched me up and gave me medicine to stave off infection.
When you escaped, there was a commotion in the castle, and I knew you had gotten away.
“Figuring the king would take it out on me, I used the distraction to slip away. I took what medicine I could and fled through the tunnels. I found a sweet family out in the forest of Abyssius who helped shelter me. I think the king was too focused on you and ruling the kingdoms to search for me though. I kept track of his movements, aided rebellions against his coup, and used my resources in the castle to stay informed about what he was doing.”
“Wow,” Sapphira breathes, looking stunned. Isabel can see the guilt swirling in her eyes and wants to reach out and squeeze her hand for comfort. “And what about my family? My aunt, my cousins. Are they . . .”
He shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Saff. I don’t know. I never saw them.”
Sapphira gives him a sad smile. “It’s okay. Thank you. If you hadn’t come to us, we would have been ambushed by Cornelius and his soldiers. At least now we have time to prepare. We will be ready for him when he arrives, and he will wish he had never come after me.”
Now that there’s an opening to speak, Isabel whispers, “He wants to take over the Sand Isles? You know that for sure?”
Dorian nods, looking up from his cup to meet her eyes. “He thinks he can do it too.”
“Well, he’s a fool,” Sapphira spits. “He knows nothing about this place if he thinks he can succeed here. Of that, I am certain.”
Dorian’s eyebrows rise. He looks Sapphira up and down as if he can see the changes in her since they last parted. “I don’t know how to explain it, but you’re different, Saff.”
Sapphira blushes, her cheeks turning plum.
Isabel’s chest puffs up. “She’s right. This King Cornelius won’t lay a finger on Sapphira or the isles. Coming here will be his biggest mistake.”
Isabel shares a look with Sapphira and smiles. It’s as if they can read each other’s minds. If this king is on his way, we must start planning immediately.