Episode 55
Starlight and Fire
For someone who claims to struggle with his words, Cerian seemed to know exactly what Arisanna needed to hear, and she clings to him at the side of the hot springs as steam curls around them both.
Hugging his bare chest is an entirely different experience from hugging him over his leather shirt last night.
Especially since she’s wearing...much less than she usually wears.
“Let’s get you warm,” he says softly, and she loosens her hold on him as he slips into the water and reaches for her. His hands are hot against the chilled skin at her waist, and he draws her toward him in the water.
After being in the cold, the spring is almost too hot, but it doesn’t burn her, and neither does Cerian.
“How’s your magic?” she asks as she rests her hands against his chest. It’s deep enough in the middle of this pool for the water to hit just below her shoulders when she’s standing. Most of Cerian’s chest is exposed to the open air, and she keeps trying not to stare.
And now she’s touching his bare skin.
Stars above.
When his hands slide to her lower back, she gasps, and he lets go.
“No, don’t...don’t stop,” she says. “It’s all just...”
“Too fast?” He rests his forehead against hers, his breath tickling her lips. “There’s no rush.”
“It’s just new. Please. Don’t stop. You promised not to let go.”
Tentatively, he slips his hands against her skin again, and chills of a different sort race through her body.
“My...my question,” she says. “You didn’t...your magic.” Her tongue refuses to cooperate as both their hearts race.
“The water helps.”
“G-good.” She doesn’t bother trying to say anything else. It would probably come out in fragments, anyway.
For a few minutes, they just stand there, their breaths mingling as the steam rises around them. Their kiss last night was all passion—feelings finally bursting forth in a fiery blaze.
This is...not like that.
It’s tentative. Hesitant. Unsure.
His nose nuzzles hers. “Tell me if—”
She nods against him.
His lips graze hers, and her whole mouth tingles in anticipation.
Then he pulls away and sighs. “I can’t stop thinking about Elowyn.”
It takes a moment for Arisanna’s thoughts to catch up with him, and she tries to hide her disappointment. His love for his family just makes him more attractive. Even if she’s struggling to keep up with his starts and stops tonight.
“We’ll try to contact her when we wake, all right? And talk to Tharios and probably your parents.”
Cerian pulls back even farther to meet Arisanna’s eyes. “How will we contact her?”
“We could send a telegram from Feressa, but...that’s a day’s journey, isn’t it?”
“A...telegram?”
“Yes. It’s a message sent over wires.”
Cerian turns thoughtful. “We’re halfway to the border. In the real world, I mean. Perhaps we should keep going.”
Keep going? Walk all the way to Feressa? Arisanna gulps at the lump in her throat. “All right.”
Thoughts of that journey bounce around in her head when suddenly he’s kissing her.
“Thank you,” he murmurs against her lips before claiming her mouth again.
It’s enough to make her dizzy, but she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she wraps her arms around his neck and leans into his kiss. His hands rub her lower back, and he draws her even closer, deepening the kiss as all thoughts of Feressa drain away.
She’ll follow him anywhere if he keeps doing that.
Then he’s kissing her jaw and her neck, and without thinking, she sets her hands on either side of his head to hold herself steady.
His kisses stop as his breath grows ragged and heavy.
Stars above. His ears.
Should she move her hands? Or touch his ears more?
No one tells you how awkward kissing someone can be when you’ve never kissed anyone before.
Other than last night.
“Cerian,” she breathes. What was she even planning to say?
When he pulls back to meet her gaze, she can feel the fire oozing from his eyes. The heated look he sends her in the starlight shining down on them—it’s desperate yet restrained.
Barely.
And her hands are still on his ears.
They’re both breathing hard, and words seem to flow between them without being spoken. Words of yearning and love and acceptance.
It doesn’t matter that it’s awkward. It’s Cerian. Her elven prince. Her fire wielder.
The other half of her heart.
And she presses her lips to his with her own desperate passion as her thumbs slide along his ears. He groans against her and returns her kiss in kind. Only the faintest hint of smoke fills her senses. The water really is working.
Would it keep working?
Before she can ponder that thought, the edges of her vision darken, and she grasps at the press of his lips and hands against her flesh before everything fades away, taking their starlight and blazing fire with it.
Something warm and solid presses against Elowyn’s side as she opens her eyes to a brilliant starry sky. They’ve never awoken to anything but daylight in the heartlanding. How intriguing.
“This is new,” Rominy says, and Elowyn turns toward his voice where he lies beside her, his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s beautiful, though. It feels as though we might fall into the stars.”
He clears his throat and chuckles. “I meant waking with you in my arms.”
“Oh, yes. This is a night full of new things.” Tentatively, she nestles closer to him, and he tightens his arm around her. Her fire magic is quiet at the moment. Thank the fates.
For a few minutes, neither of them says anything as their boat rocks gently beneath them on calm seas.
Then Rominy sighs. “Are we going to discuss what happened?”
She turns toward him. “What do you mean?”
“Elowyn.”
She thinks back to the moments leading to finding herself in Rominy’s arms here in the heartlanding. Some of her memories seem less concrete than they should be. Fuzzy images and confusing sequences.
She was exhausted, and he undressed her. She remembers that much. Is that what he’s talking about?
“You mean when you helped me with my clothing?” she asks.
“Yes. I mean, no. Not exactly. I’m worried about you. You were slurring Elvish into your Nunian, and then you practically fainted.”
He’s so sweet. She snuggles against him again. “I was just tired. I’m sure I’ll wake up perfectly myself again. And if it wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be able to say it.”
“I don’t think it works that way. Just because you believe it’s true doesn’t make it true.”
She looks up at the stars as she considers his words.
“I suppose that’s reasonable. I really think I’ll be fine, though.
And besides, we can’t do anything about it here, so we might as well try not to dwell on it.
” She curls into the crook of his arm, resting her hand on his chest. It’s a strange sensation, feeling his heart beating beneath her hand and within her body.
Strange, yet soothing, though his heart rate increased as soon as she put her hand on him.
A smile tugs at her lips, but she says nothing.
“How about this?” Rominy says, his voice a little hoarse. “I will try not to dwell on it for now, but if you’re still feeling ill when we wake in the real world, I’m sending for the doctor.”
She scrunches her nose at the thought.
“I saw that.” His lips press against her hair, and she sighs.
“Very well. I agree to your terms. If I must.”
“Thank you.” His voice is soft as he whispers near her ear.
She looks up into the starry sky again. “Cerian loves the stars. As does my mother.”
“So does Arisanna. She and my father could stare at the sky for hours every night and still be convinced they hadn’t seen everything.”
Elowyn smiles at his words. Hopefully, Cerian is opening up to his human princess.
“What about you, Elowyn?” Rominy asks. “How do you feel about the stars?”
“They’re beautiful.”
He lifts his head to see her face. “But?”
“It’s like looking at a painting. I don’t need to stare at it for hours to see its beauty.”
Rominy laughs as he squeezes her closer and kisses her temple. “You get bored stargazing, don’t you?”
A smile teases her lips unbidden. “I would never admit to such a thing.”
That just makes him laugh more.
“Would you rather do something else?” he eventually asks.
Thoughts of their garden fill her, but that would require leaving his embrace. “I enjoy lying here with you.”
“There was a ‘but’ in there. I heard it in your voice.”
With a light laugh, she leans over his chest to see his face better, and his heart beats even faster.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing more of our garden,” she says.
His hand finds its way to her back, and he gently circles his finger against her dress. It’s such an intimate touch that every press of his finger sends shivers racing up and down her spine.
“The garden?” he asks. “Not the labyrinth?”
“Actually, Rominy, I’ve been thinking—”
“No.”
“How do you know what I’m going to say?”
In a high-pitched voice, he says, “Rominy, what if the dragon didn’t mean to kill you? Maybe it was scared or hurt or—”
Elowyn buries her face against his chest. “You know me too well.”
“I’ve only cracked the surface, but I’m starting to.”
She finds his eyes again.
“Can’t I just buy you a puppy or a pony or something?” he asks. “Does it have to be a dragon?”
“The heartlanding put a dragon in our garden. Surely that means something.”
“Yes. Keep out. Stay back. Don’t die.”
For a moment, she gazes into his caramel eyes as she tries not to smile, and eventually he groans.
“Fine. But if I die another gruesome death—”
She cuts him off with a kiss, which he eagerly returns as her fire magic warms her from within.
When she pulls away, he sighs. “Let’s go see this pet dragon of yours. And you can kiss me all you want as gratitude for my bravery.”
Laughter bubbles up inside her again, and she briefly presses her lips to his once more. Then she crawls off his chest and reaches for his hand, and together they make their way to the cabin below.