CHAPTER IV #6
Whatever this is… whatever it is I’m standing under, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in Disce.
I can feel the magic seeping out of this creation, can feel the strong call that either warns people away or dares them to come closer.
It’s absolutely breathtaking. I walk around the expanse of the trunk twice, my eyes wide and marveling, unable to comprehend the summoning it must have taken to build this.
I finally find a good and flat nook amongst the roots and decide to pull out my book from Bardot’s library, then get cozy on the flat ground as I rest my back against the trunk.
The feeling of pure content that takes over is the strongest I’ve felt in a long time.
I don’t know how long I read under the dark leaves and even darker oak, but I do know I could stay here for the remainder of my trip. The idea of leaving its embrace is foreign to me, so much so that I even consider spending the rest of my nights out here.
No.
Scratch that.
I will spend the rest of my nights under this masterpiece of a tree. I bet it looks even more majestic under the moons.
“You’ll miss the duel, Alexis,” his voice carries from the outskirts of the roots.
I lift my head from the book in my lap and peer towards the Prince.
His brown hair is sweeping over the top of his head, the locks slightly wind-blown against his leaf-shaped ears and matching his warm brown eyes.
He watches me with a new intensity I haven’t seen yet, though there’s a hint of a smile tugging at his lips that offsets the heavy stare.
He’s wearing a black long sleeve shirt without the cut down the middle, the darkness jutting across his chest and giving him a commanding presence as a black leaf falls in front of him.
I watch as his arm gracefully extends to catch it by the stem just as I tried before, then watch as a streak of sunlight bounces off the leaf and hits his tanned face.
I can’t help but smile at the sight of him. He looks so right standing under this dark oak.
“You’re staring, Lady,” his eyes hold mine, fingers casually fiddling with the leaf still in his hand.
“You belong here,” I tell him seriously, not caring at all that I’m staring, “you belong under this oak.”
There’s no hint of sarcasm or challenge in my statement, nor is there any flirtatious edge.
There’s just a genuine appreciation for him, the dark oak, and the earth around his being, because he stands not as the amused Prince I saw last night, but instead as the man who is the Prince and Heir of Disce.
“No witty remark?” I smile, closing the book in my lap.
Keane’s eyes narrow, his face turning quiet and pensive.
“Sometimes you say things, Lady Alexis,” he replies steadily, “without realizing how close you come to the truth...”
I hold my breath, watching as he takes a silent step forward.
“I do belong here,” he continues, “and I have nothing clever to say to someone who can recognize and appreciate that fact.”
His words literally stop my heart.
I take a deep breath and hold his stare for a moment longer, then bow my head in acknowledgement.
He’ll always belong here.
“You’ve got a short while before Desmond and Mana begin their fight…”
I sigh and lift my head to the dark branches above me.
“I’m not sure I want to leave.”
“The Shadow Oak will be here tomorrow and the day after that,” he replies knowingly.
I find his gaze again and nod, silently holding him to that promise. I stand up with one hand on my book and the other dusting off my riding pants, a small gasp escaping my lips as I scowl in realization.
“Golem?” I look around frantically.
I ran off without him and haven’t even noticed he was missing.
I take a hasty step and peer around the trunk, looking out to the roots and past the woods surrounding the Shadow Oak. Where has he been? I completely forgot about him in my pursuit of the tree.
“Golem has the unique ability to wander off when he knows someone wants to be alone,” the Prince replies from the edge of the roots.
“I didn’t realize,” I shake my head, “how do I find him?”
“He’ll come back to you.”
I frown and move to rub my temples.
“Alexis…”
His voice is so soft that I look his way in obvious confusion. I’m about to ask what’s wrong until he takes a step forward, his brown eyes narrowing in on the book still in my hand.
“What are you doing in possession of a book on the Ancients and their magic?”
I stay quiet, hating that I’m unable to make out his emotions. His features have quickly changed into those of Discerni disinterest, and I’m not sure I like it.
In any other setting, a Discerni who caught me with this book could report me to the local Lord of the city.
That Lord would then confiscate the text on the spot for breaking the Old World rule and could even exact punishment if he wanted.
I’d try with all my might to convince him that I had the King’s approval, but seeing as Prince Keane is both the Lord of this city and doesn’t know of what I do for his father, his question and possible punishment could lead me down a road I’m not sure I want to explain just yet.
I sigh and take a step through the roots, brushing off the question with my own indifference as I drop the book casually in my bag.
I suppose he’ll find out that I’m allowed to have it in my possession once we arrive at Red Falls, but until then, I’d like to keep the King’s secret for as long as possible.
I walk towards him in nonchalance and let a playful smile grace my lips.
“Are you going to report me to the King, Your Highness?”
“Why would I do that…” Keane replies seriously, “when I can exact your punishment here?”
I stop dead in my tracks and route my feet firmly to the earth.
Keane’s face alights at my abrupt stance, his lips darting into a smirk as he gazes down at my boots.
“Standing far away from me will not help you, Alexis,” he shakes his head.
I take a swift step back and move away from his commanding presence.
“Neither will running,” he chuckles in amusement.
Ancients.
I know the Discerni are fast, but I think I’m willing to take my chances right now. Or, that small voice reminds me in the back of my head, I can just resolve this stupid dispute and tell him that I’m allowed to have the book in the first place.
The sound of an earthly rumble immediately breaks that thought.
I look around in confusion, then glance at the Prince in question, noticing that he hasn’t moved from his spot on the outskirts of the Shadow Oak. He still has a small smirk on his face as he watches me from afar, his eyes darting across mine with a wicked look that makes me even more confused.
I hear the rumble again and quickly look down at the ground below my feet. My eyes go wide in an instant, realizing that it’s the roots of the tree that are creating the sound.
The branches are shifting around my boots and causing the earth to rumble, the display of magic both beautiful and frightening at the same time.
I take another hesitant step back when they slowly begin to snake around my boots, one half of me wanting to bend down and trace my fingers around the limbs while the other half wants to jump away before they can hold me in place.
“Ancients…” I let out an astonished breath.
I’m completely transfixed. The limbs begin to circle around my calves, the wood and granite tightening around the leather of my boots just as I reach down to touch them.
“I don’t care about the book, Lady Alexis,” the Prince says quietly.
I nod and bite my lip, running my hand along the root. A small limb reaches out to grasp my hand when I do, but almost immediately, as if it didn’t mean for that to happen, it falls away with the rest of the roots and moves back into the ground.
“Come,” Keane tilts his head back towards the barracks, “we need to get to the duel.”
I frown at the now still earth and slowly start to make my way under the Shadow Oak.
“How did you find me?”
“Cal said you took a walk with Golem past the barracks.”
“And you decided to come look for me?”
“I had a feeling I knew where you’d be.”
“A feeling, huh?” I eye him curiously.
“Don’t look too far into it, Alexis,” he shakes his head.
“Well did that feeling happen to lead you to the barracks first?” I ask with a grin.
“No,” Keane looks at me in confusion, “why would I?’
“Because if you did,” I give him a wicked smile and brush my shoulder past his, “you probably would’ve found a few of your men putting their clothes back on, the look of sweet satisfaction gracing their faces.”
I hear him choke out a laugh behind me before his broad body appears in front of my own. The quick movement makes me stop in my tracks and look up with a grin, loving the way his approving laughter suddenly fills the woods.
“You’re trouble, Alexis.”
I laugh with him and nod. “Only around you.”
The Prince grins and moves to my side.
“What was that back there?” I ask, jutting my head to the Shadow Oak behind us as we walk through the woods.
Keane looks at me in consideration before replying.
“The tree is magically created.”
“I gathered that,” I nod, reaching into my bag for Chef’s cinnamon almonds, “but was it holding me on its own?”
“No,” he replies.
I open the pouch and offer it to him. “Then it was you?”
Keane slips his hand in the bag with a smile.
“I’ve missed these almonds,” he drops one in his mouth, “Chef is one of the best in the Kingdom. I’ve asked him countless times to move to Gaumond and cook for us here. Even offered him double whatever my father is paying him.”
I smile at the thought but shake my head.
“He’d never leave Bardot, and we know a good thing when we see it. There’s no way your father would let you out bid for him.”
“True,” he agrees just as the woods begin to thin, “how did you come to know my father?”
He asks the question in genuine curiosity, not as if he’s inquiring for information.