Chapter 48
Birdsong
Ykava was pleased with Alianna’s recovery over the next two weeks. So much so that she permitted Rionan to take Alianna out of the palace.
He had taken her to the stables, introducing her to his stablehands and his horses. She fondly remembered them discussing his stables back in Porthan. How long had it been since that conversation – a matter of weeks?
How had her life changed so quickly, in so little time?
She reflected on that small-town girl and how sheltered she had been.
That small-town girl was gone.
Rionan had settled Alianna atop a pearl white mare who went by Keeva, climbing above his own huge, dark stallion. He wore an equally dark outfit – fine trousers, and a shirt unbuttoned to his chest. His attire reminded her of one of their dates back at home.
Rionan had led Alianna through the forests surrounding Savangrad, Keeva following without command. The forests were beginning to flourish with greenery and life once more, although the healing process was slow, as Rionan kept highlighting.
“There is one area that seems to have returned to its normal state much more quickly than others. A place very dear to me,” he smiled. “I wish for you to see it.”
They rode together in comfortable silence for what felt like two hours. As her muscles were beginning to ache and she was fighting the urge to request they stop for a break, Keeva slowed.
“Where are we?” Alianna asked, looking around at the thinning trees. They followed a path that had been carved through the woods, and the sound of water crashing could be heard faintly in the near distance.
“You’ll see,” Rionan smiled, as the horses padded slowly onwards.
When they finally stopped, Rionan lifted Alianna off of Keeva, setting her gently on the floor before taking her hand.
He guided her through the last few trees, winding between them like he had travelled this path a thousand times.
The clearing opened up, and the sight stole the breath from Alianna’s lungs.
Ahead of them was a huge, glistening lake, the surface of the water sparkling in the midday sunshine. Alianna looked to the far side of that lake, where a magnificent waterfall spilled into the lake, sending rainbows gleaming through the air as the water crashed down.
Overhead, the sun shone brightly, warming her skin and inviting her to step into the water.
Alianna looked to Rionan, who was smiling like she had not seen before. It was a smile that held no other meaning – pure, uninterrupted happiness.
“I may have worked quite hard over the last few days restoring this particular area. There were a few horrid things lurking around to see off, and once that was done, I was able to return the lake, the falls, and the trees to the way I remembered them.”
“By yourself?” Alianna asked.
“By myself. I have not met with the other Lords yet, if that is what you’re asking.
Turns out, having the power of all of Xanthia does have its perks.
” Rionan winked and began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his sculpted body beneath.
In this light, and with that smile on his face, he glowed like a star that had been plucked from the sky and dropped here, with her.
Alianna felt butterflies dance in her stomach.
Rionan dropped his shirt to the ground before he continued speaking. “But do you want to know my favourite part?”
“What?” She asked. He stepped towards her, taking her hands in his own, bringing them between them.
“Close your eyes. Listen.”
Alianna allowed her eyes to fall closed, and for several moments, all she could hear was the waterfall. The sound of water meeting water, crashing into the lake, creating movement over what would have been its crystalline surface.
Then, as she tried to focus beyond the waterfall, she heard it.
The sound was quiet at first, while she struggled to locate it. Soft, enticing. Then it grew louder in her ears, like the sound reached her soul and eased any worries she was carrying.
The birdsong spoke to her heart, spoke to her very being. They sang such a wonderful melody, of love, of peace, of joy, and of home. Chills ran across Alianna’s skin, savouring the sound that Rionan had spoken so fondly of.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. She didn’t realise that she had started crying until she tried to look at him through bleary eyes. His answering smile could have made her drop to her knees.
“The birds,” Alianna gasped. “The birds came back?”
“Indeed, they did.”
Rionan had encouraged Alianna to swim towards the waterfall with him. There was no bashfulness between them as they swam without any clothing. As they had gotten closer, he’d stepped out of the shallows at the edge of the lake, taking her hand and guiding her around to the waterfall itself.
He showed her the small alcove he sometimes sat in behind the fall, where he would rest and listen to the birds.
They sat there together, doing just that, their damp naked bodies hidden from the world outside by the falls.
As the intimacy of the afternoon caught up with them, they ended up wrapped in each other.
Rionan had laid Alianna down on the stone, sliding down between her legs.
He had spread them wide, feasting on her, leaving her body convulsing as waves of pleasure overcame her.
Rionan had held himself above her then, kissing her thoroughly as he sheathed himself within her.
Their hips met over and over again, the sound of the waterfall masking their moans and gasps of ecstasy.
Rionan nipped at Alianna’s neck as he pulled in and out of her, causing her to tighten around him, her body edging closer to release with every thrust of his hips.
They reached their climax together, Rionan groaning into the shell of her ear as he filled her so perfectly. Alianna gripped his shoulders, grinding her hips against him, riding out her orgasm and clinging to every last shred of that feeling.
As they lay with one another, the cold creeping up on them now, Alianna recalled a conversation they’d had back in Porthan. When she believed he was just a man on a business trip, and that this would be, at most, a summer fling.
“You told me we couldn’t stay like this forever,” she muttered into his chest. He looked to her, his expression quizzical.
“What?”
“Back at The Rinniel,” Alianna looked up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. “You told me that this couldn’t last forever. This feels pretty forever, Rionan.”
Alianna wasn’t sure what emotions passed over his face or through his chest.
Affection.
Love.
Happiness.
But…regret?
Sadness?
She shot up, studying his expression where he now lay on the stone.
“What is it?” she pressed. Rionan sat up with her, his face unchanging.
“It’s nothing, Ali. You’re right. This does feel like forever.”
“Then why are you sad?”
He drew in a breath, looking down at his chest, and smiling. A smile that didn’t meet his eyes.
“I’m not, my love. Not because of you, anyway. We have the service tomorrow. I will have to speak. To say goodbye to people I cherished. People I still cherish. Please forgive me if I struggle to keep a mask of happiness at all times.”
Alianna’s face dropped. She felt stupid; she felt selfish. Selfish for not even considering what Rionan might be going through, outside of their time together.
“I’m sorry,” she said earnestly.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
He kissed her tenderly, laying her back on the stone.
His hands explored her body in a desperate claiming. His fingers made their way to the apex of her thighs, delicately stroking her most sensitive areas, leaving her shuddering against him one more time.
They made their way back to the horses, redressing as they went. The late afternoon in the forest was heavenly, the bird song following them from the lake, all the way back to Savangrad.
Alianna wished she felt nothing but content and complete.
But she could not shake that feeling of sorrow that Rionan had not seemed to have let go of, either.