A Star in the Shadows

Chapter 21 - Growing Closer

Y/n watched as Lujanne and Aaravos talked for a few minutes, Lujanne laughed loudly, and y/n could have sworn she saw Aaravos blushing. The two elves walked back towards her, and Lujanne gently took the bug off her ear, setting it on y/n's outstretched hand. Aaravos had his face covered by one of his hands as the bug crawled back to y/n's right ear. "I'm sorry for that strange introduction, my name is Lujanne, you are y/n correct?" Lujanne asked as she stood near Aaravos.

She nodded and said "Aaravos thought we may be able to get some help from you."

Lujanne smiled and said "Yes, I can get you to the border of Xadia in a day. But Aaravos must do something for me before I assist you."

Aaravos's neck heated up as he avoided y/n's gaze. Y/n tilted her head and asked, "What is it?"

Lujanne chuckled lightly and said, "Oh don't worry about it, I just need him to admit something to himself. Now, let's find you a place to sleep."

Y/n looked at her confused, but saw Aaravos's embarrassment, so she left it alone. Aaravos's face cooled down as the three of them walked around the ruins, the moonlight shone down on the ruins, casting a silver light over the landscape. Lujanne led them to a small white building with intricate details and windows. She opened the door and inside was a beautiful room equipped with a fireplace with matching bookshelves and armchairs on either side of it. Two beds sat on the opposite side of the room, covered in plump pillows and soft sheets.

"Wow..." y/n exhaled as she took a careful step into the room, almost afraid of breaking the delicate silence that filled the room. Aaravos followed her, and they both looked around the room.

"I wasn't sure if I should get you a room with two beds, or one." Lujanne said mischievously.

In sync, Aaravos and y/n brought a hand up to their faces. Lujanne let out a wide smile and left the room, leaving the two alone. Y/n awkwardly walked over to the bookshelf on the left, trying to lessen the awkwardness filling the room. She scanned over the bookshelf, most of the books were in a language she didn't understand.

Aaravos cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry about Lujanne, she's very- persistent."

"It's fine, I'm glad you have a friend like her." y/n said, facing Aaravos.

Aaravos nodded and walked closer to her, glancing at the bookshelf. He paused, and reached towards the top of the shelf, reaching the books with ease. He pulled out a small book with a leather cover, it had gold writing on the spine. He flipped through a few pages, and y/n was shocked to see a drawing of Aaravos. But she was more shocked to see the drawing and writing warp and become unintelligible within a few moments.

Aaravos sighed, closing the book and said, "To stop me from being freed, any writings of me were distorted to prevent others from communicating with me."

Y/n watched as Aaravos's face twisted with bitterness, but that was soon replaced by sadness. She gently took the book from his hands, and set it lower on the shelf. She gently reached up and set a hand on his shoulder, mentally cursing the height difference the two shared. Aaravos looked down at her as y/n moved her hand to his face, cradling his jaw, and resting her thumb on his ear. She saw something pass over his eyes, some sort of burning desire.

"I'm going to free you; we'll prove them all wrong." y/n said, trying to stop herself from being pulled in by Aaravo's gaze.

Aaravos nodded slightly, forcing himself to move away from her touch. Y/n retracted her hand, and Aaravos said "Thank you, you always seem to know exactly what I need."

Y/n nodded, and she moved to sit on one of the beds, enjoying the contrast of the soft mattress to the saddle she had barely grown accustomed to. Aaravos copied her actions and sat at the foot of his bed, flopping backwards. Y/n laughed as she saw his hair laid out in all different directions. Aaravos let out a small smile, he felt his horns poking the mattress and he grumbled quietly, sitting up.

"Sometimes I'm envious that you humans don't have horns." Aaravos said, adjusting his hair.

"Really? I love your horns, they're handsome." y/n said absentmindedly.

Aaravos paused, standing up and walking over to sit next to her. "Would you like to touch them?" Aaravos said, smirking at y/n's embarrassment.

Y/n hesitantly reached over and gently ran her hand over Aaravos's right horn, feeling him let out a shudder as they made contact. The dark purple returned to the tips of his ears as y/n gently felt the grooves of his horns. "They're pretty..." y/n said as she gently moved her hand away from his horns.

"Thank you." Aaravos said quietly. "Well, we should get some rest while we can." He moved over to his bed and took off his cloak, carefully lying under the sheets.

Y/n averted her eyes from his bare back and laid down under the sheets. "Goodnight Aaravos." she said, wiggling under the sheets.

"Goodnight y/n." 

Word Count: 928 

How are we feeling? Anyways, these chapters have been harder to write because I have to try and write in a non-repetitive way and also continue the plot so it's difficult haha. I hope you all have a good day/night! Also please let me know if there are any typos!

- Dawn