The Flames That Bind Us (Daughter of Fire #1)

✔Chapter Thirty One: Unravel

To my surprise, King Morrison stuck his tongue at her, and she replied the gesture.

I hid my smile with a butter biscuit I was munching on. It's odd to see two of the most powerful wizards in Ignolia behaving like children while the other two bickered like grumpy old men.

Lis noticed my reaction, leaned towards me, and whispered, "They're all a bunch of babies if you ask me."

That managed to make me chuckle. She leaned back but furrowed her eyebrows in concern. "Aren't you cold with only that?"

She pointed at my thin dark blue sweater. "Oh, not really. I don't feel cold."

She looked genuinely confused. "Ever?"

"Ever."

At that, she scooched closer to me, linking her arm in mine and pressing her side to my body. I was a bit startled, to say the least, but she looked like she was testing something out. After a few seconds, she pulled back to blink at me in surprise. "You're really warm," she stated. "Your skin, I mean. It's hot, like a furnace."

"Uh...thanks?"

She grinned and, with a little squeal that I did not expect, threw her weight at me and clung to my side. "That's so lovely. It's like having your own personal heater."

I laughed and did not mind her seeking my warmth. "Glad you like it."

"What on earth are you hugging Lydia for?" her fiancé, who was quietly enjoying a book next to her, said as he gave us a raised eyebrow.

"She's very warm," she informed him, her head resting on my shoulder.

"I'm warm too."

King Gabriel coughed a little too loudly at that. Lis rolled her eyes at her fiancé, pouting her lips. "You're not a Fire Slifer."

Before he could say anything else, Ayana meekly trotted and sat on the empty spot beside me. The poor thing hugged my other side and sighed blissfully without a word.

"Mind if I join as well?" King Morrison teased.

I blushed a little, though I didn't need to say anything, for King Gabriel spoke first, "Give the girl some room to breathe."

***

The day was still young, and I had nothing to do. Well, besides buying a gift for the princess's birthday.

Since it had been about two months since I started working, I had taken advantage of my pay and bought whatever I needed. But I still had no idea what to buy for Lis.

What do you give to the princess of Imarnia? Obviously, it needed to be something expensive or at least worthy of a royal. So I had saved some of my wage money for this occasion.

Luxus was nowhere to be seen, perhaps lying near a fireplace somewhere -most likely the kitchen. I took a quick bath and dressed in something new I had bought; a high-waisted black skirt that reached my thighs with thick stockings underneath and a dark-red long-sleeved sweater that showed the skin of my shoulders.

Not something to wear on a snowy day. But I wasn't affected by the cold, so it wouldn't bother me. I had left my hair as it is, cascading down my waist. Grabbing my bag, I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror before leaving.

***

Imarnia's market almost seemed to be an infinite place.

Even without any fairs, there were still lots of shops and stalls for all kinds of things. When I went shopping for myself, I knew exactly what to buy and where to go. But shopping for the princess...that was something else entirely. I didn't have much time. Her birthday was in less than a month, and I had no idea where to begin.