Starlight (Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

"That's good kuuipo." Kai spoke over Ro's shoulder as she continued to grind up the gust lilies using the mortar and pestle. "Just keep turning your wrist like that. Once you are done bring it to me."

Ro nodded as she continued her work, "Okay, I will."

Ro started working with the herbalists two days after that first night in Arik's room. It had been almost two weeks since then and in that time she had gained a love for healing. Ro worked closely alongside Kaihula and the other healers. Ro spent her days between the workroom and the garden. Watering the plants, pulling weeds and harvesting were things that reminded her of Grams. Grams had loved plants. She knew that her grandmother would have fallen in love with the gardens.

Nina moved quickly from the workroom to the garden every so often to bring in more gust lilies. There had been an outbreak of an illness that caused severe abdominal pains. Many of the young Fairies and Halflings had been affected. The healers had worked tirelessly for the past four days in order to medicate everyone. Kai and Nina had both been the heads of the task and they looked as if they had not gotten much sleep. Ro had been assigned to the grinder along with Natasha and six other healers. Her hands were blistered and her back ached from having to bend over so much, but it didn't bother her.

Ro worked hard every day. Little by little she improved her skills. She enjoyed reporting back to Arik each night about what she had learned and what she planned to master next. The Halfling didn't disclose much about his day when they talked. He was short, but Ro could feel his anxiousness. He worried about the threat from the east and the daily training of the young Halflings. There was also Shea. The female had come to Arik's room late one night. Ro had been sleeping beside him when he got up from bed to answer the door. It was late in the night and Arik feared the worst from her. There was a fierce look in her violet and blue eyes. Arik stood before her with the scars on his chest that the female had kissed more times than she cared to remember. She knew every part of his body.

"Commander..." Shea was all business, "The two children that escaped were found dead near the southern border." She cleared her throat, "Quarterlings."

"Thank you for informing me."

It was at that moment that Shea heard Ro stir in her sleep. The female didn't need to see the human laying in the male's bed to know that it was her, "My apologizes for interrupting." Shea narrowed her eyes at her Commander, "I am glad to see that you are taking your protective order so seriously." She turned on her heels then and Arik watched her walk down the hallway with her back tense and hands roughly swaying by her sides. That had been four days ago and Arik had not breathed a word of it to Ro.

There were many things that he told her during the hours they spent talking each night and there were several things that he kept from her. He felt no need to tell her about Shea's visit or the change in her attitude towards him. The female would never be assigned to guard the human and so Ro need never know. They mostly talked about their shared memories. There were many things in her Realm that the Halfling did not understand and she smiled each time he asked her a question about modern things. The engineering feats in her Realm were what fascinated him the most. To see how the humans had adapted in a world without magic.

Ro was interested in Arik's war stories. She had never known the death and destruction that he had. He told her stories of great losses in battle and also victories. He told her the truths behind his scars. The Halfling was indeed a warrior and a noble one at that. He never took a life unless it was absolutely necessary. Ro thought back to the times that she had seen Arik kill. The wolf had made up its mind to kill Ro. There was no thought behind that kill. But the others. The Incubuses, the ash serpent, and the Boggart; she saw the incidents through Arik's eyes. He had warned them. Given them a chance. That was not the way of monsters but humanity.