Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Screaming echoed at the front of the palace before Jai even managed to open the front door with Elys and Eamon close behind him. Once it was, they pushed past and bolted down the stone steps in a bid to get to the other children quicker. Their excited chatter was so fast Jai couldn't even make sense of it.

"I would say they missed being here, wouldn't you?" Ada smiled as she and Gyver made their way up the steps. They were followed closely by Sora, Bridger, Rhea and Davon, all of whom called for the children to behave themselves as they ran for the gardens to play, followed closely by their governesses who'd come along to keep an eye on them.

Jai hugged Ada and kissed her cheek. "I would say so." He did the same to Sora and Rhea and shook the hands of Gyver, Bridger, and Davon. "Though I think the journey here was just as eventful with them all."

"It's always eventful traveling with children, even when it's short distances," Gyver grinned. "Did Merek and Evelien make it already?"

He nodded back inside. "They're in the council room with everyone else. Well, except Lyv. She apparently didn't want to wake up this morning, so it took some coaxing to get her out of bed."

Lyv's sisters gave him sly, knowing smiles.

"The question is the kind of coaxing it took. I have a feeling the newlywed phase isn't going to let go of you two for a while, huh?" Rhea asked sweetly, raising one eyebrow.

Jai's answering smile was more of a smirk. "And I don't think either one of us is opposed."

"You know I heard that, right?" Lyv called from the doorway as she stepped out. "You're all absolutely incorrigible."

Dressed in her leather leggings, white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and leather corset and with her hair in a braid down her back, it reminded Jai of what she used to wear when they were back in Escarral what seemed like a lifetime ago. The flush in her cheeks reminded him of then, too, but this time it was because of their escapades in the shower earlier that morning, not a copper tub in an abandoned boathouse, which was how he finally coaxed her from bed.

Lyv was barely able to meet his eyes, especially since she seemed to be thinking about what they'd done that morning, too. Jai's grin was enough answer for her sisters, though.

"We might be absolutely incorrigible...but we're definitely not wrong," Ada laughed, winking at Jai as she brushed past him to get to her littlest sister.

Jai couldn't help but chuckle, especially when Lyv's narrowed eyes met his and she let out a warning growl.

"We're all here for a reason, you know, and it's not to embarrass me," Lyv complained, then nodded back inside. "Come on. In you go. You know where everyone's at."

Jai stayed behind as they all headed inside the palace, knowing Lyv would have a few choice words with him once they were by themselves. But all he could do was look at her – how her silver Deverell streak weaved in and out of her braid, the way the morning sunlight made her almost glow beneath it, the way her ring glittered on her finger and matched the simple band that encircled his own, that fierce look in her emerald eyes when she finally turned to look at him.

"What?" Jai asked innocently.

Lyv immediately crossed her arms in front of her. "You're impossible."

"And you're beautiful and I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied in a harsh, annoyed tone, making Jai's smile widen. "Honestly, though. You're acting like a teenager."