Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 17

Jai sat down beside him, watching as he turned one of the colorful pages. "Well, it smells good, so great choice, kid."

His lips turned down at the corners. "And I think she agreed to make it since...since it was Bence's favorite, too. I think it helps her to remember him, the little things. She hasn't wanted to talk about him much just yet, though."

"She will, though. It's only been a few weeks."

Elys sighed, leaning back in his chair as he looked over at Jai. "We'll see him again, though, won't we? Whenever we all go the land of light and shadows?"

Just the thought of that... "We will, kid, though not for a very, very long time. But none of that heavy conversation. Even though I know Lyv's read you that book time and time again, you want to read it to me?"

Having their conversation turn to a lighter note, Elys happily obliged, reading it to Jai in more detail than was even in the book itself and changing his voice to match the pitches of each and every character. By the time he was halfway through, everyone had joined them, bringing brought all the food to the table. Stopping just a few pages from the end, Elys slammed the picture book closed and dropped it to the floor beside him, happily reaching for the big bowl of stew Lyv had placed in front of him.

"You missed this, huh?" she grinned at him, sitting down on his other side.

"Yep!" he chirped before shoving his first big spoonful in his mouth. Still steaming, it was hot enough to burn him, but he made no indication if it did or not. "Mmm, it's my favorite!"

"Mine, too," Gideon sighed as he took his first bite. "Almost as good as Bence used to make."

At the sound of her father's name, Lyv's smile dropped just slightly. "He did make the best, didn't he? Remember when we first went to the cottage when he was there, after you came back from Dalcaine?"

The memory made Gideon burst out laughing. "Oh, yeah. He almost hit me for trying to use magic on him since I swore he was someone else in a glamour and made fun of him for being a king who liked to cook."

"He did hit you," Lyv snorted, rolling her eyes. "Several times, in fact. Over that entire year."

Lyv and Gideon continued telling stories of that year in Escarral, most of them funny enough to have them all laughing. Jai could plainly see talking about Bence was doing good for Lyv, especially since she hadn't spoken much about him in the weeks after his death. The sadness and tension slowly eased from her as she was able to remember much happier times.

But her hesitation and preoccupied thoughts returned after everyone else retired to bed and Jai tucked Elys in after he fell asleep in his arms. Lyv was the only one up whenever he emerged from Elys's sectioned off room and was washing up the dishes and silverware, having not resorted to using magic to do so. He remembered her doing this once before to keep her mind off of something that gnawed at her. This time, though, he was the one to dry, slowly taking his time even after she finished washing.

As he ran the towel over the last of the plates, Lyv stepped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek to his back.

Jai folded and place the towel on the counter and covered her hands with his own. "You all right?"

She was silent before she sighed. "I guess. I...I needed this tonight. Talking about Bence. It helped a lot."

"I can tell." He turned around in her hold and pulled her closer as he leaned back against the counter. "You've been preoccupied all day while we were flying. Everything all right?"