Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Elys was rambling again. No surprise there.

Having demanded to be carried, Jai had him in one arm and was holding Lyv's hand with his other. Though Elys was demanding his full attention, Jai glanced over at her when he could. She was still quiet, trying to sort through all that was said in the council room, especially at the end when the topic of dark magic came up...since Renna had stormed out with Cleo following close behind.

"...think it's because Cleo has dark magic, too. I only get flashes of visions with her in it, not whole ones like with everyone else. I've had a few since we got here. Like I said before, I'm keeping a lot of stuff to myself now," he said, and then grinned at Jai. "And I wouldn't want to spoil her suspicions on a certain touchy subject."

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"Oh, nothing," Elys sighed, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and leaning his head against his. "I think I'm gonna like it here, though. I wish Eamon could have come, though. Especially since Kaveh's here, too. Everyone calls him Kav for short, though."

"I take it he's going to be a part of your future trouble-making crew?"

"Yep! When Eamon and I come here in the future with Archer and now Kav...we're going to get into a lot of trouble when we're together."

Jai snorted but held him tighter as they continued down the hallway of the third level of the palace toward the wing of the palace where they'd be staying.

Kalla showed them all to their rooms, one for Allel and Mik, Gideon and Thia, Jai and Lyv, and Elys, who would have his own room across the hall from theirs. Having gone back outside to retrieve their belongings from the dragons' saddlebags, everyone wanted to take a little while to wash up and change before going down for dinner. Jai had a feeling it was going to be a little uncomfortable with how everything else had gone so far. They would also be meeting Crown Prince Malik of Krahzara and his little brother Kaveh, which obviously brought tension to everyone in Arloerin given the two kingdoms histories.

With Lyv's head still in the clouds, she let go of Jai's hand and silently walked into their room. Both Jai and Elys watched as she disappeared, letting the oak door partially behind her.

"Is she gonna be all right?" Elys asked quietly.

"I think so, kid. This is just a lot for her right now." Setting him on his feet, Jai reached up to ruffle his hair, making him grin as Elys tried to push his hand away. "Now, go get cleaned up and changed."

Jai followed behind Lyv after Elys ran into his room, letting the door close behind him. Just like most of the palace, everything was in lighter shades of color – light grays and blues. The bed was massive, canopied in billowing white gossamer fabric that blew back from the breeze coming through the open windows. A wardrobe stood across from it, along with a screen partition and a standing mirror. As Jai moved closer to the windows, he saw they had a perfect view of the grounds that stretched out behind the palace complex, the small streams that ran through the land, and the mountain ranges beyond.

Lyv was methodically taking out her clothes from her bag, neatly folding and sorting them. She had a light green, flowy top and cream-colored leggings set off to the side, her more casual boots on the floor beneath them. Definitely different from the females' clothing they'd seen flying over the city, but so completely Lyv.

"I'm going to take a shower since we really haven't had a proper one since leaving Chamin," Jai said to her as she reached in for her toiletry bag. "Unless you wanted to get in first."