Chapter 3
It wasn't hard to find them. All Jai had to do was follow the sounds of metal against metal, something he wished he didn't have to hear, especially when he knew the two boys who were fighting. Before he went down to the training courtyard, though, Jai thought it best to clean up and change, but Elys always saw more that what was good for him.
Even with the chill in the air, both Elys and Eamon were covered in sweat, a clear giveaway that they'd been at it for hours. Jai remembered doing the same with Destan and Gideon, though they were older than the six- and ten-year-old who were fighting each other now. Both had clear looks of determination on their faces, but Elys...Elys's held anger and pain Jai absolutely hated to see.
Lady Roesia, the captain of the city guard, circled them as she watched their form, but Jai walked up to another who was sitting at the edge of the courtyard. How Laurel was able to get herself down to sit on the stone ground, he had no idea. He joined her, though, after she caught sight of him and waved him over.
"They've been going at it for hours," Laurel told him as he sat. Her hands rested on her very round belly, having only a month or so before his nephew made his first appearance, but then she gestured to the empty tray on her other side. "I had to bring them lunch or else they wouldn't have gone to the kitchens. They devoured it, took a quick break, and then went at it again. That was hours ago."
"And you've been here ever since?" Jai asked, raising a brow.
She gave him a sheepish smile. "Mostly because I can't seem to get up."
He couldn't help but laugh, the sound foreign in his ears. It died quickly, though, and Laurel knew why. The guilt ate at his stomach. Why did he get to laugh when Lyv was...?
His sister reached over and grabbed onto his hand, threading her fingers through his. "Thia came and found me a little while ago. She said Gideon wouldn't talk to her, but she needed to get it all of her chest. She told me...she told me what you all saw. And I know what you're thinking, but it's not your fault."
"I couldn't get to her, though."
Laurel knew he wasn't talking about what happened the day before in that small Ethran village.
"Because Corliss trapped you. You couldn't."
"I can't track her, can't feel that bond between us to even help."
"It's still there, just buried deep underneath magic and darkness."
Jai nodded toward the boys in the courtyard. "And don't even get me started on those two."
Finally, Laurel was silent, looking in the same direction he was. Both of them saw two little boys who had grown up too fast in the last four months, who thought they could help more in doing so. But all Jai wanted for them was a normal childhood, one that was filled with laughter and family and playfulness. That wouldn't happen with a war coming, though, which was exactly why they demanded to be trained every single day for hours at a time.
But it wasn't just steel against steel then. Eamon seemed to be getting frustrated that Elys was beating him, pushing him further and further back to the boundary line. He wasn't going to take that, though, and threw magic at him to push him back. It was a little too much, though, and hurled Elys backward onto the ground, his sword clattering to the stone a few feet away.
Jai immediately jumped up and rushed over, but Elys seemed to be quicker.
"Hey! No magic!" Elys yelled as he pushed himself up to stand and went for Eamon, reaching for his dagger at his hip. Jai was there to hold him back, though.
Eamon was going for him, too, until Lady Roesia caught him up by the arm. "Then stop with the dirty moves!"
"Magic is a dirty move when I don't have any myself!"
"Well, I can't help that, can I?"
Elys tried going at him once more, but Jai held him fast. "That's enough, you two," he commanded, voice steely.
"It's not enough," Elys said through clenched teeth, eyes shining. "I will never be enough."
There. There was that anger and frustration that was seemingly all around him all the time. At least he was finally acting on it instead of keeping it bottled up. Jai dropped to one knee, pulling both boys forward so he could look at them. Even though they tried to look tough, he could see they were both on the verge of tears.
"You two can't be fighting each other," Jai told them. "Not like this."
"Then tell him not to use his magic against me," Elys demanded. "It's an unfair advantage."
But Jai just shook his head. "Then all of us have an unfair advantage, Elys. But guess what? You have an even more of an unfair advantage against us, too, since you can see our next moves and prepare for them before we even know what they are. Have you thought of it that way?"
He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. There was that sass Jai missed so much. "Of course, I have."
"Then use it," Jai told him before looking between the both of them, smiling slightly. "You have no idea just how much you remind me of me and Gideon when we were little."
"Who's who?" Eamon asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know...and that's the scary part."
Elys and Eamon looked at each other...and started laughing before going in to hug Jai.
"I think that's enough for today," Lady Roesia from behind them after watching the exchange. "Now, if you don't mind, Crown Prince, I have other obligations to take care of."
"I'll take it from here," he nodded, standing up with Elys and Eamon's hands in his. "Thank you."
She nodded once, looking down at the boys. "Great work today, but we're taking a break for tomorrow, all right?"
Both of them grumbled, but nodded their consent.
"Now, can you two help that female who's attempting to get herself up over there?" Jai asked, looking past them at Laurel.
"I heard that," she called breathlessly. "And I can do it myself."
"Yeah, in about an hour," he snorted as the three males went over to help her up.
Laurel blew a strand of hair from her eyes once she was standing, glaring playfully up at Jai. "And I thought Michel was bad with spoiling me. I think you'd carry me everywhere if I let you."
"I've seen Michel do that himself," Jai smiled. "No use in spoiling you when he's doing a better job than I am."
"And I know you'd rather be spoiling another someone right now," she told him, and reached up to cradle his face in her hands. "You'll get her back, Jai. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but I know you'll get her back."
Laurel looked back down at Elys and Eamon. "So, do you two still want to go out to dinner with me and be my dates since Michel's still in Waiter for a few more days?"
"I will!" Eamon nodded.
But Elys was quiet. "I...want to stay here with Jai, if it's all right."
She put a hand on his head to brush his hair back before kissing his forehead. "Of course. Don't go too wild in the kitchen, though. You remember what happened when you three and Gideon cleaned out the fridge and ate everything?"
That made him give a small smile again. "Yep, I do."
"And we won't," Jai snorted, rolling his eyes.
Laurel and Eamon walk toward the archway on the other side of the courtyard. As Jai and Elys watched, Elys slipped his hand into Jai's, something he rarely did now. Jai was going to take whatever he could, though, as he looked down at him.
Elys leaned his head against Jai's side and looked up at him. "You changed out of your armor and cleaned up. There was a lot of blood."
And there was no hiding anything from the little Seer either. "There was. I didn't want to alarm you two."
"You wouldn't have. Like I said, I saw what happened. I've been...able to get more about Lyv since you've been gone. I tried something different and was able to see."
"Different how?"
He shrugged one shoulder and looked down. "I tried seeing through Mik's eyes and it worked. I saw...I saw what she did to them. To Moswen and Tairin and all the people who helped us after Lyv saved me. I hope she doesn't blame herself for it all, though. It's not her fault. It's the darkness that made her do it. Lyv would have...she would have never done that herself."
Jai didn't know what to say.
Elys was reaching up for him then, and Jai immediately pulled him up into his arms. He wrapped his arms around Jai's neck before leaning his head against his and quietly sighed. He didn't move, even as Jai strode from the courtyard, leaving Elys's dagger and sword behind. Someone would clean and polish them before they appeared yet again in his room.
Jai didn't want to let go of him, even when they got to the kitchens, but he still had to. There was no consistency in their dinner, no common theme other than it was just whatever they were in the mood for. Elys only talked a little bit, telling Jai about what had happened over the few days he was away. But all Jai could do was watch him, see the little changes that had happened over those days.
And it became even clearer once they were at their rooms. Elys had moved out of the one Lyv and Gideon shared by the infirmary and into a room just off of Jai's that was connected to his by a door. The room was bigger and had a lot more room for his books and toys, most of which he didn't even touch anymore. The toy pirate ship Lyv was supposed to give him for his birthday was situated on one of the bookshelves and Jai caught him looking at it far too often.
Posy had decided to make Jai's room hers as well and even got her own bookshelf room in Elys's. The little pixie was absolutely heartbroken whenever she realized that Lyv had been taken. Jai had never seen her just lying in her bed for days on end, not even touching her food, not even cracking a smile when he and Elys brought her a new flower.
And as for Roshan...well, Jai didn't even want to think about how he reacted.
But for now, Posy was sitting on the edge of the bathtub as Elys washed up. He refused Jai's help now, rubbing the soap though his hair and washing off with a cloth before dunking himself under the water. Jai watched from the doorway...waited anxiously for the twenty seconds he stayed under...and took a step forward just before Elys broke the surface once more.
"You all right, kid?" he asked, reaching down for the towel as Elys reached for it, too.
"I got it," he told him, wrapping it around himself as he got out. "You don't have to help me, Jai. I can do it myself now, you know."
Jai swallowed hard as Elys pushed past him and headed for the sink to brush his teeth. He'd tucked the towel around his waist just like Jai always did.
"I know you can. I thought I'd offer, though."
But he didn't even need to offer. Elys went through all the motions of his normal bedtime routine, even running down to Gideon's rooms to tell him and Thia goodnight while Jai got ready for bed himself. He was back in time to find Jai pulling one of his favorite storybooks from the shelf, making Elys grumble as he reached for another, older book on the bedside table.
Elys shook his head as Jai walked over. "I don't want to read that."
"That Seer book is hardly a good bedtime story."
"But it'll help me figure out a way to get Lyvi back."
Jai sat down beside him on the bed, pulling the book from his hands. "Just humor me, kid. Besides, you've read it at least four times all the way through."
"And yet I can't do even a quarter of what I'm supposed to."
"You're six."
"That doesn't matter. Why did I get this Seer magic so early if I can't figure it out right now? All the others were mature. I got them when I was two."
As Elys crossed his arms and leaned back against the pillows, Jai reached forward to put his hand on his head. Again, he absolutely hated seeing him beat himself up for not being able to do more at the moment. Elys hated that he didn't have any other magic other than that of the Seer, too. No matter how many times Jai tried to tell him he would grow into them more as he got older, Elys seemed to want to make time fast-forward just so he could.
But there was something else that seemed to be bothering him.
It was strange, but Jai would sometimes find him in a room just across the hall from his. It was actually just a guest room, one that not many used. It was one of the more scenic ones, with a balcony that looked out across his mother's gardens, one wall lined with white bookshelves with window seats and plushy cushions, and the normal furniture that almost all of the guestrooms included, like a four-poster bed, large wardrobe, and a sitting area by the hearth.
Jai had never asked why Elys had taken to going to that room to think, but wanted to at that moment when his eyes seemingly went to its direction.
"What's on your mind, Elys?" Jai asked him them, running his fingers through his hair as Elys pulled the storybook into his lap.
"Nothing," the little boy grumbled. "Absolutely nothing."
"You do realize I know exactly when you're not telling me the truth, right?"
All Elys did was glare at him. With how fierce the six-year-old looked then, he wondered what that look would seem when he was a fully grown male. Jai had been told his own look of pure rage and determination was more than intimidating...so Elys was learning from one of the best, apparently. Especially when he had both him and Gideon to show him just how to do it. Eamon was quickly catching on, too.
Mother help them all with those two whenever they grew up.
Though Elys had flipped open the storybook to the first page, he still didn't start reading it aloud, even as Jai settle under the covers beside him. He just sat there looking down at the drawing of the princess in the story, with her sparkling crown and even brighter smile, her dark hair a halo around her head. Elys didn't seem to be seeing the drawing...but another it could have represented to him.
"Elys..."
"When Lyv went dark..." Elys began, his voice small. "When Lyv went dark, she wasn't the only one to disappear from my visions."
Jai didn't say a word as he watched him trace a finger along the edge of the page.
"How can you miss someone when you haven't even met them yet, huh? Who's not even here yet. And if we can't get Lyvi back, she won't ever come...and I'm starting to believe that."
"We'll get Lyv back," Jai told him.
"When? Because you're not any closer than you were when she first disappeared."
But all he did was repeat himself. "We'll get her back. Both of them."
Even though Jai wanted to believe what he was telling him himself, a knot formed in the pit of his stomach and a voice whispered in his head.
You will never be strong enough.
Gods above, it was just like when he kept telling himself when not if Lyv was taken by Corliss and turned dark.
And that happened.
When Elys closed the cover a little too forcefully, it snapped Jai out of his thoughts, too.
"I don't want to read anything tonight," he told him quietly. Elys lifted those light- and navy-blue eyes to Jai's. "Can you stay with me a little while, though? Please?"
Jai nodded as he settled down even more before Elys moved to cocoon himself in the crook of his arm. Neither one of them fell asleep quickly, but didn't say anything else. Elys sniffled a few times, but quickly swiped away all evidence of his tears.
After an hour, both of them were asleep.
And, for the first time in months, both dreamed of Lyv and a certain little princess.
***I thought I'd give you guys a little spark of hope with that last line! I wasn't prepared for how much Elys seemed to grow up, but he's still the little boy we all know and love!
Now, who's ready to see Lyv again and find out more about what's been going on with her?
What are your thoughts? Comment and vote!
Happy reading!
- Ansley***