Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~~~ It's Better This Way ~~~

L awoke feeling more rested than she should have, given the late night they'd all had. They'd been set up in a new, more spacious room with three beds and screen doors between for privacy. They'd talked long into the night about what they'd been doing, Bryce explained how dull his duties were, how he'd rather have been with them, but how he'd learned a lot.

They discussed the ball and Bryce told them what to expect; it sounded fancy, but L could already feel the pressure of everyone seeing her there. It was almost six in the morning when they'd finally settled down to sleep. L's hand rested in Bryce's, they'd both simultaneously moved the screen door so they could see each other.

And their hands were still entwined when she woke, she could feel his fingers gripping hers. She smiled to herself and looked over to see Bryce still snoozing. She gently pulled her hand from his so she could sit up, but still managed to wake him.

"Hmm... L? You okay?"

L smiled at his sleepy voice, "I'm fine, go back to sleep."

Bryce nodded and turned over, his breathing leveled as he fell back to sleep. L watched him for a moment, his long hair trailed over one shoulder and most of the bed. He looked peaceful, and handsome, and unburdened by all of the responsibilities he held during the day. L wished she could offer him more of that, but her worries from the past few days came flooding back. She knew she would have to talk to him before they left for Paguea.

She was almost tempted to skip the ball altogether, she could talk with Bryce now and make a quick getaway to Emrik's. The urge was so great she almost woke Bryce, but her reluctance to have the conversation go badly was steadily winning out. Beside that, it wouldn't be proper to skip a ball intended in her honour, the Elves would probably try to refuse giving her the potion. She tried to imagine how Emrik would react to being told what to do with it.

"Morning, you look cheery." Robbie called over from his bed, his head peeping around the screen door.

The sound of his voice must have woken Bryce because he turned over and let out a loud, unnecessary yawn.

"Morning. Everyone okay?"

And they were, mostly, L pushed away her sinking feeling in favour of enjoying their morning. Bryce had said he wasn't going to leave her side until it was time to get ready for the ball, and he'd meant that. They managed to have breakfast together and headed out to the palace grounds for a walk before someone inevitably interrupted. Surprisingly though, they didn't want Bryce, the queen had sent for L.

"I guess I'll catch up with you guys in a bit?"

Bryce leaned down to peck L's cheek and whispered, "Be careful, and go easy on my mother."

He pulled back with a grin and L let the Elf guard lead her away. She sighed, this had to be something ball related. She hoped it wouldn't take long and she could rejoin the guys on their walk.

Unfortunately, the moment she walked into the queen's quarters, she knew that wouldn't be happening. There was a team of four Elves standing beside the queen, two rows of clothes on mobile rails, and two large chests overflowing with more.

L bowed to the queen, but she was unable to take her eyes off of the chaos that surrounded them.

"Good morning, Keeper, I hope you slept well."

"As well as can be expected, Your Majesty. May I ask, what is all of this?"

The queen smiled, looking rather excited and gestured to the Elves standing quietly to the side.

"This is your entourage for the day, they'll be helping you to get ready." She swept over towards the clothes, "These are some of the outfits I managed to source, I hope they're to your liking."