The Fall of Vequera

Chapter forty | Koa

LOCATION: FARWATER, ELER - LOTUS COVE - EREWOOD, AZOZ

YEAR: 621 C.E

FIVE MONTHS AGO, HIS FEELINGS ABOUT THE PRINCESS WERE DIFFERENT THEN ONE DAY...EVERYTHING SEEMED TO CHANGE.

Koa did not understand. It was slow and calm at first. Then gradually it became something he could not control. He just wanted to be around her. To annoy her. To talk to her. To make her laugh. To protect her. To be anything she wanted him to be. It did not matter. But he could not have her. Valia was to marry someone else. Of her choosing but someone else nonetheless. And his mother forbid Valia from marrying anyone of her blood.

They could only remain friends. He knew that much. At times, it was hard to tell, if she felt the same for him as he did her. Everything was so confusing. The way she looked at him felt good but she had looked him the same way, she had months prior. As he listened to her snore, he thought of nothing but her. He probably shouldn't though. It wouldn't help anything. Like her falling asleep with her head on his shoulder. That didn't help. His emotions about her seemed to consume most of his nightly thoughts. Which he knew was wrong to think about her in that way but his mind would wander. He wouldn't vocalize what he thought about but it was pretty obvious. Shameful but obvious. "Valia?" He called out to her, shaking her lightly. A groan left her lips.

He noticed the guards from the night before. They roamed around Eastcliff at times during their travels but they mostly stayed in Farwater. As a kid, Farwater had seemed so magical to him. A place free of the ruins of the dark age. A land untouched by man. Many of the litinae in Farwater will never in their lives meet a human. He saw the glances Valia got as they made their way through the city.

Buildings scattered all around. Everything was made of the nature around them. Floating castles in the east. A water system running down through them. Castles made of rock in the west and many underground villages. Then he wondered where his mother had gone to, her leaving them unattended felt weird. Considering their situation. There was knock at the door. It stirred Valia awake and she glanced up at Koa with sleep still in her eyes.

"We have to leave." Drystan said from the other side of the door.

"We'll be out in a minute." Koa replied.

Valia moved from his arms and started to get dressed. And he did the same. Neither of them said a word. His mind seemed to quiet down but only for a moment before they stepped out of the inn. The air bit at his skin. Horses neighed softly as everyone mounted them. His mother seemed to be lost in thought before she turned to Valia and they fell into a short conversation as they began their journey up again. "Where were you?" Valia asked his mother plainly. Her voice commanded respect and his mother didn't seem to mind. It was like she wanted her to be that way.

"Making sure we didn't have any issues on our way to Azoz." Malvolia explained.

Koa gave them space to talk as he turned Mary who rode next to him silently. Her eyes seemed to change slightly from their normal golden color to a almost white color. But only when she was using her gifts he noticed. As they rode, they remained golden as ever. He wondered if she noticed it. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, turning to her.

He remember hearing about how her father grew up in Farwater. Being in Farwater didn't seem to bring her joy. It was like it was stripping her of something. Like a leech. "I'm okay." She said with distant eyes. Koa glanced over his shoulder at his brother who stared at Mary warily. He was still hung up on what happened with Zeohr's temple. Drystan rarely ever used his gifts. He rarely prayed to Oias. He was ashamed. His brother feared himself. Feared his gifts and what they could do. At the temple was the first time, he had used them since they had to rebuild the arena after he got so upset at one of their cousins that the roof of the arena collapse. Drystan was the reason why none of their cousins trained altogether anymore and why they had a strict schedule to follow.