Jovari the Blue

Chapter 27: A Fairytale

Esterpine

Leah felt Jovari's presence before she saw him. She wasn't sure how, only that she had an inexplicable awareness of him whenever he was near. Like now.

She was flat on her back, a bed of moss cushioning her body, gazing up at the canopy above. Birds swooped about, building nests and flirting. They weren't like the birds she was used to. Instead, they were bright and colorful, similar to the tropical birds she'd seen on nature documentaries, only, even more beautiful.

She'd been here for hours, just killing time. Thinking, mostly, about how things had turned out. Being in Dragonwall was a lot to digest, but being here on the outskirts of Esterpine felt like a dream. She needed time to process.

"There you are."

Chills spread over her skin but she ignored them. She couldn't afford to develop feelings for Jovari. Perhaps if it was someone else, she might let herself, but something about him, specifically, terrified her. If she fell in love with him—which she undoubtedly would if she allowed it, because it would be too easy with him—then he'd break her heart. She couldn't afford that. She'd suffered too many losses already, and didn't intend for another.

"Here I am," she said blandly.

A shadow fell over her. Jovari stared down at her, his hands on his hips, before sinking to the ground beside her. "They've only been gone a few hours and already I'm anxious," he muttered.

"Claire and Talon?"

"No, the sun and the moon, gods woman. Yes, Claire and Talon."

She shrugged, but realized it didn't show in the position she was in. A position she didn't like to be in, with how he was looming over her, even sitting, so she pushed herself up, bringing them eye level.

Claire and Talon had left on a supposed quest-thingy earlier this morning, though she knew it was in search of the king tree, which was, apparently, a magical tree that governed the world here. Normally, Claire would have gone alone for something like this—according to Taylynn—but Talon refused to let her out of his sight. He was quite dangerously adamant about it, in fact. So they'd set off and would be gone for who could say how long. A day? Two?

"Do you think the tree will heal her?" she found herself asking.

"It better," Jovari said. He exhaled and scrubbed a hand over his face. While he appeared as perfect as ever—stupid magical creatures with their stupid magical healing abilities and their stupid long lives—his expression made him look stressed and tired. It was different from the usual devil-may-care look he often displayed.

"Jovari...are you okay?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Why wouldn't I be?" He sounded almost defensive.

She sighed. "Everything has been focused on Claire and the kingdom, on what has happened, on getting her home to her people. Understandably so. But...the rest of us are important too. You're important too. So yes, are you okay?"

"I... No, Leah, I'm not okay." He wasn't looking at her, instead, he was focused on something far away.

She reached out, trailing her fingers down the side of his jaw, then quickly retracted her hand, cursing herself. His eyes darted to hers, sharpening. "Sorry...I..."

"It's all right," he said, his voice soft. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, like he was digging into her with his gaze, like he was trying to find every hidden secret she carried, everything that made up who she was.