The Element Table

Chapter 16: The Secret is Out

Philip and Ryia turned to their fellow guardians and saw three faces staring back at them.

"Oh my..." Jacquelyn said pulling her jaw off the ground

"This can't be real" Henry whispered to himself

Philip and Ryia quickly pulled themselves up off the ground and stepped away from each other. There were glances between them all, except Alianor, who didn't seem to be surprised by what they just saw.

"Are you two a couple?" Jacquelyn asked

Philip looked at Ryia as if asking her permission to tell the truth

"Yes" Ryia sighed

"Really?" the young blonde's eyes lit up "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Well..." Ryia began

"It was a secret!" Henry cut her off

It was all starting to make sense to him now. The longing glances, the longer than normal handshakes at formal events. Gawain's family never took sides in the Golding/Felstead rivalry, but Ryia always seemed to pick a side, and it wasn't his.

Jacquelyn grinned at them. "A secret romance!" she squealed "Did you have secret meetings in the forest?"

Ryia's dark skin was enough to hide her blush, but Philip's pale one didn't do much.

"You did!" Jacquelyn grinned

As the youngest guardian giggled in excitement, the idea of a secret romance appealing to her, Henry smirked to himself. He could use this piece of information to his advantage. But the smirk on his face fell when he noticed Alianor's silence.

"You don't seem surprised by this information," he said

"I'm not" she replied

"Why not?" her best friend asked

"I saw them holding hands yesterday" she admitted

"And you didn't tell me?" Jacquelyn asked

"Didn't think it was my place to tell" she answered

She smiled at the two, seeing how grateful they were that she kept their secret.

"Now that this out in the open and you two have had your say..." Alinaor said pointing to her best friend and Henry "Can we get going please?"

Not wanting to talk more about their relationship, Ryia and Philip quickly nodded. After getting their satchels back, the five headed off again.

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

The search for the book was getting nowhere and Caine was beginning to get frustrated. He had sent his warriors to search both houses from top to bottom, and still, there was no sign of the book

He had to start rethinking things, It was obvious that the two former guardians didn't have it in their possession. But who did? The King didn't have it. There was no way the former guardians on the other side had it. Who was he missing? Maybe the missing granddaughters found it and used it to get past the barrier. But they couldn't use it without having magic. Did they have magic already? He doubted that.

He was again in the throne room, looking out the window over the city. He looked around at his old home. He didn't miss it, but he couldn't help the memories that flooded his mind. From where he stood he could see the town square, where he and his former friends played as young boys, annoying the shop owners. Further away, to his right, he could see a field. That was where Merek would bring them to practice their magic, far away from the people they could hurt, or the buildings Geoffrey could accidentally burn down.