The Castle Under The Moon

Chapter Seven

About halfway through the story Luna falls asleep making Jaiyana chuckle softly.

Sighing, Jaiyana stands and grabs a small blanket that was thrown over the back of a reading chair and lays it gently over Luna.

She tilts her head to the left, opening the library doors, and then picks Luna up, cradling the girl to her chest, much like a mother would.

Jaiyana slowly makes her way down the stairs and onto the second floor, trying not to disturb the sleeping child in her arms.

Once she makes it she turns right and walks all the way to the end of the hallway. When she gets to Luna's door she turns to the right and tilts her head, once again, to open the girls bedroom door.

The room that Jaiyana had chosen for Luna was one of her absolute favorites.

With the help of magic, the entire ceiling, at night, showed the sky that was littered with stars, along with the moon that hung over the castle. Jaiyana used to come and watch the moon make its way across the sky at night, it was absolutely breathtaking.

During the day it was the same but the sky was brighter and it was the sun that moves across the ceiling with clouds instead of stars.

The bed that sat in the center of the room is colossal and completely full of fluffy pillows and blankets.

There was also a large window that faces the side of the castle and a balcony that was right beside it.

Jaiyana was hoping that Luna would love the room as much as she did, knowing that it was the best one inside the entire castle.

When she laid the sleeping Luna on the bed she made sure that she was completely tucked in and surrounded by pillows before leaning down with closed eyes and placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, little one." Jaiyana whispers before making her way through the room and back into the hallway.

She was just closing the door when she notices Gheorgie standing beside it.

"How did it go?" He asks, giving Jaiyana his arm.

"I decided to start slow and tell her the story about Shadow but she only made it halfway through." Jaiyana smiles at him and links their arms as they begin walking to the stairs.

"Asher was very interested in what I had to say and says he can't wait to be of age." Gheorgie chuckles, turning to his right when they make it down the stairs completely.

"He's a boy, Gheorgie, a boy that has lived his entire life thinking that he was a human, I don't know what you expected." She tells him as the both sit, side by side, at a table that was in the middle of the kitchen.

While Gheorgie rolls his eyes Jaiyana snaps her fingers and two crystal glasses full of milk appear in front of them.

"What are we doing? Neither of us are parents, Jaiyana." Gheorgie sighs, using both of his fists to rub his eyes while Jaiyana thinks about an answer as she sips on her milk.

"You're the one who has to raise them." She points out, a small sad smile on her lips.

"How dare you leave me." Gheorgie chokes out, trying to hide his discomfort with her sentence.

"We will do this together for as long as we can." He tells her as he grabs her left hand and brings it to his chest.

"You're a very strong man, Gheorgie. You can do this with or without me and all that matters are the children, they are the future." Jaiyana whispers, trying to hold her tears back as she gazes at the man beside her.

Jaiyana's heart completely shatters when she hears Gheorgie start to sob.

She pulls him to her in a tight embrace and lets her tears fall as well. They were both scared for what was going to happen in the next year.

Though she hasn't talked about it much, Jaiyana thought about it. Dying. It sounded so final.

"I don't want you to leave me." Gheorgie mumbles, trying to stop his tears.

Gheorgie was scared about the day that he would wake up and be notified that his best friend was no longer alive, the toll that it would have on the kids and her people. He was scared to be alone, to do all of the things that Jaiyana does until Luna was of age.

He didn't like to entertain the fact that she wouldn't be standing beside him anymore, that he was going to lose the person that he has never been without.

"We must sleep, we have much to do tomorrow." Jaiyana pulls away, sniffling and wiping at her tears that were slowly coming to a stop.

"I love you." Gheorgie tells her, a serious look on his face.

"I love you, too. Very much." She whispers, grabbing his face in her hands she leans down and places a kiss on his nose.

They both stand and link arms, walking in total silence as they make their way to the very top floor and down the hall to her bedroom.

Gheorgie and Jaiyana give each other one last hug before Jaiyana shuts her bedroom door and begins to undress.

Gheorgie closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he turns and opens the door to his room that was right behind him, across from Jaiyana's.

As he began to undress himself he wondered what the plans were for the next day and what it would be like to raise the two children.

**** Authors note ****
What's your favorite mythical creature and why?