Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

As soon as Jai walked back into his room in the Escarrali palace, his back hit the wall as he closed his eyes. He slowly lowered himself to the ground, one knee bent close to his chest and the other stretched out in front of him, and ran a hand through his hair.

What just happened with Lyv...he hadn't been prepared...and it wasn't the best outcome either.

Earlier that morning, they'd been laughing and touching and getting close again...and now she was pushing him away as much as she could. One step into the Escarrali capital city and the progress they'd made had been reverted.

Maybe he shouldn't have gone to her rooms, the ones they'd shared for those few glorious days once they had gotten back in the city from that tiny port town. Because all he could see when he looked at that bed was her writhing with pleasure, lying against the fur blanket and nails raking into his back as he moved above her...

Not the best image to assault his memories when it was just the two of them and they were already both so on edge.

But he'd finally got one of the first things off his chest he wanted to tell her – that he understood she was still angry at him for lying about who Amory really was. He was angry at himself for keeping the secret so long and wished he could rewind time to tell her the truth sooner. Who knew where they would have been by that moment then? Certainly not fighting as they were.

Jai couldn't help but snort. Well, maybe they would have been fighting, but over less trivial things. Because that was the majority of what they'd done as Princess Alyvia of Escarral and Amory of Ayveri, especially when they were both so hard-headed and never wanted to budge.

But if he had told her the truth...would they have all that they did then? Like those who had come into their lives because of what happened?

Enough sulking. He needed to make himself present.

Jai stood and headed for where his bag sat on the bed, pulling a leather tie from one pocket to pull his hair halfway up, knotting it at the back of his head. Lyv's nieces already asked him if they could braid it when he'd followed them after she'd disappeared upstairs, which sent them all into a fit of laughter...and even more so when Jai winked and agreed to let them.

This dinner with the royal family of Escarral...well, it was going to be one for the books, especially with all of those kids. He could already hear their distant shrieking from downstairs as he walked down the hallway, passing Lyv's door just before it opened. He didn't even look back when they stepped into the hallway and she began following behind him.

And she stayed just a dozen feet away, never saying a word or picking up her pace to catch up with his long strides.

It wasn't until the voices of several others found them that she did, mostly because it was a few she was familiar with. Gideon and Thia were talking with Merek and Evelien, who had the two-year-old Balian on her hip. Gods, that child looked exactly like his father, who Jai failed during the siege as well. But Merek and Evelien had found each other after and Merek had obviously become the father Balian would have been missing in his life.

Camilla and Soren were there as well. Though it had only been a few weeks since they last saw each other, Cam turned that beautiful smile of hers to him...until she saw Lyv behind him.

"Lyv!" she called excitedly.

The princess walked quickly around him, giving him a noticeably wide berth, and headed for the general. And as soon as the females were both within arms' reach, they hugged each other tightly, laughing and talking like months hadn't passed since they saw one another. Even Soren joined in a moment later, giving Lyv a tight squeeze before Camilla got her again.