Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Lyv shifted on the bed as Elys ran for them, jumping just as she had and landing in a giggling heap in front of her. His laughter shifted the mood drastically with both her parents smiling at him. With that, she pushed the previous thoughts to the back of her mind, not wanting to burden herself or any of them at that moment. The conversation had already been too heavy that morning.

"What are you doing?" Lyv asked Elys then, raising a brow.

"Nothin'," he grinned. He was still in his nightclothes, his hair sticking up all over the place. He sat up and crawled into her lap, which allowed her to run her fingers through the tangles to try and tame it. "Just coming to say good morning to you and your momma and your daddy."

Lyv looked up to see both of her parents smiling at the two of them.

"Well, good morning to you, too, Elys," Bridget greeted. She glanced up at Lyv. "Lyv told us all about you this morning, so feel like we already know you."

"Lyvi told me about you, too!" he said excitedly. "She wanted to give me some time to get better before we went anywhere. And I saw you before in a lot of my visions of everyone. I like meeting them for real, though, and I finally get to. And I know she's missed you, too."

"Where's Posy?" Lyv asked him then. "Is she still sleeping?"

"Nope. Jett came to get her. Guess he wanted to show her around. I think they like each other, don't you? But guess what also? You remember you telling me all about the secret passages here in the palace? I found the one you talked about! Can we go exploring later? Because I think it'd be fun and we could..."

Lyv's mind started to wander as he continued his rambles before he turned his attentions to her parents, talking about anything and everything. She found herself absentmindedly wrapping her arms around the boy in her lap, holding him close and protectively. But when she would look up at the three of them talking, Bridget and Alberich noticed this, realizing why she did and knowing the burden Lyv wanted to protect him from. At least for a little while.

But for now, they had other things to focus on, like getting dressed for the day and heading down for breakfast. Before she knew it, an hour had passed and Lyv had to stop Elys's rambles just as he got onto another about dragons.

Even though Elys pouted and complained about not being able to stay in his pajamas all day, Lyv still got him to dress and properly fixed his unruly hair. Of course, he babbled on as she helped him into his clothes, tie up the laces of his boots, and comb through his hair as he brushed his teeth. It was easier when she promised to show him around the city...and get some sweets from one of her favorite bakery shops. That got him to hurriedly drag her from her rooms by the hand. She was laughing as they rushed down the hallway and then the stairs, passing by the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast of toast and jam since he was too excited to go eat with everyone else in the dining room.

Except when they left, Elys didn't drag her to the front doors of the palace, but rather out back to the gardens where Roshan was. The dragon was sprawled out in an expanse of grass, watching buzzing bees and colorful butterflies go from one flower to another. When he saw Lyv and Elys, though, he turned his attentions to them, especially when Elys ran over to him and started rubbing his exposed belly. That made Roshan roll over to his back and begin to hum contently.

"Your daddy Bence will be down here in a second. You promised him he'd get to officially meet Roshan and we'd spend the day with him, right?" Elys stated before she even got a word out.