Mortal Fantasy

✴｜chapter twenty-two

It is twilight, the sky ensconced in bronze. I am lying upon a hill, the grass soft against my bare arms.

The wind smells like flowers—I feel a laugh coming up inside my throat. I cannot remember exactly why I am laughing, but as I roll over on the hillside a pair of firm hands comes around my waist, and pure bliss courses through my veins when I take Meir by the face and kiss him solidly on the mouth.

"You seem happy today," he says, tracing my cheek absently. The breeze catches in his soft blond hair as he props himself up on one elbow and tilts his head at me. The wind is cold along my bare ankles, so I shiver closer to him and take his shirt between my fingers. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing in particular," I say, running my hands along the fabric of his shirt. "Do you expect me to flatter you and say it's because I'm happy to see you?"

"It wouldn't hurt you to be honest," he snorts, poking a finger into my forehead. I bat him away, and he shakes his head at me. "I'm happy to see you."

I roll onto my back, trying to mask a smile. "Of course you are."

"You're excruciatingly stubborn," he grins, lying down next to me. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

I play with the lace around my collar and consider this. "Not really. Barthamieu, maybe. No one is ever honest with me."

"You're too pretty," he sighs. "That's the problem."

I swat at him. "You're secretly very happy about that, aren't you?"

"No," Meir insists, catching my fingers. "It makes it hard for me to keep you to myself. Do you know how irritating it is to see every man on the street staring at you?"

"No," I mumble, pinching my mouth together. I won't let on that I secretly delight in his overprotective nature. "I don't."

"Ithena," he sighs. He sits up and leans over me, pressing a kiss to my brow. "You promise me that you'll stay by my side?"

I laugh, because it is a silly question. What could keep me from you? "Of course," I say, wrapping my arms around him, breathing in the scent of the wind through his shirt.

"I promise."

* * * * *

I gasp awake, bending down over the sheets. The phantoms of a vivid dream linger on my skin, and I look to the terrace to see the balcony doors slightly ajar, letting a chilly wind come through the room.

Adlyn sits by the hearth, the firelight against her petite figure melting into moonlight across the floor. At the sound of my awakening, she hurriedly stands and comes over to me. "Ithena? Ithena, are you alright?"

"N-nothing," I breathe, pressing the heel of my palm to my forehead. My hair is tousled and damp where it sticks against my neck. "It was just a dream. I'm sorry if I startled you." I exhale. "Could you close the balcony doors?"

"Oh, the wind must have blown them open," Adlyn says sheepishly, hurrying over to the doors. "I'm sorry if that woke you."

"Not at all," I say, feeling a dull throb in my chest. Why, of all people, did I have to dream about Meir? Was it not enough to break down again and again?

I rub a hand through my hair, trying to dispel the thought. "What were you doing? Is that a notebook?"

Adlyn tends to the fire with a pair of tongs, then bends down to pick up a small book and quill pen from the floor. "I... well, I write, sometimes. Mostly since I came to the palace. It's nothing, really."

I tilt my head, realizing I know very little about the young maid. "Nothing really?" I pat the space on the bed next to me. "Come sit."

Adlyn smiles ruefully and clambers up besides me. I fluff up the pillows behind us, setting them so that we can sit up comfortably, and pull her back onto the soft padding. "How did you end up here? I guess I've never really thought about the palace staffing. The guards are angels, but not the maids, are they?"