Five Months Later
Jesika watched women, men and children of all different types of backgrounds dance jovially in their large ballroom to live music. It had been five months since that fateful battle throughout Querencia. Her injuries were becoming less noticeable slowly, though still giving her a hard time sometimes.
Grumor had yet to strike again, fear of Jesika's new beast keeping them at bay. As for Audric, though the royal council had encouraged her to sentence him to death, she had refused. She knew all too well what a desperate need for revenge could cause. Besides, she still had too many questions to ask him. There had to be a reason behind all of this. She had yet to visit him, needing some time to heal from his betrayal, but her hopes for closure had not let up. So, instead he stayed locked up in Querencia's deepest prison.
Darryn had gone back to being her personal guard, but unfortunately Aquila had to take leave from her knighthood for a while, still dealing with the trauma she had endured, staying with her parents back home. As for Rowan? Well, he was ever the same. He was glad his parents were safely back in their manor and went back to studying beasts in the library every day. His newest beast of study was Audric's very own dragon. He had yet to report his findings to any of the three, wanting to know everything possible before opening up about it.
As for the two of them? They grew in their friendship, getting to know each other rather slowly. He helped Darryn guide Jesika through physical therapy and read to her boring information from his beast encyclopedia when she couldn't fall asleep. Their raincheck hadn't been cashed in yet, their friendship remaining simply that. A friendship. Yet, whenever Jesika saw him, she had to fight to keep the raincheck out of her mind.
And of course, the most important question. How was Chilly? Chilly was safely in the castle, happy to be back with her owner. The maids were able to hide Chilly away while Audric was in power.
Darryn approached Jesika where she sat in her throne, watching the civilians dancing in the ballroom. He sat beside her on the floor, looking up at her.
"Why aren't you dancing?" Darryn asked.
Jesika shrugged. "No one to dance with," she said simply.
He chuckled, standing once again. He stood before her; his hand outstretched. "Now you do have someone to dance with. No more excuses. You have more of a right to celebrate than anyone else in this room."
She smiled, her cheeks coloring slightly. She took his hand, allowing him to gently tug her to her feet and pull her towards the center.
He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her close, and held her other hand in the air. They danced slowly through the room to the soft music, going in gentle, rhythmic circles. Jesika studied his handsome gaze, his soft, caring eyes contrasting with the strength of his jaw.
She slowly laid her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly as they continued to dance.
***
"So, then I explained to him how Cerberuses would obviously beat manticores in a fight. He still didn't believe me though and I had to—" Rowan paused, realizing Aquila wasn't listening, her gaze transfixed on something. He waved his hand in front of her face, saying: "Hello? Aquila?"
She jumped, turning to him. "What?" she asked, confused and a little dazed.
Rowan frowned. He knew Aquila wouldn't answer if he asked what she was looking at, so he looked in the direction she had been to see if he could figure out what she had been staring at. His eyes caught Jesika dancing with Darryn, her head on his shoulder, his arm tight around her. Rowan sighed, lowering his head. Of course, he thought. He had started to notice Aquila's feelings towards Darryn. She, of course, thought Jesika and Darryn were back together.
