Leira [Completed]

Chapter Thirty Four

LEIRA'S POV

For a moment, I believed I was dead. Then, the scent of something sweet hit my nostrils, the state of tumult settled in my chest and chaos erupted from within my head.

A soft groan escaped my lips as I opened my eyes to a glamorous room, with strips of golden coating the walls. Framed photographs were omnipresent, with my face existing in one of them.

We were dwarfs below the hefty statue of a lion, surrounded by black-eyed susans.

I wondered how and why I ended up in the magnificent room of Luna Blake.

The faint click of the door suggested her entrance. I did not avert my eyes from the picture as I murmured, "You didn't take it down?"

I thought that my selfish actions roused hostility. The unlikeliness of my photograph peering back at her every time she slumbered was not overlooked.

Luna simply shrugged and said, "I looked good in there."

A lazy grin journeyed to my lips. I missed my best friend.

I drew in a sharp breath before mustering the courage to hold her gaze. "I'm sorry," I said, meaning it.

A tight smile swept across her face, and a flicker of dismay danced in her eyes. I decided this was more significant than asking what transpired.

"I knew you loved him, and it was so selfish of me ever to get close to him." Words were stuck amid my throat. There was a lump residing within, halting my speech. I did not quite have one prepared, though.

"How did you first meet him? How did you and he happen?" she questioned in almost a mutter. We were both avoiding to sound out Justice's name as if it were a dagger with the capability to pierce a soul. Indeed, it was a key to unlock the unpleasant memory of the last encounter we shared.

I drowned in my memories and hooked onto a vision where I first glimpsed his prepossessing eyes.

"He was playing soccer in my forest, and his ball found me. I thought he was a threat, and duelled with him. Neither of us won. After that, we were continually running into each other." An eccentric first meeting, but one which chained me to him.

A delicate, forced smile played on Luna's lips. "I guess fate already decided its always going to be you and him."

"Luna..."

"You had told me about the man you killed. Treyton was his son, wasn't he?"

I nodded, taken aback by the sharp turn of the conversation.

"That's crazy," she mused. "His father worked in the east, just like ours. His family was brutally murdered, and that destroys people." She shrugged as if we spoke of the weather. A quiet chill descended my back. Murdered. It anguished me to know I had a strong inkling of who perpetrated the crime.

"He did not falter," I mumbled. Luna seemed to know what I meant.

"Trey doesn't hesitate when he makes up his mind," she said. "This is one remarkable mess."

I nodded to agree. I was a target, and there were numerous ways I could have it dealt with. I could not decide; I did not want to.

"How did you know I was there?" I began blasting my first question.

"Zak," she whispered as if in a state of disbelief. "He said he observed Trey's unusual behavior. They genuinely care about each other, and Trey was distressed since he has something to lose now. I tracked him down and arrived a moment too late. Your guards only tackled Trey's guards, claiming that they did not want to interfere with your fight because they were confident that you did not require assistance." A snicker sounded, and she continued, "You were holding back. You wouldn't have lost to Treyton."