Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Even though Kalla had claimed otherwise, maybe time worked slightly different in their world versus Laria. Jai could have sworn an hour passed after he crossed through the portal and he looked back expecting Lyv to be just a few moments behind him.

He waited as the others readjusted themselves to their world, looking around to see if anything changed in the weeks they'd been gone.

He waited.

And waited longer.

Finally, Lyv reappeared as the portal warped around her and finally closed after her feet touched the ground...before she turned and doubled over, ridding her stomach of its contents from their breakfast that morning.

Jai rushed over to her side, helping hold her hair with one hand while smoothing his other along her back as she heaved. When she was finished, she stood, swiping the back of her hand along her mouth as Jai handed her water. He couldn't help but give her a small smile as she rinsed out her mouth and spit it out into the dirt.

"Why am I the only one who's affected by that?" she groaned, then took another drink.

"Don't know," Jai shrugged. "Are you feeling all right now?"

"No," she groaned, closing her eyes, and leaned her forehead against his chest. "My stomach won't stop twisting."

"You want to wait here a little while until it's settled?"

Lyv groaned again but shook her head. "It'll pass. At this point, I bet it's nerves."

"Nerves, sure. It's not just that you've got a weak stomach that can't handle..."

Jai jumped and laughed as Lyv pinched his sides before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. Breathing in her scent, he couldn't help noticing it was slightly stronger, her magic – both light and dark – tuning itself back their world. It was protecting her, too, more so than usual. It even hesitated as Jai's own magic felt around her, making sure she was all right. If hers had teeth, it would have snapped and growled at him.

"You good now?"

Lyv leaned back before he reached up and brushed the stray strands of hair back from her sweaty forehead. She still looked a little green. "I guess...so let's go home."

***

Unlike a few weeks before, they didn't take their time going through Ethran, stopping multiple times to rest. They flew until they reached Palrion later that night, all of them exhausted as they walked up the back steps of Mik's parents' inn. Of course, they were welcomed yet again and given the same rooms they'd stayed in before. Lyv, having hardly touched her dinner, went up to bed before them all, yawning as she did.

Just by the look on her face, Jai knew she still wasn't feeling well, though she still said it was nerves. And it was by the fleeting thoughts he caught as she left the dining room – what they all had to do and prepare once they were back home in Ayveri, how she wanted to go see her sisters and the rest of their family before they left, how she wanted to talk to Bridget and Alberich and tell them everything about Cleo and Arloerin.

By the time Jai lifted a half asleep Elys into his arms and walked upstairs to lay him down in his room across the hall from theirs, Lyv had already showered, dressed in a stolen tunic from Jai's own bag, and was fast asleep, so heavy her dreams were just blurs she wouldn't remember. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, her skin was slightly warmer than it usually was. Brows furrowing, Jai placed the back of his hand against it, then her cheek. Huh, maybe she was getting sick.