Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

"So, I don't know how...well perceived...our entrance will be if this is how you're wanting to go back to Ayveri," Cleo said as she straightened her now impeccably clean red jacket. "Even with how great I look in this. My shadows...well, who's to say everyone in Ayveri won't start screaming when they see them?"

Jai couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face, having missed Cleo being around even though it hadn't been but a few weeks since they said goodbye in Laria.

"We'll be fine," Lyv snorted as she knelt down in front of Elys, helping him finish with the buckles on his boots. Over the last few hours since they'd been back, the boy had yet to leave her and Jai's side. He didn't seem to want to anytime soon either. "Your shadows...they're not scary unless you want them to be."

"Well, all things considered, I think people will still look at them the wrong way, look at me the wrong way."

"You do realize you're a queen, right? And a great one at that? And you've got a pretty powerful cousin who will come to your defense?"

Cleo heaved a dramatic sigh, a smile tinged at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, I guess. Plus, I'd rather not have to spend a week on a ship. Me and the sea don't mix very well."

Kalla was the one to grin and lean in Jai's direction to whisper, "She vomits every time, no matter what. Even with a tonic to help with nausea. She was always a dramatic child...and an even more dramatic female now when it comes to it, as that sigh suggested."

Cleo leaned over and tried to hit her, but Kalla just laughed and danced out of the way.

With Elys close to her side and clutching her hand, Lyv walked over to Jai, her smile never leaving her face as she looked at him. Over the last few hours, she actually hadn't stopped. It was the most Jai had seen her smile in...well, in so long.

Gideon told him about the three days after his death as they packed up the tent with Mik and Soren. How Lyv refused to leave his side and screamed at anyone who even tried to touch his body. How Gideon would stay with her every night just to make sure she was all right.

"It was like what happened after the siege all over again," he muttered. "Except this time...this time it was real. You were gone and she knew it. She'd felt your bond snap and yet she still held onto it as tight as she could. It ultimately brought her to you, to bring you back."

And Jai didn't plan on leaving her side or anyone else's anytime soon.

"Are we ready?" Lyv asked then, grasping his hand in hers as she curled herself into his side.

"Definitely."

Jai was more than ready, as was the rest of their family. They were going back to Ayveri just for a few short days, then setting sail back to Escarral with the rest of the Escarrali people who would be eager to get back home. Of course, word had spread of what happened and Lyv's death had likely already made it to Dalcaine, but what they knew hadn't was that she and Jai were alive and well. Jai could just imagine how that was going to go over, especially when they planned on appearing right in the palace courtyard.

Camilla and Soren were the only ones who were staying behind with the armies. Michel was as well, making Jai promise to let Laurel know he would be home to her and Archer in just a few days' time. They were going to start the cleanup of Escarral, though Lyv's magic did most of that already. They'd promised Ada to watch over everyone while she was away with them, but the Queen of Escarral couldn't wait to get back home, especially after she'd gone into the capital with Lyv and saw that absolutely everything was the same. The two of them had come back in tears to tell them all.