A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 15: Why would I Miss You?

I sat on the chair reading the books, while Emma was sitting on my bed sketching outlines of dresses. Those books were not for humans to read—everything in them was freaking me out, but atleast I knew what to expect— so that was a relief. I had learnt that faeries do eat bread. Neither they were repelled by primroses or daisies, which meant all that information from the internet were wrong. But Ryan had told me iron was indeed deadly to them, so that was something.

The book also said that the faeries were not totally immortal— they did die, but only if they wanted to— otherwise they could live for millenia, unless they were killed.

"Do you think Eleanor has dresses from wherever she came, in her room?" asked Emma. I was so engrossed in reading that at first I did not understand what she was talking about, but then it dawned on me.

"Yeah, I guess."

Emma thought for a while and then said, "Will you ask Ryan if I can see them? I did some research and I've found out that faeries take fashion quite seriously."

"Uh...huh."

"Fine, I'll ask Ryan. You keep reading your book."

"Yeah, sorry," I faced Emma. "Moreover, it will be best if you ask. If I ask he will probably just smile and say something else entirely."

Emma was grinning as she said, "He is so into you." I only glared at her and then went back to reading.

It was written in the book that Odalis, was divided into four kingdoms— Kingdom of Land, Kingdom of Water, Kingdom of Air and Kingdom of Fire. Along with that, there was The Band of Forests and The Village of Magic. I was looking for a map of the kingdoms but could not find one. The book also said about some creatures of Odalis.

I was so preoccupied with the book that I did not notice Ryan in my room until he put a hand on my shoulder. I jolted so hard that I nearly fell from my chair and most certainly earned a chuckle from Ryan.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I brought you lunch," he said motioning towards the small round table by the window.

"You forget to eat too often, you know." I wanted to contradict him, but he was actually right. Ever since I came to his house, I had been forgetting to eat. Time seemed to be ticking away so fast that I did not even know it was afternoon.

"You could have called me." I told him.

Ryan just made a lazy sweep of his hand and said, "Always a pleasure to bring you food, Spark."

"Well..." I did not know what to say. At last, I muttered a thanks and went up to the window. There were two chairs across from one another. Ryan pulled one for me to sit, then himself sat down on the other chair.

"I thought you will go."

Ryan looked at me. "If you want so."

He was about to get up but I stopped him. "No. I— I just thought you will not want to sit while I ate." I gave him an apologetic smile.

One side of his lips curled up but he did not say anything. I ate in silence— while Ryan watched me eat. I did not know what was he thinking but his eyes were focused on me, and they seemed to gleam occasionally. After a while, which seemed like an eternity to me, he asked, "You learned anything?"

I knew what he was talking about. I nodded. "You saw me putting daisies over the mantle and you knew they are of no use. Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was fun watching you taking precautions against me."

"It was embarrassing," I said, picking on my food.

"No, it was not. You did the right thing. In fact, if it would have been me in place of you, I would have done the same thing." I looked at Ryan. But he went on, "As much as I would like for you to trust me, I understand your concerns, Venus. You take as much time you need for you to fully trust me."

"Thank you. For understanding," I said to him, smiling a little.

***

It was already dark outside when Emma told me we were going to Ryan's mother's room to see her dresses from Odalis. I did not really want to look at dresses but I had nothing better to do and I wanted to keep Emma company, so I went. I also wondered where Ryan was. I had not heard from him since he left my room after lunch.

Emma was looking at certain stiches, patterns and at all the other things she wanted to look at, and I sat on the bed fiddling with the pages of a book— a bad habit I had picked up recently.

At the same time, I heard a noise coming from a room not so far away- the same kind of sound I heard in the morning, which meant Ryan was there practicing aim on his poor dummies. I excused myself and went to see Ryan.

Standing at the threshold, I watched Ryan tightening a bow string. He was wearing tall, old-fashioned boots, dark pants and a pale blue shirt— a perfect contrast between dark and light. His skin showed through the rolled sleeves and unbuttoned collar of his shirt—that dishevelled sight of Ryan stirred something in me. I cleared my throat drawing Ryan's attention towards me.

"Do you need something?" he asked me.

"Uh...no."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. Then went back to his bow.

I could not understand if I should enter his room, I mean, I wanted to, but he did not say anything. Maybe he wanted to be alone. I stood there for a while, simply watching him, then decided to go inside the room.

"So...you belong to the Kingdom of Water?" I asked Ryan.

"Yes." He was again talking in monosyllables. I hated when he used to do it, but I did not say anything. Instead, I went to the bed and sat beside him.

"You can manipulate water."

"Yes."

"Everyone in your kingdom can?"

"Only the royals and the nobility can." Ryan faced me. He looked at me for some time and then smiled as if realizing something.

Flashing me a grin, he declared, somewhat proudly, "You were missing me."

I tried not to avert my eyes from Ryan as I said, "No I was not."

Ryan's eyes gleamed mischievously. "You know, it won't hurt you to admit it."

His lips curled up. "Nevertheless, I am pleased. "

"Why would I miss you when I can't stand your arrogant arse?" I snapped and got up.

Ryan leaned forward. "You tell me that." I groaned loudly and stomped out of the room, but I could hear his deep, sensuous laugh all the way to the stairs.

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I hope you liked Chapter 15 of "A World of Treason and Tides". Do vote and comment😊

So, do you think Venus was missing Ryan?

Also, I am kinda excited for the next chapter and I seriously hope to publish it as soon as possible. Fingers crossed. 🤞🤞