“Julia.”
She heard someone saying her name, but it sounded far away.
“Julia.”
She tried to remember where she was. What had happened? Where was Falcon? She was lying on her back, the bedroll was beneath her, and sunlight fluttered sporadically through the tree branches above her, making strange blotchy patterns behind her eyelids. She breathed in deeply; the air smelled like pine and campfire.
“Julia!”
Finally, she opened her eyes and let out a startled gasp. Jade was sitting on her chest, his green eyes staring down at her. She sighed and closed them again.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
“So it seems,” she mumbled.
“Falcon is making some kind of mushy oats for breakfast.”
“So?”
“I’m a cat, not a horse. Tell him to get me fish.”
“You tell him.”
“Oh, you’re funny. Shall I just grab a pen and write it out for him?”
She peeked at him from under half-closed lids. “Can you?”
He just sat there with an impatient look.
She let out a heavy, annoyed sigh. “No hello, glad you’re all right,” she griped. “Just get me food.”
“Did it occur to anyone that maybe your familiar―you know, the one whose life is linked with yours―might be sharing some of your wonderful near-death experience?” He sniffed and his voice grew dramatically sad. “No, you leave me in the middle of the forest, too weak to move, no one to care for me or comfort me in my suffering, in my hour of need.”
“Oh god, I’m sorry! Are you okay?”
“Obviously.” He rolled his eyes and dropped the theatrics. “Will you do something about breakfast now?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“No, I’m hungry.”
She growled at him and he jumped off her to sit beside the bedroll. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Falcon was several feet away cooking oatmeal and watching her, smiling like a child on Christmas morning. She returned his smile, and then reported, “His highness has turned his royal nose up at horse food and demands to have fish instead.”
“Sure. No problem,” Falcon told Jade pleasantly.
“I knew I liked this guy.”
“The river’s that way.” He pointed east with the wooden spoon in his hand, then resumed stirring the contents of the pot that he had over the fire.
Jade glared at him. “Never mind, I take it back.”
Julia laughed as Jade stalked off toward the river. “He’s decided he doesn’t like you.”
Falcon smirked. “I’ll have to live with the heartbreak somehow,” he said dramatically as he lifted the pot off the fire and set it on the ground. He moved over to her and pulled her into his strong embrace, hugging her as close as he could.
She sighed blissfully at the contact. “So did I survive? Or is this heaven?”
He leaned back just enough to look at her. “Yes.”
She laughed happily as she put her arms around his neck, then pulled his lips to hers and kissed him passionately. Her stomach growling a moment later stopped them. They both chuckled. “I’ll get you some food,” he told her, kissing her sweetly once more before reluctantly letting go. He dished her out a bowl of oatmeal with wild strawberries, and handed it to her.
“Thanks.”
He nodded. “How are you feeling?”
“Emotionally? Wonderful.” She grinned at him. “Physically…?” She took a deep breath while she considered it. “Good,” she concluded. “How long was I out?”
“Well, continuously since Cael’s father left. That was the night before last.”
She shook her head. “Wow. Well, I think I’ve probably had enough sleep to last me a week.” She took a bite of her food, and then wondered, “Where’s Cael?”
He shrugged. “No idea, said he’d be back soon,” he answered. “I don’t think he likes staying in one place too long.”
Cael was a strange combination, she thought. Usually people like that were always moving, drumming their fingers or bouncing a knee. Cael, however, was very still―a little too still. He was just, as he had told them, a wanderer by nature.
Falcon looked thoughtful as she finished her breakfast. He set his bowl aside and took something out of a small pouch on his belt. He scooted closer, smiling, making her heart skip a beat. She would never stop adoring the way he looked at her―it was her favorite thing in the world, both worlds even.
“I have something for you,” he murmured. “I should have remembered it sooner, actually.” He took her empty bowl from her and set it down, then opened her right hand and placed something on her palm.
When he took his hand away, she saw the beautiful golden locket and recognized it immediately because of the flower engraved on the front―a lotus, just like her name. She gasped and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Open it,” he told her.
She did, and gasped again. Inside was a tiny portrait of Falcon. She felt tears well up in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t figure out what.
“Lotus gave it to me to give to you.”
“When?” she asked in a whisper. “Why?”
“She knew immediately,” he told her. “The morning after we met her, I went downstairs for breakfast and she was there. The first thing she said was, How long have you loved her?” He smiled at the memory. “Forever, I told her, though I’ve only known for a few days. Just before we entered Mount Aylios, while you were sleeping, she gave me that.” He pointed to the locket. “Someday, she said, when you’re ready to tell her how you feel, give her this.”
“But her father gave this to her.”
He nodded. “I know. I said the same thing. She told me that her mother had given it to him, and then he had given it to her. It’s a gift of love, she explained. It's meant to be given. While you have it, it’s a constant remainder that the person inside the locket loves you. Then, when the time is right, pass it on to someone you love.”
Julia looked down at the delicate necklace in her hand. It meant so much. She ran her finger over the lotus carved into the outside. Lotus’ father had probably named her for this locket, because she was also a gift of love. And now it wasn’t just a symbol of Falcon’s love, but also of Lotus’ love for them both.
“Thank you,” she said as she fastened the golden chain around her neck. The cool locket rested lightly against her chest. She took Falcon’s face in her hands and kissed him. In the next instant, his arms were around her and he was kissing her back fervently. Her heart beat wildly, and a thrill shot through her.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.
“I love you, too,” she returned.
That’s when she noticed Cael sitting across the fire. He was focused on an arrow shaft, adding feathers to the end as if he had been sitting there all along. Julia blushed deeply while Falcon caressed the back of his fingers across her jaw and grinned.
Cael finally looked up. “I think it is safe to say that we will have a good supply of arrows for a while.”
Falcon chuckled. “Yeah, I needed something to keep me busy while I was waiting for you to get back.”
Cael nodded. “Now that we have all the pieces of the orb,” he said, getting straight to business, “we will be traveling to Oraunt next, to find this mage you spoke of?”
“Yeah. We should stay off the road, though,” Falcon said. “Jules and I still have that bounty on our heads.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to ask how I’m doing,” Julia mumbled, a bit put out that he didn't seem to care.
Cael gazed pointedly at Falcon, and then at her. “I gathered you were doing well,” he said with an amused tone.
She blushed and looked down. “Well… yeah…” she muttered. After a moment, when her cheeks cooled, she asked, “Cael… can I hug you?”
He smiled and set down the arrow. “Of course.”
She crawled over to him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
“I am glad you are okay,” he told her sincerely.
“We’re lucky he got back so quickly,” Falcon said when she returned to his side. “Only a day and a half. Any longer, just a minute or two, even…” He sighed. “You wouldn’t be here.”
“But Chendal was a two-day walk. How fast are you?” she wondered.
“Animal messenger,” Cael answered simply. “I sent a bird ahead of me. My father met me partway.”
“I still think you could have told me you were going to do that,” Falcon grumbled lightly.
“Messengers do not always work,” Cael replied. “I might not have returned in time―I was almost too late as it was. I did not wish to give you false hope.”
“I wish I could have met your father,” Julia said, “and thanked him personally.”
Cael nodded. “He had to get back to Chendal. He, and most of the other clerics at the temple, are still working, still helping people, though they must to do so in secret now.”
“That is so stupid,” Julia muttered. “How does closing Aryst’s temples, and trying to stop the healing clerics from doing their job, serve Xavien or Kieran in any way?”
“They want Malluk to become the only god, the only divine power,” Cael answered. “They do not care for the welfare of the people.”
She sighed. “I really wish I wasn’t so stupid sometimes,” she grumbled, shaking her head. “If I had just remembered my shield spell in the catacombs… we wouldn’t have had to waste precious time. People are suffering, and I’m making ridiculous mistakes like that.”
“You’re not stupid,” Falcon told her, putting an arm around her and pulling her to his side.
“It is very possible that your shield would not have saved you,” Cael told her. “You are not a very powerful mage, and that trap was mechanical―the arrow hit with great force. It could have broken through your shield and still hit you.”
“Could have,” Julia repeated, not believing him.
“We all make mistakes,” he told her. “Regretting them, feeling bad about them, does not help. All we can do is learn from them.”
She just sighed in response, while Falcon put a reassuring hand on her leg.
After a few minutes of silence, Cael stood. “We should go.” He left momentarily, then came back with dark brown horses—one with a white star on its forehead—that were saddled and ready.
“Where’d you get those?” Julia asked.
“I made a trip to Chendal while you were sleeping.”
“Oh.” She moved closer and put a hand to one of their noses, letting it smell her. “What’s their names?”
Falcon chuckled behind her as he packed up their camp, but Cael said simply, “Any names you like.”
