The morning brought with it a renewed sense of purpose. Lotus’ words stuck in Julia’s head; she didn’t really feel all that important, but at least she knew her use. Now wasn’t the time for doubts. They didn’t do anyone any good.
She realized that the one thing she was good at was being the administrative assistant, the support staff―even in this world, it seemed. She was the person who helped others get their job done. She was okay with that.
When she finally opened her eyes, she gasped. “Why are you here?”
Falcon laughed. “Good morning to you, too.”
“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly. “It’s just that I didn’t think you’d be here; you’re always up before me.”
“I was here yesterday morning,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but I just thought it was kind of a one-time thing. Well… except for that other morning…”
He shook his head, and his eyes called her silly, as they often did. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she answered, assuming Lotus had told him about last night. “It’s hard to argue with Lotus. She always sees things in a good light. It helped.”
“I’m glad,” he said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “Here.” He held up a daisy.
“You were up already,” she accused, taking the flower and smiling widely.
He chuckled. “You caught me.”
“So, was there any particular reason you came back to bed?” she wondered.
“Yes. Because I want to spend as much time with you as I can.” His eyes looked sad, in spite of his smile.
“You’re worried,” she noted.
He sighed. “I already almost lost you once.”
“We’ll just have to hope for the best,” she said, attempting to be positive. She hated seeing the fear in his eyes, but there was nothing she could do to make it better―she was just as scared as he was. She couldn’t even think of losing him.
He nodded. “And we’ll cherish every moment we have together.”
“Yes,” she agreed. She ran her fingers through his hair, sweeping it out of his face, and then pulled him closer. “Like right now,” she breathed.
He moved halfway over her, looking down at her. If she could only see one thing ever again, it would be his beautiful face and the way that he looked at her with so much love in his eyes. He lowered his head and kissed her, deeply, meaningfully, and they let the rest of the world fade away.
__________
Falcon’s first thought when they descended the stairs late that morning was that they should have come sooner. They found Tikki on a cupboard in the corner of the dining room with her bow drawn and aimed at Cael, who looked uncharacteristically ruffled.
“Tikki shoot you in the face!” she growled fiercely. “Tikki see them now!”
“Here they are,” Cael said tightly, motioning to where they were but not taking his eyes off the three-and-a-half-foot gnome.
She lowered her weapon. “Lucky elf.”
“Hi, Tikki,” Falcon greeted her, smiling at the scene. He had forgotten just how cute she was in all her bossiness. “Tikki, this is our friend, Cael.”
“I already told her that, but she is quite unreasonable,” Cael grumbled.
Falcon couldn’t help chuckling. “I know. That’s just one of her charms.”
“You mean there are more?” Cael practically spat.
“Tikki not have charm!” she said, as if it were a dirty word.
“Where’s Badger?” Julia asked.
“In underground room,” Tikki answered. “Tall people treat Badger mean.”
Falcon glanced at Cael.
“I am offended that you would even consider it,” the ranger said.
“Sorry.”
Cael took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming slightly. “I will return later.”
“Where are you going?” Julia asked.
“To buy some supplies,” Cael answered. “And I believe my temper will fare better outside this house at present,” he added with a heated glance at the gnome before he left.
“Tikki not like friend,” she told them decisively.
Falcon laughed. “He’s a good person, and much nicer when he’s not being threatened.”
She answered with a disbelieving humph.
“Is this your first time out of the jungle?” Julia wondered.
Tikki nodded.
“It must be scary for you,” Julia sympathized.
She bristled. “Tikki not scared!”
“Sorry,” Julia said quickly. “Of course not.”
“When leaving? Tikki come to fight.”
“First thing tomorrow morning,” Falcon answered.
“Can I go check on Badger?” Julia asked.
Tikki looked at her strangely. “Badger there. Tikki tell him stay.”
“No, I meant to see if he’s okay.”
She shook her head. “No, Tikki go.” She jumped down from the tall cupboard, landing with hardly a sound, and went through the door under the stairs.
“Best leave her alone,” Falcon told Julia before she could follow. “I think she’s on edge.”
Julia nodded. “Everything must be so unfamiliar to them.”
“Very.”
__________
Falcon sat in the living room and sharpened his sword, while Julia played with her fireball spell, regardless of his telling her not to do it in the house. Even more frightening was that Jade was sleeping on her lap. She seemed very sure of herself when it came to her magic, and the cat obviously trusted her. A book on spell manipulation sat next to her. She had read that you could control the size of most spells, but so far she was having no luck.
Lotus and, a now-calm, Cael entered the house and joined them.
“Better?” Falcon asked Cael with a smirk.
But Lotus answered for him. “Elves and gnomes are not known for getting along.”
Julia frowned. “Strange―seems like they’d have a lot in common.”
“No. They do not,” Cael told her firmly, a hint of anger and disgust slipping through his tightly controlled voice. It surprised Falcon. With all he had dealt with between humans and elves, was he actually prejudiced against the gnomes? He was a bit of a hypocrite, it seemed.
“Best to leave it alone,” Lotus said gently.
Julia nodded. “So… do you guys know where Amiya is?” she asked, now tossing the fireball from one hand to the other absentmindedly.
Falcon flinched for Jade’s sake.
“Oh, stop,” she told him. “Look.”
His eyes widened as she dropped the fireball on her cat and then grabbed it before it could roll off. Amazingly, it did nothing but make him stir in his sleep. “You could have told me that earlier,” he grumbled.
She just shrugged in response. Lotus and Cael weren’t surprised at all by Julia’s magic not affecting Jade, and Falcon guessed that it made sense, since the cat was a part of her.
“I had her sleep in the basement,” Lotus said in answer to Julia’s question. “It was the only place available―I didn’t feel right putting her in Ikoris room. But don’t worry, it’s nice down there, with a bed and all. It used to be the maid quarters, but the new one lives elsewhere. Amiya was still there when I left this morning.”
“That’ll be interesting." Falcon smirked. “Tikki and Badger are down there now.”
Lotus smiled, probably at the same mental picture he had.
Cael ignored the subject of Tikki and turned his attention to Julia. “How long until that goes out?” he asked, nodding to the flaming orb in her hand.
“Oh.” She tossed it a few feet into the cold fireplace, where it burst into flames and then quickly died out, since there was no wood in the grate. “Not long.”
He smiled and handed her two scrolls. She instantly looked eager. “I thought only members of the Mages Guild could buy spells.”
“Yes.”
“Then how…?”
“Glenda is the head of the Oraunt guild, and I saved her son a few years ago. Since then, she has let me buy whatever I want.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened with interest. “What’d you save him from?”
“Do you want to hear the story? Or do you want to play with your new spells?” he asked with a knowing smile.
She grinned. “So what spells are these?” she asked, instead of opening them to find out.
“Frostbite and lightning.”
“Lightning?” she said, excited by the idea. “From my hand, or like real, from the sky?”
“You will have to test it and find out.”
“Thanks. These are great,” she said. “Does the frostbite actually give frostbite?”
“It does ice damage. It is actually the same spell that Falcon’s sword is imbued with,” Cael explained. “You can cast it on your dagger and use it that way as well, though it will only last for a short period of time.”
“Well, that will be useful, since we’re basically going to hell.”
He nodded. “That is the idea. Make sure to practice more with your ice spells from now on. The creatures there are sure to be fire monsters of some kind.”
She nodded as she opened the first scroll. After she read each one, it disappeared. “I’ll be in the yard,” she told them, then jumped up and left. Jade meowed a complaint at being pushed aside, but then curled up on the couch and went back to sleep.
Cael chuckled. “As much as Julia thinks she does not belong in this world, her love of magic says otherwise.”
“I know,” Falcon agreed, then sighed. “I hope she decides not to go back. I really don’t want to leave Kelstone.”
“But you’ll go with her if she does,” Lotus put in.
He nodded resignedly. “Home is wherever she is.”
“You’re so lovely,” she murmured unexpectedly.
Falcon, ridiculously, blushed; Cael kindly chose that moment to dig in a bag at his feet so he wouldn’t notice, but Lotus wouldn’t let him be distracted. She slipped her arm through his and leaned against his shoulder. “What lucky women Julia and I are.”
Cael grinned as he pulled out some healing potions and handed a couple to Falcon, then kissed the top of Lotus’ head. “I believe it is Falcon and I who are the lucky ones,” he told her.
Falcon nodded his agreement, and Lotus laughed happily. He set the potions on a side table for the moment. “You know, for a Woodlander and a ranger, you seem to have a fair bit of money.”
Cael shrugged. “Bounty rewards, mercenary payments from when I have done jobs for the Fighters Guild, and some gifts from thankful people,” he explained. “I rarely spend much. She is the same way," he added, motioning to Lotus, “And she has been a popular bard for quite some time. Between the two of us, we have plenty,” he finished simply, not seeming to really care about the matter at all.
Falcon shook his head. “You guys just met, but… it’s like you’ve been together for years already. It’s… strange.”
“For us, our love for each other was acknowledged and settled very quickly―in a matter of minutes,” Cael told him. “And aside from feelings, most of a relationship is just business.”
“We spent our first night talking,” Lotus added. “We covered all the important things. While typical humans would spend that time talking about feelings, we didn’t need to. We each already know what the other feels―even little things, like knowing that he agrees with me right now.”
Falcon smiled. “So what are the important things to woodlanders?”
“We are half Woodlander,” Cael reminded him. “And we are more on the human side, in terms of society.”
Lotus nodded. “Our important things are the same as yours―finances, home, marriage, kids, all that.”
“Home?” Falcon asked. “I thought you were both wanderers.”
“Yes, and that will not change,” Cael said. “However, we will buy a home when this quest is over. We will still travel, but it is good to have a steady home for a child.”
“And do you have a name for the first kid yet?” Falcon teased.
Cael looked at Lotus and chuckled. “I believe she does.”
Lotus smirked. “Oh, that reminds me… I tried to find a fairy while I was out this morning.” When Falcon raised a brow at her, she explained the link. “The name I like for a girl is Teraphina.” She suddenly leaned back a little to frown at Cael, apparently feeling his disagreement. “Shush, it’s nice.”
“Sera,” he offered.
“Seraphina?”
“No, just Sera.”
“Hmm… maybe.” She turned back to Falcon. “Anyway, the name made me think of Sarina, a fairy that I used to know.” She shrugged.
“I assume you found no fairies?” Cael asked.
“No, not one. People are saying that they went into hiding.”
“They always do in dark times,” Cael said, then explained to Falcon, “There are not many fairies left today. Because of their psychic powers, people like Kieran and Xavien have used them in the past, torturing those who refused to help. Many fairies have died while imprisoned by these people. And fairies do not have children―they are immortal beings, created by the gods hundreds of years ago. The fairies that are alive today are all there will ever be, and it does not help that they are such passive creatures.”
Falcon shook his head. “I hope they have a good hiding place, far away from Kieran.”
“It’s said that the fairies have a secret, magical city where they stay safe from all harm,” Lotus said.
“Yes, though no one can share the exact location, even those who claim to have been there,” Cael said. “I have asked several fairies myself, and they have all denied the city's existence.”
“What do you believe?” Falcon asked.
“That people are fanciful,” Cael replied. "They love believing in stories―even ridiculous ones."
Lotus shrugged―it was obvious that she believed―but she said nothing more.
