Shaking my head, I carefully stepped through the vibrant green moss of the forest floor, avoiding the blooming flowers, not trusting any of them not to bite my balls off.
Remnant snickered next to me, reading my mind and likely hearing the same distant snores of gnomes just as I did. Another thing that would likely bite my balls off if I allowed them to get too close.
Jar paused, stooping to pluck an odd looking yellow bloom sprouting from the ground.
"Ah. Yes this will do." He muttered to himself and held the odd looking plant outwards into the sunlight. The forest around us hummed like it agreed and was pleased.
"It's so beautiful," Riella whispered beside us.
Jarquinn smiled softly at our cub. "It is, isn't it?"
Frustrated, I ran my hand through my hair. "Why did you bring us here Jar? You must know why we are in Sheol. Why is it that you are standing here acting like you didn't almost kill my soulmate then beg her to end you."
Remnant flinched, the pain this had caused her evident on her face, the guilt burning brightly in her eyes.
I swept her hair back. "Let the guilt go, little umbra. Jar knew it was his time." I bent to hoist Riella in my arms. Tucking her close into my chest, feeling suddenly protective of my family, I glared at the master healer accusingly. "You knew, didn't you? That you would die."
Jar raised a singular blonde brow at me, dropping his hand that still held the plant. "I am an ancient fae, Daemon. My days have always been numbered," he sighed. "But even more so when I broke the wards on Riella. The Sanguine is not easilydestroyed, in order to save her I had to take pieces of it into myself. I am sorry to say, I was foolish enough to think that the small amount I did absorb would not affect me."
I growled low. "That still doesn't explain why we are here."
Remnant rested her hand on my upper arm and I ceased my low growling. She gazed at the healer expectantly, "Whyarewe here Master Riss? Why have you sought us out?"
Tilting his head, he smiled calmly back at us. "You are here,forta, to heal." Catching my gaze he smiled softly, "It is time to heal all the scars, even the ones hidden." Then he turned in a swirl of blue robes to walk further into the forest and the humming began anew. "Follow me."
Looking down at Riella, I let my gaze go cross and my tongue hang out. She smothered her laughter with her hands. "What do you say, my cub. Do we follow master crazy pants over there?"
"I heard that Daemon, and for the record, I don't wear pants…I like to feel the breeze," called out the healer.
I scrunched my nose up with utter disgust which released more laughter from my cub, erasing the worry that I had seen there moments before.
My soulmate slapped my shoulder playfully, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's follow, I don't sense any danger from this place."
When I looked up, Jar had paused and was smiling at me. "Fatherhood suits you, as I knew it would. There is nothing better." He looked away wistfully and started walking again.
I swallowed, holding Riella closer to me and I gingerly walked around the gardens, specifically avoiding a pod of vicious looking blue dragon plants, not surprised to see them slither up towards me. "Jar. It's about Quinn, I don't know—-"
The master healer held up his hand. "I may not be in the world of Faerie anymore but I am still able to check in on my son. Let me settle your worries, your majesty. Asher was successful in subduing him before the death god stole him away. Eshe has since taken over, both in the care of my son and of Finlandia. Repairs have begun for the city and as well as my son's heart—they have soul bonded."
I glanced at Remnant, watching her expression but she did not seem surprised by this fact, as if she knew the two were meant to be paired.
Tension eased from my shoulders, Quinn and Finlandia would be okay. I had been a shit king, an absent king…but at least the fae I loved would be in safe hands. "Soulmated," I whistled. "How did Eshe take it?"
Jar gave me a wide grin. "About as well as your own soulmate."
I chuckled, grinning at my mate. "Denial and death threats. There's nothing a shifter loves more than a hard earned challenge."
Remnant's cheeks flushed but her eyes narrowed on mine. "How can you say that? I'd say losing his father, friends, and king while falling into bloodlust was challenging enough. He has paid his due."
"Fate has a funny way of showing its hand,forta. Those trials were exactly what my son needed in order for their bond to finally show. Only in darkness can the light be seen, and that light was Eshe." Jar shook his head. "That does not stop me from wishing it had been different but it will not help to dwell on these things. Right now, we must ensure that there is a world for all the people we care about to continue to live in, which means—pardon my language, that you two need to get your shit sorted."
I grunted, but was quickly distracted when Riella gasped in my arms. Stepping out of the grove, we were met with a stunning field that stretched for leagues on end with the same bright yellow buds Jar held in his hand. My rebuttal to Jar’s cryptic words failed to form as together we watched the entire valley ripple in greeting to us, releasing the sweet smell of honey blooming on the air.
"It is a field of dying kisses." Jar held up the sapling. "You see the petals form a shape of lips and once every summer solstice they release their petals high into the air and when they fall down upon you it is said to give you the memory of your lover’s last kiss." He stared at them fondly, lost in a memory. "I met my own soulmate in a field such as this. They were rare, but if you knew where to look, you could find them, and with just a single petal, one could prevent the end of any death." His head bowed, the blonde locks falling around his face, shielding him, but it did nothing to hide the sadness when he spoke again. "I could have used just a single flower to save my Lova…but the blood fae had found the fields early on in the war and burned them all to ash."
I swallowed hard, Jar had never shared with me the details of his wife's death. All I knew was that she was lost in the wars, leaving behind her infant son and her soulmate who vowed afterwards to never lift a sword in bloodshed again. That was how I had known my father had gone too far in his bloodlust…the moment heordered Jar to fight was the moment I challenged him to the bloodlust rites.
I frowned, looking around me searching. If this was his promised peace then his mate should be with him. "Jar…where is Lova?"
