Ryven said something under his breath and Aric’s laugh turned into a booming sound.
“You need to loosen up,” Alric prodded.
“What happened to my bathing chamber? You can keep trying to change the subject but my mind is in working order.”
“Juniper may or may not have been trying out her magic a little.”
“A little? The entire cave is covered in grass. How is that a little?”
I rolled my lips to keep myself from laughing. Had the greenery continued to spread after I left? Was it still growing?
“You should be proud. She did it all on her own.”
“Proud? I should be proud? What if it was too much for her?”
Snooping and eavesdropping was doing me no good any longer. They were speaking about me as if I was in another home, not in the other room. I shoved my hair away from my face and sat up. I had been lying flat on my back in Ryven’s living room with tons of different colored and shaped pillows piled beneath me. They looked like nothing that Ryven kept in his home and after peering a bit closer, I could see that they came from mine. One of them was slightly deflated from Leo. I didn’t remember falling asleep here, but then again, since my magic had come in my memory had a few gaps in it.
Footsteps echoed down the hall as my friend and my slight friend made their way back into Ryven’s home. Alric was grinning and Ryven’s shoulders were slumped in defeat.
“You’re back early,” my voice came out gravely and foreign to my ears.
Ryven’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t decipher and Alric’s grin continued to stretch across his face.
“Glad to see you’re awake, how was your rest?” Alric leaned down to kiss my forehead before retrieving a glass of water from the counter in the kitchen.
I shrugged my shoulders as I drained the glass and handed it back. “I feel fine.”
Alric’s eyebrows twitched on his forehead. “Our commander has returned.”
I hummed as we watched each other. He hadn’t shaved his face in a few days and there was a few drops of smeared blood under his chin. Was it his own or had he finally done the killing that everyone thought he needed? His green eyes were darker than usual and his hair was pulled back into a messy bun. His swords were nowhere to be seen, but I knew better.
“Can I start training again?”
Ryven rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes flicked to Alric. “Do you honestly think that’s a good idea?”
“Do you honestly think keeping me prisoner is the answer?”
A crease formed between his dark brows. “I don’t have all the answers, Your Highness.”
I let out a very unladylike groan and shook my head. “Of course not.” I ran my hands down the front of my clothes, trying to smooth out the wrinkles that weren’t there. Anything to keep my hands busy at this point. “Have you heard from Reva, Ash, or Grove?”
Alric nodded slowly. “Yes, they will be home soon. Everything seems quiet up there. No unrest, not much crime. Everyone is too focused on preparing for a bitter winter to care about much else.”
“You said something about me helping in the fields?” I piped up.
“You did what?” Ryven’s composure quickly dissolved as a vein bulged in his neck.
“We need help with the crops,” Alric’s voice was smooth but I could almost pinpoint the worry beneath his tone.
“And if I can help, then I want to. I should be able to. These are my people, are they not? They have suffered enough. Maybe it’s time I give them something to look forward to. A life not stuck under here, a life worth living.”
Ryven’s gaze bounced between us before he shook his head. “I see you both have everything figured out. What do you need me for?”
“You need a break,” Alric took a step toward the brooding man but Ryven held his hand up in dismissal.
“I need no such thing, I was completely capable before and I am more than capable now.”
CHAPTER SIX
