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Kira showing up had been a blessing in disguise. My back was aching from sitting in the same place for so long, and I desperately needed to get away from the smell of blood and Valerian root. I had came straight to my chambers, steeped in a bath as hot as I could handle, and passed out on my bed until Ed and Rosa had knocked my door after breakfast.
Crossing the room, I pressed my ear to the adjoining wall between mine and Kira’s rooms, but the room next door was silent. It irked me, sending an uncomfortable feeling into my stomach, that I did not know where she was. It was not so much that I was worried she would do something she should not, it was more a worry that she would bump into Saffron.
My aunt’s face filtered through my brain, and I ground my teeth together in annoyance. I could see why myfather had warned me never to get involved with her, or to trust her in any way, but I had made my choices. Choices that would get me what I wanted sooner rather than later.
Giving myself a shake, I made my way out of my chambers and into the hallways of the castle. Staff were flitting in both directions, preparations for our wedding in full swing now, and I held in my groan at the business of the place. I abhorred the entire idea of being married, anyway, but the chaos it had brought to the castle was something else entirely.
A small hand slid into mine as I walked, and my head dropped quickly. I had been so in my own head and trying to avoid people as they moved around the building that I had not noticed Caliara come up beside me until then. She grinned at me, her toothy grin missing one of her top teeth.
“Who have you been fighting?” I laughed, squeezing her hand, and pulling her through the throngs of people. She laughed, the happy sound relaxing me slightly.
“No one, I promise!” She grinned at me again, “It fell out this morning!”
“I hope you’ve put it outside for the witch to come and get.” I smirked, knowing she was too young to remember our father’s stories of the tooth witch, who came and collected children’s teeth when they fell out to grind them into magic dusts for her potions.
Caliara scrunched her eyebrows at me, confusion crossing her features as she tried to figure it out. I laughed lightly to myself, pulling Caliara out of the busy hallways and into the quiet library. I let out a sigh of relief, letting go of Caliara’s hand and pushing my hair out of my face. The weather had turned outside, certainly, but the stress of the morning so far had me sweating uncomfortably.
I watched as Caliara took off in front of me, jogging to the section where her favourite books were kept, and followed her slowly. Iris did not even lift her head when we entered, her shoulders hunched forward as she scribbled something into the open book in front of her. Her hair was falling loose from its usual high bun, and I wondered if she had even realised we were there.
Caliara called me from within the stacks of books, pulling me from my thoughts as I followed her voice.
A laugh left me when I found her. She had gathered several of her favourite books and taken them to the large sofas. She was bundled on the floor in between them, looking up at me expectantly and patting the floor beside her.
“I have things to be doing, you know.” I faked annoyance, rolling my eyes at her, but sitting down with my legs crossed anyway. She shrugged her shoulders, and I wished I could bottle her lack of worry about the world and wear it around my neck.
“If one of them wasn’t reading with your sister, I don’tcare about them.” She said, her voice slightly lispy due to the missing tooth. I laughed out loud, shaking my head.
“Alright, alright.” I sighed, sitting back so my back was resting against the seat of the couch. “What one should we read first?”
~~~
“I thought I might find you two in here,” Kira’s voice pulled Caliara and I from the book we were reading.
We had spent the best part of three hours sitting on the library floor, laughing and sharing stories, both from the books in front of us and ones we had been told as children, passed down from our grandparents.
I lifted my head, working hard not to scowl at Kira for interrupting us and plastering a smile on my face. She was standing with her hands clasped in front of her, her head tilted to the side, and a grin on her face. Caliara clapped her hands, jumping up from where she was sitting beside me and throwing herself at Kira, wrapping her arms around her waist.
Kira laughed, rubbing Caliara’s back and leaning down to place a kiss to the top of her head. I wanted to be annoyed, I did, but that little girl was my weakness, and as much as I did not want to feel any warmth towards my soon to be wife, seeing the way she interacted with Cali caused a feeling in my chest that I did not warrant.
“Would you like to join us? Cyrus was going to tell methe story about the merpeople who sink boats when they sing!”
“Oh, that sounds fun.” Kira smiled down at Caliara, before lifting her head to meet my eyes, her smile calming slightly, “But we do have a meeting to get to.”
I noted for the first-time what Kira was wearing. She very rarely wore formal dresses, unless we were attending meetings or an event, and right now she was wearing a floor length dress. The fabric in her signature dark green, contrasting with her pale skin and bright red hair, which was tied back into one long braid down her back. Her small, silver crown was worked into the curls, and I cursed myself for losing track of the time.
Grunting, I pushed myself up from the floor, dusting myself off from the carpet fibers that had stuck to my trousers.
“Sorry, Sweetheart, I didn’t realise the time.” I smiled at her, placing my hand on top of Caliara’s head and grinning down at her, “We can finish these stories later.”
Caliara groaned but nodded anyway. She squeezed Kira’s waist again, and Kira laughed as she hugged her back just as tightly. I smiled at the sight and gave Caliara a goodbye hug of my own.
She disappeared out of the library, and I shook my head at her.
“She is just darling,” Kira smiled, her cheeks flushedslightly pink in the heat of the library. I nodded my head, holding the doors open for Kira to pass through.
I let my eyes roam over the exposed skin of her arms and hands, and shock jolted through me at the fact that they had no burns, or any remnants at all, of what happened. The skin was just as smooth and clear as it had always been, apart from a few lingering, golden veins.
“She is a terror,” I laughed, letting the door close behind me as we both left the library. We paused, letting a group of people carrying several large bouquets of flowers rush past us, and I watched as Kira’s eyes went large.
