***
Fifteen year old Kiethara pulled herself back to the present, her back to her lake as she made her way back to her clearing. Truthfully, it would be smarter to just turn around and head to the center of the forest, but she could not muster up the resolve to do so. Aaron was just going to have to drag her there by her ankles.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t accomplished anything. In fact, her new, intense training was going phenomenally. He had even allowed her to start practicing some techniques about the elements. Once, she had even combined two elements accidentally. They had been practicing water—she could now project streams of it, due to some new memories to utilize—and she had gotten frustrated. Without realizing it, she had shot a stream of boiling water across the lake and into a tree, where it had sent steam into the air.
It was not only the basic elements they worked on, either. She was quite capable in many areas; she could expand her shield on a moment’s notice, shield other things besides herself, and partially control what she had done to those guards as she had fled from Nikkoi—something that apparently combined wind with fire, fear with anger. Invisibility almost came more naturally, too.
Kiethara smiled, trailing her fingers along the rough bark besides her. It had been weeks since her return, but she felt as though she had made a year’s progress in her abilities. She felt like, for the first time, a strong guardian. If things kept up like this—
“Kiethara.”
Kiethara’s head snapped up. For the second time, she had to pull herself from her thoughts; however, she wished she hadn’t.
Navadar was standing a few yards away, in between two live oak trees. He wore his usual attire, hair tousled freely in the wind. Seeing him again after so much time, time which had been spent detaching herself from him, was almost surreal. She blinked once before it hit. She felt as though someone had taken a rusty blade and thrust it into her stomach with a brutal twist.
She did not need to be reminded so raucously of what she had lost.
“Kiethara,” he said again, almost begging. His green eyes were probing.
Without a word, she turned around and swiftly walked back in the direction of her lake. She didn’t have a destination in mind. Her mind was quite blank, actually, except for one thought: she needed to get away from him. She needed to escape. How could he show his face here, after everything?
“Kiethara, please stop!” he cried desperately. “We have to talk.”
“Leave me alone,” she said in a dull voice, quickening her pace.
“Please, Kiethara!” he practically shouted. His voice sounded from right behind her.
“Navadar, just leave me alone,” she repeated. It was too much, too soon, and the image of Trinnia and him entwined across the river burned in her eyes.
“No, I can’t!” he said impatiently. “You can’t just ignore the truth!”
“Navadar, please!” she stressed, breaking through the line of trees. She had made it back to her lake. “Just leave me alone.”
“No!” he growled, and Kiethara gasped aloud as he suddenly grabbed her by the waist with his arm, pulling her tightly against his chest. He was so warm, and so strong…Her stomach lurched in a peculiar way, and she was once again unusually aware of her heart, which was thumping wildly in her chest. She didn’t fight against his hold, but she tried desperately to harden her heart against him, to freeze it over.
The truth was that she did not want him to let go.
“Let me go,” she said anyway, in the same dull tone.
“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “You need to hear this, and you need to believe me.”
“Let. Me. Go.” she repeated, emphasizing each individual word.
“You’re going to have to make me, Kiethara—”
Before he could get another word out a light illuminated the clearing, making the cold water sparkle.
The chill that entered the air was almost tangible.
“No, Navadar, that would be my job,” Aaron said in a voice that made even Kiethara shudder—and she knew that it was not her he would harm. “Let go of her. Now.”
“Aaron,” Navadar said. It sounded like he was grinding his teeth. “She has to listen to me!”
“Let her go,” he warned again. He was becoming so angry that his light seemed to be radiating heat.
“You have to tell her—”
Kiethara felt an intense grip pull at her. Suddenly, she was on the ground, and somewhere above her Navadar let out a cry.
She lifted her head and saw Navadar hit a tree with a force that caused him to rebound off another before he rolled deeper into the foliage. Kiethara’s eyes widened when she saw him lying there, unmoving.
Kiethara pulled herself off the ground as she took in the scene before her. No, she had not wanted this…
“Aaron…” she whispered in horror.
“He got what he deserved, Kiethara, and he’s not dead. He’ll come to in a minute.”
“Aaron!” It was all she could say.
“You need to listen to me, Kiethara,” he said quickly. “For reasons besides the forest, this time, I am warning you against this boy. I believe you would be better off without him.”
“Listen, I didn’t tell him to come here, nor did I tell you to do that!” she hissed.
“I understand that, but I needed to buy us some time.”
“Well, that’s great, considering he’s probably slipping into a coma right now…”
“Listen!” he ordered. “Navadar’s telling the truth! Trinnia kissed him. She finally admitted everything to him the other day. That is why he is here.”
Kiethara’s mouth slid open to form a shocked O. The words sounded in her head; it took twice the amount of time it had for Aaron to say them as it did for her to understand them.
“How do you know?!” she asked in a breathless voice.
“Never mind that at the moment; it involves experience with people who lie. You need to make a choice, but I leave that up to you,” he said in a very serious tone.
Then Aaron disappeared.
It took Kiethara a minute to move, but as soon as she regained that ability she dashed towards Navadar. No matter what Aaron said, she still feared for the boy’s physical safety. He still was not moving.
She kneeled down besides his head and shook his shoulder.
“Navadar,” she said, but he did not reply.
“Navadar!” she said more urgently.
He groaned, his eyelids fluttering as he finally came too. He pulled himself up on his elbow, looking rather dazed as she leaned over him, worried.
“Navadar? Are you okay?”
She did not know what else to say. He had been telling the truth this entire time and she had not bothered to listen to a word he had said. She had thrown him into the air like a child’s play toy. Aaron had slammed him into a tree…or two.
Everything turned around so fast. It was no longer the question of Kiethara forgiving him; it was the question of whether he would forgive her.
He, however, had still said some horrible things to her. Was she really going to let that all pass just because of Aaron’s reassurance? Maybe he had not kissed Trinnia, but obviously there was some relationship between the two, one that she personally did not understand.
Navadar had done nothing but help her, though. If it were not for him, she would be the slave of some man in Redawn, or most likely dead. Either way, she still owed him a large amount, one that she had yet to pay back.
Still, perhaps it would be better if she ended things here and now. That was what Aaron had advised her to do, despite the fact that he had told her Navadar was free from, well, most transgressions. She was grateful, but it would save them any further strife, save her from any further pain.
But yet…
She could not come to an answer by herself. She would judge his reactions first. She would test him. It sounded fair, did it not?
“Kiethara?” Navadar asked, his eyes narrowing in suspici
on as he took in her conflicted expression. He got up, and she followed suit.
They stared at each other for a moment, Navadar rubbing his shoulder.
“Just because I live in a different world, doesn’t mean there aren’t rules,” she whispered as she stared at his shoulder, referring to more than one thing.
He looked away, appearing a bit ashamed. “I didn’t mean what I said back there, Kiethara, I was just…angry.”
“Back where?” she asked.
“Before, outside Nikkoi,” he explained. “Honestly, I’m disgusted at myself, and looking back…I want to apologize.”
“I’m sorry, Navadar,” she said suddenly.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m sorry for not believing you,” she said in a quiet voice. “I-I believe you now, and I should have before. So, I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why do you believe me now?” he clarified.
“Well, Aaron told me,” she said in a small voice. It must sound bad that Aaron had told her once and she had believed him when Navadar had followed her miles to explain the same thing.
“So you believe Aaron, but not me?” Navadar stalked forward slowly, looking rather annoyed. She took a step back and paused.
Who was she to back up to him?
As usual, her pride swelled up inside her, and she leaned forward angrily.
“Yes, I do.”
A grin split across his face. It was strange, almost mischievous, and a rather odd light came into his eyes.
“You know,” he said slowly. He came even closer, forcing her back against a tree. She tried to push around him, but he grabbed her arms and forced her even harder against the tree. “It’s really cute when you get annoyed.”
Cute?! Oh, she would certainly look cute when she burned him alive. What happened to the gentleman that she had fallen head over heels for? Where had all this smoldering confidence come from?
She thrashed against him, her crystals glowing dangerously. But in some small corner of her mind, she did not want him to let go. Her stomach flipped.
Navadar was physically strong, she gave him that. He held her still and stared down at her, his eyes gazing down into hers. Soon her struggling stopped as she stared back in confusion.
Hadn’t he been about to kiss her?
That’s exactly what she wanted him to do. Her eyes narrowed, but he continued to smile down at her pleasantly, a grin in his eyes.
Before Kiethara could form another coherent thought in her mind, she threw herself on him, bringing her lips to his. Navadar reacted as though he had anticipated her move, welcoming her eagerly. A small part of her mind wondered angrily if he had been plotting for her to do this all along.
But soon the smaller parts of her mind were taken over by her body, which was now being shoved against the tree.
He had both of her arms pinned above her head with one of his hands and with the other he gently cupped her neck. The kiss had begun fiercely, but now it melted into something sweeter, gentler. The old Navadar seemed to finally resurface.
Navadar groaned and released her hands to grab the small of her back and bring her close. With one hand she entwined his hair through her fingers, keeping his face to hers, while the other she placed on his chest to feel the wild thumping of his heart underneath.
Navadar’s grip tightened to an almost painful degree, as though he was never going to let her go again. But when their lips parted, he seemed to groan in confliction. As though he did not want to stop, but he was forcing himself to.
She certainly did not want him to stop.
But now he had given her the chance to catch her breath and slow her heartbeat, which had spun passionately out of control. Her gasps soon slowed, but she couldn’t quite get a hand on the thumping in her own chest…
Navadar seemed to be doing the same, his expression now revealing all of his hidden emotions. His features finally looked the same as they had when they had first met; his eyes were content and his mouth stretched into a lazy grin.
Kiethara let her back slide down the tree behind her, coming to a rest a top the soft grass. She hardly had to focus on the ground as a small fern shot up, which she used to tie her hair back. She didn’t want it to get in the way.
Navadar sank in the grass with her. He stared at the ground for a moment also, not to grow anything, but to compose himself. He then shook his head and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.
Her face burned as her cheeks turned scarlet. She had forgotten already that she had been the one to kiss him first.
He brushed her cheeks with his hand.
“That was easier than I had expected,” he noted, sounding relieved.
His tone brought several things to light at once. That unknown sparks in his eye…had it been nervousness?
“What was?” she asked.
“Gaining your trust back, along with everything else,” he explained, his own face reddening. “I was prepared to do anything in order to make you realize that I love you, and not Trinnia. Trinnia…well, I don’t know how to explain it, but she will do whatever she wants to get what she wants.”
“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you sooner,” she mumbled.
He didn’t answer, but gently cupped her face.
“Where did all this…confidence come from?” she half-teased, pausing on the word confidence. She felt the word arrogance would be a little offending.
His eyes lingered on her, swiftly scanning her before lingering on her face.
“Guess,” he said, and then leaned forward.
Kiethara turned her head, putting her lips to his ear.
“Why did Trinnia kiss you?”
Navadar sighed. “I suppose I couldn’t ask you to just forget about it?”
“Not in the slightest.”
He took a deep breath.
“People in the kingdoms marry for two reasons: money and a good name. Well, the majority of them, anyway. Trinnia cannot marry someone destitute—she must marry into a richer family. That makes her choices very limited and, out of all her options, she seems to think I am the best one. She started pursuing me years ago.
“I have never loved her for more than a friend, but most people were expecting us to marry. I even started to expect it as well. That is, until I met you.
“When everything that she had been striving for was threatened, she became desperate. It led her to making the rash decision of kissing me in front of you, and she now realizes how foolish it was. But she has come to love me, in her way and, though I pity her, I cannot return the same feelings.”
Kiethara gazed at him intently for a full minute.
“Promise?”
“Of course,” he said sincerely.
Their lips met, and he gently pushed her on her back. She welcomed him and he gently slid on top of her.
“We’re not…completely alone,” she breathed, referring to Aaron. She chuckled when his eyes widened.
“It’s only a kiss.” He sounded as though he was trying to reassure himself.
“Only?”
Navadar grinned.
The conversation was then impossible to continue.