Neither of us moved.
The silence between us no longer felt heavy.
It felt peaceful.
Without thinking, I leaned a little closer until my shoulder rested comfortably against Kael's. He didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he did and simply didn't mind anymore. His fingers remained laced with mine, his thumb lazily brushing across the back of my hand.
It had become... easy.
Natural.
Neither of us questioned it.
"So," I said after a while, "should we summon Arith?"
Kael nodded.
"We should."
He turned his left hand over, exposing the silver symbol branded into his palm.
Before either of us could begin the summoning...
The symbol glowed.
A soft silvery-blue light spread through the intricate markings.
Kael looked down.
"...She's coming."
The lake rippled.
Not from the breeze.
The water at its centre rose into the air, twisting into a graceful column that sparkled beneath the afternoon sun.
Step by step, a familiar figure emerged from within it.
At first she was made entirely of flowing water.
Then her form solidified.
Water became skin.
Mist became fabric.
By the time she stepped onto the shore, she looked almost entirely human.
Her long silvery-blue hair still flowed down her back like liquid moonlight.
But instead of the elegant robes she'd worn before, she was dressed in fitted blue jeans, white trainers and a loose cream blouse with the sleeves rolled to her elbows.
She looked effortlessly beautiful.
Like someone who belonged just as easily in the modern world as she did in the spirit realm.
Arith looked down at herself with obvious satisfaction.
"I believe I have understood human fashion."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"You chose jeans."
"They're comfortable."
"I'll give you that."
She smiled.
"And practical."
Her silver eyes lifted to us.
"It's good to see you both."
"You too," I replied.
Her gaze lingered for a second.
Then another.
She tilted her head.
"...Well."
A slow smile spread across her face.
"It seems I have missed quite a lot."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She gestured lazily between us.
"The hand-holding."
Only then did I realize Kael and I were still holding hands.
I instinctively looked at him.
He looked back.
Neither of us moved.
Arith laughed softly.
"Oh."
"So we're not pretending anymore."
Heat rushed into my face.
Kael, surprisingly, remained composed.
"We were never pretending. Pretending is pointless."
"I see that."
Her smile softened.
"You look good together."
I glanced away before she could see me blush any harder.
Kael simply cleared his throat.
"We have more urgent matters."
"Of course."
The teasing vanished from Arith's face almost instantly.
"What happened?"
Kael's expression grew serious.
"I've been found."
Her eyes narrowed.
"By who? The bastard who started this?"
"I believe so." Kael said " I felt his dark art, And stronger than before." He motioned for them to start moving and they did.
Aiden took the driver's seat, kael the passenger seat. And Arith glided into the back.
Once they hut the road, kael briefly explained the attack on the road.
The pain.
The black veins.
The spell clawing at his heart.
Arith listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she let out a slow breath.
"So he truly survived."
"He did."
"I feared as much."
I hesitated before asking the question that had been bothering me ever since Kael finished telling me his story.
"Arith..."
She turned toward me.
"Where were you?"
"...When the kingdom fell."
A shadow crossed her face.
"I wasn't there."
Her voice became quieter.
"I had been summoned elsewhere."
"Elsewhere?"
She nodded.
"There are duties that only a goddess can perform."
"I was resolving a dispute between two ancient river spirits in the eastern territories."
"It should have taken only a day."
Her eyes dropped.
"When I returned..."
She swallowed.
"...the kingdom was gone."
The breeze carried her long hair across her shoulder.
"I searched."
"For months."
"Then years."
"I found nothing."
"No survivors."
"No Kael."
"No trace of the royal family."
"I believed..."
Her voice almost broke.
"...that I had failed my best friend."
Kael turned back to face her. He stretched his hand towards her and she took it in herself.
"You did not fail me."
She looked up at him.
"I should have been there."
"You couldn't have known."
"I know."
"But I have regretted it every day since."
Silence settled over the three of us.
Eventually, Kael spoke.
"You know the kingdom fell."
"I do."
"But you never knew how."
She shook her head.
"I only knew there had been betrayal." I heard the rumors from around. But nobody knew the full or true story."
Kael nodded slowly.
"I'll tell you."
She looked surprised.
"Really?"
He turned back in his seat to face the front
"No."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"It is a long story."
"And I would rather not tell it with an empty stomach, i am famished."
Arith laughed.
"That is fair."
She folded her arms.
"we have somewhere to be but we can always get something to go from a drive through." Aiden chimed in.
"We do."
Kael looked toward the distant horizon.
"My core is waiting."
"And every moment we waste..."
"...brings him closer to it."
The mood shifted immediately.
I gave Kael's hand one last squeeze before focusing on the road.
He didn't let my hand go though to my joy.
Arith noticed.
Of course she noticed.
She smiled to herself but wisely kept her thoughts to herself this time.
Our little reunion was over.
The real journey was about to begin.