Page 57 of Heiress of Fire

After a full eight hours of sleep, she realized that she didn’t wish to keep her friendship with Ron strained because of their different opinions about the war.

Davina wouldn’t be at peace if she were to desert her position as Captain and stand on the sidelines, whether Bellatorm and her family appreciated her efforts or not.

Davina prepared a small basket filled with his favorite: soft chocolate chip cookies and two jars of milk. Hopefully, the cookies would sooth his stubborn beliefs for her choice to fight in the war. Yet it was a way to make up for all those times she exploded on him. She could’ve been more patient, and she hadn’t been.

She made her way to his house, basket close to her side. The manor that his parents built for him loomed ahead, each brick painted a deep fawn with many windows and balconies that hung above the front door.

She walked down the stoned pathway and examined the little garden of hibiscus flowers that were planted beside the path. She knocked on his door.

Moments later, he opened the door with a surprised look, paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. The darkness of his home surrounded him completely. His hair was messy and his lips were chapped.

Raven loved the darkness, like the one that seemed to live in his demeanor.

“Hi.” Davina smiled.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Ron asked with a small grin.

“I thought I’d come by before heading to Castellum,” she informed.

“That’s out of the ordinary, even for you.” He chuckled and stepped back, pulling the door open.

A woman in a brown kirtle and a white apron rushed past Davina and into the hallway to her right. From where Davina stood, she was able to have a small glimpse of the servants rushing around the kitchen with platters and utensils in hand. “You lot hurry your bums. Mister Levina has a guest!”

Davina chuckled at the maid’s commands to the other servants. Ron may have been living without his family in his manor on Auris Island, but he surely had amazing servants who took care of him.

He lacked nothing except the powers he desperately wished for.

“That’s Portia. My parents would work a lot when the restaurant first started. She’s been serving my family since I was a child.” Ron chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck.

He didn’t have to say anymore. She understood.

“She seems like an amazing woman.” Davina smiled.

Ron’s gaze lingered on her before he cleared his throat. “As much as I enjoy you surprising me today, if I may ask, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to talk about yesterday,” Davina began. He furrowed his brow, causing her palms to begin sweating. “I brought snacks.” Davina lifted the basket carefully with a shy smile.

Ron chuckled again before playfully rolling his eyes. “Come with me.”

Davina followed him out of the foyer, into the master living room. A wide two-piece glass door centered before the mahogany davenport. Dark brown bookshelves were lined with hundreds of leather books. The paintings that hung over the beige walls were all colored with different shades of brown and gray.

It seemed like she was visiting Mistral Island. But it also looked like it was a slap on the face of everything he couldn’t be. What sort of joke was this? Had his family picked this setting, or had he?

They sat on the davenport. His stare was piercing through her walls, once again. Shyly, she placed the cookie box on his brown coffee table. “I’m sorry for the way I exploded. At the library and yesterday. It was uncalled for and I don’t want my temper to get in the way of our friendship.”

“Okay.”

That was all he was going to say?

Davina fidgeted with her fingers. “And about the argument yesterday, I hope you can come to understand that I want to do this. I need to.”

He began to shake his head.

“I know it can be hard for you to understand. But I need to do this for my family. Your parents and your siblings, they go to Castellum. They have their powers activated,” Davina began. “You grew up having this practice cultivated in you, but we didn’t.”

He spoke no word, yet his sigh confirmed that their conversation would be tumultuous. She stared at him as he set his elbows over his knees. Davina bounced her leg as she waited for him to speak.

“Please say something,” Davina pleaded.

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