Page 123 of Heiress of Fire

“What’s wrong?” he asked, setting the box back onto the blanket.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Whatever it is, Vivi, we’ll figure it out together,” he began. “Now, please, do me the favor of feeding yourself some actual food. You look pale.”

It was way too easy to recall Isaiah’s comment about her supposed weight gain. Davina looked down at her skirts before raising her eyes to Ron who was already chewing on a large piece of honey bread. “I’m not hungry.”

“What? It’s almost nighttime, how are you not hungry?”

“I’m on a diet. I’ve gained a few pounds,” Davina said.

He gulped down the piece of bread that was in his mouth. “I think your lack of food is making you delusional. You’re perfect, now eat.”

Davina blushed; she hid behind her brown curls, fixing her gaze on the food which caused a rumble in her stomach. Ron reached over and sweetly set her hair strands behind her ear. His fingers grazed her cheeks and traveled down to her chin.

His eyes traveled to her lips, Ron leaned in slowly. As if there was a magnetic force between them, she neared him too. A soft breeze surrounded them as she remained entranced by the flecks in his eyes.

It wouldn’t hurt if she leaned in just a little more.

“Tell me who told you such lies and I’ll put an end to them,” he muttered.

Davina snorted at his threat. His fingers remained with a soft hold over her chin.

“Ron, you’re too sweet to even squash a bug.”

“You see, Vivi, these past few months without you have made me into a changed man. For the better, of course. Who could be foolish enough to question the beauty of all your shapes and curves?” His finger danced against the back of her hand. “Was it your fiancé?”

Davina looked away.

“I’m going to murder that brainless fool.”

“Ron, please. I’m sure he had his reasons.”

“He has a reason to lose his tongue, that’s for certain,” Ron fumed.

Davina reached for his hand, wrapping it in her own. Carefully caressing his fingernails. His dark stare softened.

There he was.

Davina smiled. “Forget about it. Let’s eat, I’m famished.”

“Fine,” he huffed.

THIRTY-FIVE

The Bellatorman workers bustled among one another as they brought back and forth bricks and carts covered with sticky cement. The gooey texture was spread across the growing, thick brick wall that surrounded Castellum Island. Davina sat atop a section of the finished wall, between the Bridges of Basalt and Mistral, and as she scanned the isles, she smiled at the distinction of hues of each island.

Mistral Island had silver clouds above it, dark trees in its windy forests, and chocolate-colored buildings with rusty windows. Leaves and branches overcame gravity as they danced in different areas of the land.

Mistral was gloomy while Basalt was earthy and lively. There were vast grasslands among Basalt, with valleys filled with flowers, trees, and animals scattered across the earth island.

Her eyes traveled to the island on the far left. The large region of Neptulus portrayed a winter wonderland. While the other sections of Neptulus were filled with a lighter shade of the deep ocean that surrounded it which caused the other Bellatormans to find it hard to distinguish the difference between land and sea by the shores.

After observing the calmness of the three islands that were foreign to her, she fixed her gaze upon her native island, Auris.

From the distance, she could see the small cottage in which she grew up, the home in which she was forbidden to near.

She wouldn’t worry about that at the moment.

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