Page 86 of Tales of Fire and Embers

I don’t know what I expected but it was not this. A modest sitting room displayed a table and a desk, large curtains, and a fireplace. A simple and modern design with illuminating shades of grey to create the illusion of space. And small. A lot smaller than the sitting room Ansgar and I had occupied in the past week. If I were to guess, I would say the bedroom would be smaller too, judging by what I could spy through the cracked door.

“I expected more,” I confessed and took a few steps in, enough to allow him to close the door behind us.

Rhylan chuckled at my reaction. “It used to be bigger,” he admitted with a smirk.

“What happened?” I frowned, taking a spin so I could get all the details from the small room of such an imposing figure.

“I had to give my room up. I’m hosting,” he kept smiling as he walked towards the bedroom, allowing me time to analyse his personal space.

“Us?” I asked, stunned. “You gave up your room for...us?” I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t understand why he would do such a thing.

“To say I gave it up for you both is an overstatement,” his voice pierced from the bedroom. I deepened my frown, extreme confusion and realisation hitting me at once. Rhylan kept confessing how much he despised Ansgar, kept insulting my mate every chance he got, so it would be unwise to think he had given up his personal space for him. Which could only mean, he had done it for me. And for the love of all the gods, I could not understand why.

“Please, take a seat,” he invited again, voice echoing interrupted from the bedroom, struggling to reach something, but by the time I made myself comfortable in the black leather chair, I saw him arrive with three gift boxes, all shoe-sized.

“Is your surprise going to be more high heels?” I scoffed, hating the constant ache in my feet from the amount of time having to stand during long fitting hours in said heels.

He ignored me and placed two of the boxes on the table, leaving one on the floor, next to him. “Pick one,” he invited, excitement gleaming on his features.

I took a minute to look at him, scan him for wickedness. With Rhylan one could never besure, but he looked as excited as a kid in a candy shop, so I assumed nothing too bad could come out of this.

“The left one,” I said, not having a reason for my choice. Just instinct, I guessed.

“Open it,” the fae encouraged and I swear he held his breath while I slowly removed the cover of the gift box. And immediately started laughing.

“No way!” I exclaimed cheerfully, laughter inundating my chest and I wondered how long had it been since I truly laughed. Truly found joy in something so small.

“I thought we could have a different kind of dinner tonight since my sprout needed cheering up,” he confessed and grabbed a kit kat from the dozen packages laying in the box.

I didn’t miss his words, but followed suit and grabbed a bar of chocolate.

“How did you know I would survive?” I heard myself asking the question that was lingering at the back of my mind every time I found myself in Rhylan’s presence.

He didn’t need further explanation, understanding my question to its exact extent. “Have you not seen sprouts piercing through rocks to get their way?” he asked a dash of admiration in his gaze. “You guys are resilient,” Rhylan half smiled and shoved two full bars of kit kat in his mouth.

“Not a princess anymore then?” I questioned as I bit from my bar, the chocolate melting on my lips a bliss I had not hoped to relive so soon.

“Anwen, you can be whatever you wish to be,” he said, then lowered his gaze to the second box and invited me to open it.

I shivered at the sound of my name falling out of his mouth like a waterfall unleashed but focused all my attention on the second box, which managed to draw another smile from me.

“Kit kat and coke,” I chuckled, grabbing a can of perfectly cold coke and popping it open, the sound magic to my ears.

We spent about an hour laughing, drinking fizz, and eating chocolate, just like the good old times in Evigt, when I thought of him as a friend. I felt unsure about the present, about his intentions, and could not, for the life of me, understand Rhylan’s reasoning. Sometimes, especially when we were alone, he looked sincere and relaxed, as though he enjoyed the time spent together, but other times he turned into a vile monstrosity of a being, only caring about himself and his own purposes.

“Ready for box number three?” he asked as he bent in his seat to reach for the third box, one that had remained resting at his feet.

“I hope it’s not ice cream,” I chuckled but he placed it on the table and pointed at me to open it. I did so quickly, ready for another surprise.

“What is this?” I frowned again, finding a plastic box inside the gift wrapper.

“Open it,” Rhylan invited me again, breathing heavily likehewas nervous.

I opened the plastic box, struggling to do so and nipping two fingernails in the process when…” Oh my god!” I burst out, my trembling palms reaching to cup my cheeks and settle on my face while tears dripped freely, inundating my eyes.

“I assumed you don’t know numbers by heart, so there is a list. I got your father’s mobile, your mother’s, their house number and the office,” Rhylan reached inside the box to find a small card containing all the numbers.

“Oh my god,'' I said again, unable to believe he had thought of this. That he had done something like this for me.

---