Heirs of the Gods

Ch 46: Close enough

Ella's day had been eventful, to say the least.

She'd dreaded being stuck alone with Aedion inside the training room in the morning, and fortunately, she'd been spared of this by Valren's presence, who'd been an unknowing buffer. Still, that hadn't made it all the much easier.

Ella had still been flustered and bumbling, no grace whatsoever to her regular moves. She'd fumbled through her routines and pointedly avoided looking at Aedion, as anytime she made eye contact with him, she went pink enough that even Val had pointed it out, tactfully asking if Ella was overheated, much to Aedion's amusement.

The rest of her day had fared no better. She'd floundered through it, distracted and muttering half responses a beat too late, lost in her thoughts. And heaven forbid, when she'd been in the same room as Aedion, she'd floundered even more, which had led to her being irate and peevish all day. More than usual, which was quite a feat.

The one positive prospect of her day had been knowing she could take her day off to meet with Briar, as she usually did. She'd been looking forward to the much-needed distance and time off to breathe and possibly make sense of her ideas, but to Ella's disappointment, Briar had cancelled last minute. Though much to her luck, between their back and forth letters, Gidden had caught wind of this and offered to take his sister's place.

Ella had agreed, all too happy, needing the distraction of a friend, and so, by late afternoon, Gidden could be found in Gerrathea.

Katram had just about had a heart attack when she'd caught wind of the fact that the Prince of Cereas was at the castle, in Ella's room no less. She'd made a bit of a fuss, huffing that it was impolite to receive guests in the private bedroom, insisting they use the special sitting room, but after some persuasion, she'd eventually conceded.

This, of course, only after plying them a spread of teas, cakes, sweets and confectures enough to but a bakery to shame. And so, pleasantly full of buttery sweets, hot tea and Gidden's boisterous anecdotes, Ella was finally beginning to feel herself unwind slightly.

"—And my flowering maple is huge now! I keep it in my cabin near the patrol, so I can remember to water it. Let me tell you, they're difficult to care for sometimes, picky things these plants. But one trick I've learned is to place their pot inside a big container with water and let them soak up what they need. It doesn't cause rot and—" Gidden stopped speaking and narrowed his hazel eyes slightly. "What?"

Ella's cheek rested against her palm, perched on the back of the sofa, a fond grin stretching across her features. Gidden's ramblings never ceased to endear her. He could tell her a hair-raising tale about capturing bandits one minute, and then rave about rare sprouts and magical flowers the next.

"I like when you get excited about plants," she chuckled, waving a hand around. "You get all starry-eyed. Very adorable."

Immediately, his golden skin flushed into a pretty pink. "Oh, shut up," he mumbled, huffing and blowing a stray auburn curl out of his sight. The action made him look remarkably like Briar.

"Ooh, are you embarrassed?" she cooed, poking a finger into his arm, her teasing grin spreading even wider.

"I'm not," he grumbled, going even pinker, lightly swatting her hand away.

"You are!" she cackled, enjoying the way he scowled. "Big, bad warrior lord is a little flustered, is he?"

"That's the way you want to play it then," he narrowed his eyes. "I'll give you something to laugh about." and he grabbed her sides, digging his fingers in.

Ella gasped and slumped forward on the sofa, swatting at him between shrieks of laughter. "I'm going to hit you! I don't like tickles!" she said, trying to sound menacing and failing miserably.