The Magic of Aurelian

Eleonor

The rest of our stay in the Earth Kingdom was lovely. Queen Dhara was eager to speak with Queen Himari about trade opportunities, and Prince Kiran agreed to host her once we were back home.

Our next stop was Zephyriss, the capital of the Air Kingdom. The journey was longer this time as we had to fly to the mountains and beyond. We would have to stop for the night, which I was glad for as we didn’t have to be on guard when it was just us.

We had flown to the previous two locations, but it would be too dangerous to fly in the mountains due to lower visibility, so we had rented a carriage and horses.

“There’s supposed to be an inn up ahead where we can have dinner and stay the night.” Kiran pointed just over a hill. We were in dragon territory, so I was sure the inn belonged to the dragons.

“This is a dragon city, right?”

“Yes, once we cross over this mountain range, we’ll be in the Dragon Kingdom of Cuprian, where the Copper Dragons rule.”

“This is the furthest I’ve ever been away from home. It’s exciting though.”

“Really, I imagined you as someone well traveled with you being so close to the action during the Shadow Wars while you were still a child.”

“If only, I’ve always wanted to travel. There was just never any reason to go further than Aurelian.”

“Until now.”

“Yes, until now.”

The Prince and I were riding in the carriage, while the guards rode horses alongside us. One of the guards stopped by our window. “Your Highness, the inn is just up ahead, we should be there shortly.”

Kiran thanked the guard, “I’ll be glad to be out of this carriage. I’m not used to traveling this way, and my muscles are more sore than when we fly.”

“Yes, I could use a good stretch.” I agreed.

The carriage stopped, and Gabriel came and opened the carriage door for me. The inn was not at all what I was expecting as I thought it would be something more quaint. However, it turned out to be a large establishment. The main building was several stories high and appeared to house a restaurant and several rooms. Beside it was what appeared to be stables and a small shop. On the other side, there was a cottage. My guess was that was where the innkeeper lived. In between the inn and cottage, there was an outdoor space with a garden and what appeared to be a wishing well. It was lovely, and I already felt like I could have a relaxing evening here.

“Come, Eleonor, let’s go inside and see about the rooms.” Gabriel called me to go with him while the others led the horses to the stable.”

“Good evening, welcome to the Forgelight Inn! You must be the Light Fairies we’ve been expecting. I’m Mrs. Isadora, and I run things around here and do all of the cooking. I hope you like roast as that’s what’s on the menu tonight.” A lovely tall woman with fiery curls came up to greet us.

“Hello, that sounds delicious, and yes, we’re the Light Fairies.”

“Wonderful, let me have my son get you the keys, and once you’re settled and back down, I’ll have my daughter set out your dinner.” She turned to a young boy and called him over, “Lorcan, give them the keys I’ve already set out and then escort them to their rooms.”

The boy did as she said and led us upstairs, showing us where each room was located. Gabriel and I set our things inside our rooms and headed back down to wait for the others.

A lovely young woman who looked a lot like Mrs. Isadora with her red curls and tall build came over to us with a basket of bread. “Hi, I’m Amelia, I wasn’t sure if you wanted to wait or go ahead and eat, but here’s some bread while you wait.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel gave the girl his best smirk, and I saw her melt under his gaze. The two would make eyes every so often, and I was starting to get annoyed.

“That’s the second girl you’ve just blatantly flirted with. You need to stop that, at least in front of me.”

“Oh, come on, big sis. It’s harmless. Besides, I have to watch you and Prince Kiran’s awkward encounters for two weeks, so watching me flirt for a night shouldn’t be all that bad.” I rolled my eyes at him and picked up a piece of bread.

“Did you get the rooms?” The rest of the men arrived. Eight guards were traveling with us, enough for them to rotate guarding Kiran even at night. Kiran approached and came and sat next to me.

“This is nice.” He looked around the large room filled with tables. The building itself was made of wood but was brightened by colorful tapestries along each wall. It was summer, so no fire was needed, but there was still a coziness to the place.

Mrs. Isadora and Amelia came and started serving our meal. Prince Kiran was served first, and he wordlessly slid his plate over to me. I was about to protest when another plate was placed before him, and he just nodded at me and smiled as he dug into his food.

He’d been different the last couple of days, more attentive, but I wasn’t sure what had changed between us. I took a bite, and I nearly moaned at the taste. “This is wonderful. I hope the breakfast is just as good.” They had set out mugs, and I picked mine up to discover they had given us equally delicious wine.

The place had been empty except for us, but it filled up with more people after a while.

“How’s the meal? We’ll be having a band come in soon to play some music.” Mrs. Isadora flitted about pouring more wine and giving out seconds. The entire place had such a welcoming atmosphere.

“I love it here.” I giggled as I picked up my mug and drank more wine. The music started up, and a few couples stepped up and started dancing.

“Oh, Kiran! There’s dancing, come dance with me.” I stood up and pulled on his arm. He reluctantly stood and let me drag him over to the dance floor where I followed along with the other couples. We spun around and laughed and even switched partners for a few beats before returning to each other. The strains of the music slowed, and I thought Kiran would want us to return to the table, but instead he pulled me close. A wave of memories flooded me as I recalled the other times we had danced together at the balls.

His strong arms encircled my waist and my head started to spin. Kiran rested his forehead on mine, “I think we should head to bed now.”

I swallowed the big lump in my throat, “Yes, I think so, too.” I might have had too much wine as everything started feeling hazy, and all I could think about was being in bed with Kiran, even though I knew that was not what he meant.

We walked back to the table, where the men were, and I said good night to Gabriel and the others. “I think I had too much wine.”

“Oh, dear, I forgot to warn you about the wine.” Mrs. Isadora came up behind me as she heard what I said. “We serve dragon wine here. It’s a bit stronger than what you’re probably used to drinking.”

That makes sense, our wine doesn’t tend to affect dragons similar to how human wine doesn’t really affect us.

“Eleonor, we should head upstairs now. Do you remember which rooms are ours?” My head was still hazy, but I could at least get up to my room. I was certain the feeling would pass quickly as I had only had two cups.

“Good night, Eleanor,” Gabriel called out to me from across the table, and I could see his cocky grin from where I stood. He was still trying to get me to admit my feelings for Kiran, and I’m sure dancing with him in front of everyone did nothing to quell those thoughts.

Kiran let me lead the way up the stairs, but he was so close that I could feel the heat of his body on mine. “This one is yours, and the one across is mine.” I gestured to each door as I spoke, and then moved to unlock my door. I felt Kiran behind me, and I tensed up as I thought back to what it felt like to be in his arms, kissing him.

“Do you have my key?”

“Oh, yes…sorry.” I reached into my bag for his key and turned to face him, but he didn’t step back and instead invaded all of my senses. His brown eyes, his scent of citrus and leather, his breath on my face, and his heat.

“Eleonor,” He whispered my name, and that was the last piece I needed before I broke.

I reached up into his soft curls and pulled his lips down to mine, kissing him with everything I had. He let out a deep rumble in his throat as he gave into me, pulling me closer as he deepened our kiss. I could have stayed like this with him all night and all of the following day. We had kissed before, but there was something magical about kissing him when he knew it was me, Eleonor, whom he was kissing.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine again, like when we danced. “Eleonor…” We were both breathless.

“Kiran,” Barely any sound left me, and then it hit me like an avalanche. I kissed Kiran. I felt the color drain from my face, and I sobered up quickly.

“Kiran, we shouldn’t be doing this. I have to go.” I pulled free from his embrace and rushed into my room, closing the door before he could protest. I let the wine get to me, and now I’ve made a mess of things. How was I going to face him tomorrow?

Kiran

I fought the urge to break down the door after she practically slammed it in my face. Instead, I made my way to my room and laid in my bed staring at the ceiling. How was I going to continue this tour and meet all of these women or even continue to search for Lady Ella when Eleonor was here, and she was who I really wanted? It was torture just thinking about it. I know the effects of the alcohol had something to do with all of this, the dancing and the kiss, but I’m glad that it happened. Now if I could just get her to admit her feelings for me while sober.

Breakfast the following morning was just as delicious as dinner, but Eleonor was taking her time before coming downstairs.

“I’ll go check on my sister, I’m sure she’d hate to miss this breakfast.” Gabriel headed upstairs, and came back a few minutes later with Eleonor.”

“She slept in a bit later than usual, but she’s here now.

Eleonor took her usual seat next to me but conveniently avoided my gaze. “The wine affected me a bit more than expected. I’ll remember not to drink so much next time we’re here.” The men chuckled at her statement, but a few nodded along with her.

We finished our meal and packed up our things. The carriage and horses would remain here until we were ready to use them again as we would be flying the rest of the way.

“Are you ready, Eleanor?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” She looked down as she spoke to me, and it was clear something had changed with how she didn’t call me by my given name. I needed to talk with her because if she continued this, the rest of this trip was going to be torture.