NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Cira Returns
8th of Yalech - 2nd Kaldros
The long anticipated return of Cira had arrived at last and Calas waited with a large group of energetic scribes in the cul-de-sac in front of the Great Hall. Even though Calas knew most of them well enough by now, that did nothing to ease his anxiety.
Some of the staffers attended, once word got to them that there was a get together. Fara, Modwen, Malakh, Marcus, and Lamruil were among them and brought a certain kind of eccentricity to Cira's other friends who were in attendance. Especially Wen as she was always the outspoken one in any group Calas had seen her in.
Vesa and Tymon he knew fairly well, but Ilytha the fawn creature from Hyhill and Munsa the Drakari with blue and white scales were still relatively unknown to Calas since he had only seen them at Vesa's party some thirty days ago. Save for a strange passing glance his way from Munsa, they seemed just as enthusiastic as the rest of the group for Cira's carriage to arrive. Calas wished he felt the same, but his being here was by the request of a certain blue-eyed weaver.
They all congregated around a now tall, slender beauty with sandy blond hair, worn loose, and wearing mismatched, hand-me-down clothing that Fara and Vesa found by asking around campus after the Sunflame Dawn. The one known as Serea to all her friends gathered around her, but that wasn't what he called her. Thanks to the genius of his good friend Jem, Calas was one of the few people who called this intelligent and extremely talented young woman "Rea".
Calas turned from the group and peered up at the clock tower again, but it had only been a handful of minutes since the last time he had done so. He exhaled, a breath filled with nervous energy, hoping to expel the uneasy feeling that things would change between them once the coach arrived.
It was scheduled to bring Rea's roommate back to Court before the second term began and was due to arrive very soon. Unfortunately, the elven girl, Ciradyl, did not particularly enjoy Calas' company and he had nearly forgotten that he should have been thinking about how to make amends with her.
If you had asked him a month ago, one person's animosity would not have bothered him. But that was then, and before he had really gotten to know Rea. And fell for her, like an idiot. After that, it was as if his entire perception had shifted.
The effect wasn't only about Rea though. It also affected his outlook on the people around him, about the world, and his place in it. The whole break, the whole experience with her, had shaken him to what he thought he knew. Now, he wasn't so certain and the possibility that someone so wholesome and endearing as Rea might—only possibly— feel something toward him more than friendship was mind-boggling.
He glanced over at her as he felt an emotion like warm reassurance ripple through him from the thread that bound them. Calas found her smiling joyfully and he couldn't help but give her a small quirk of his lips in response. It hadn't dissuaded his unease, but he had come to accept that seeing her smile made him bolder than he had any reason to be. Even in the face of a god, so it happened.
Orendell had been suspiciously quiet since he was forced to hunt mice in the Eldwood, but Calas felt the mark stirring as if eager to catch him off guard. That hadn't helped to calm his nerves, either. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Paragon asked him once again to present Rea to the Beast of the Eldwood. He only knew that whatever the consequences were for not doing that would be well worth it. She was worth it.
"Oh, there it is!" Vesa let out an excited squeal and everyone, including Calas, looked up to see a coach approaching through the main gate and down the thoroughfare toward them.
It took several minutes for it to reach them from where it was spotted, but once it stopped, the elven girl disembarked from the coach into the loving arms of all the friends who came to greet her. Meanwhile, those who were not so close to Cira spoke with the driver about her things as her exclamations about Rea's new appearance rang out above the din of giggles and laughter.
"What in the World Tree happened to you!?" Cira exclaimed while holding on to Rea that was about her height. "I leave for twenty-five days and you grew like a weed!"
"I guess my Drakari blood is kind of strong." Rea replied faintly and Cira responded by checking the skin on her arms and neck.
"No scales. No wings. Not even horns." Cira's voice was skeptical.
"Horns?" Rea choked out. "No one mentioned horns as a possibility!"
All the girls around the pair giggled with mirth at Rea's reaction. It was very much a "Rea" thing to say.
Calas smiled at the exchange as he helped to unload Cira's trunk and other effects with the other aides. He recalled the moment that the door to room 179 was opened to reveal a groggy Rea in her suddenly too small nightgown. She had been oblivious to it at the time, but the sudden change from mousy and cute to tall and gorgeous would have been jarring to anyone.
Before he committed to the daydream, he refocused his attention on the task at hand, placing a smaller bag in the waiting arms of Malakh. With that, everything was unloaded from the coach in no time, and with Calas and three other aides to do the heavy lifting, Vesa was happily free of any of the work. Soon the coach was on its way out, back down the thoroughfare from whence it came.
"You must be Cira," Malakh began as he held out a hand toward Cira once the commotion had died down. "Sorry for crashing your welcome party, but when Serea mentioned you would be returning, we kind of invited ourselves." He gave her an apologetic, albeit charming, smile as they shook hands, and he gestured to the other staffers.
"Serea became a member of the staff in your absence, you see, and we are quite fond of her. So forgive us for wanting to meet you and help out. This is Wen, Marcus, Lamruil, and I think you know Calas already."
"Yeah, we've met." Cira rolled her eyes in Calas' direction, obviously not pleased at all by his presence, even to do her heavy lifting. She had no issues greeting all of the other staffers, especially Wen as they recognized one another from early on before orientation and began to chat with Rea as the group started to meander toward the Sanctum.
Calas stifled a sardonic chuckle as Cira ignored him. That was about what he had expected. The other men of the staff were only mildly perplexed and Calas shrugged and shook his head at Malakh's questioning gaze. It's better for them to stay out of this one, he thought as he picked up the heavy trunk with Marcus. Malakh and Lamruil followed suit picking up the smaller pieces and the lot of them joined the migration toward the Sanctum.
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"Oh, great idea, Vesa!" Cira exclaimed as she picked at the floral-printed, sleeveless shirt on Rea. "Have you been wearing these strange things around campus all week?"
"No," Rea blushed in response, and muttered, "I was wearing the clothes you left behind, mostly."
A shocked look covered Cira's face before she burst out laughing. "That's so funny! You fit in my clothes now! Why didn't you wear them today?"
"She thought you would be mad." Chou's tiny voice whispered on the wind when Rea didn't answer right away and Calas could see her ears turn beet red.
Calas had chuckled lightly at that, and sent a comforting emotion through the thread. Chou always knows the exact wrong moment to speak, doesn't she, he thought.
"Oh, Serea," Cira cooed, "I'm not mad. I'm actually really happy we can share clothes. It's not like I was using them, anyway."
Rea seemed to perk up at this, but Calas felt differently about the statement. If Cira, snubbed him for his mere presence, he wondered how the elf would react to the bond, the promise, and all the training and study time they had spent together during the break. Calas stifled a sigh as he and Marcus passed through the Sanctum doors.
It wasn't hard to get everything into room 179, especially now that Calas actually knew where it was. After everyone set down their burdens, and the other guys said their farewells, Calas took a calming breath before he approached Cira.
"Hey," he started in a calm, neutral tone, "do you have a moment? I promise it won't take long and then I'll be on my way." He tilted his head in a subtle gesture that it was meant to be a private conversation.
Cira's expression, like her posture, wasn't exactly hostile, but it was close. At first, he thought she wasn't going to agree, but with a click of her tongue and a similar nodding gesture, he followed her out of the room. She didn't turn around to face him until they were in a secluded part of the hallway.
"What do you want?" her tone was annoyed.
Calas scoffed lightly, already uneasy from the gruffness in her voice. He made a surrendering gesture to try and cut through her attitude. "I get it, you don't want to talk to me. I'm probably the last person you would want to talk to, but it's about Rea."
"Oh, Rea," she gave an indignant scoff of her own, folding her arms in front of her lithe frame. "I guess you've finally learned at least part of her name."
He nodded, and kept his emotions in check. She was in rare form today, but this wouldn't take long. He hoped.
"Yeah, so, you girls are going shopping today and I would like to be able to help her in some way." He quickly fished out the small, palm-sized pouch from his pocket and offered it to Cira. "Consider this a donation to her wardrobe fund." When she didn't take the pouch from him, he lowered his voice and added, "Please."
Her eyes narrowed at him, a pout to her lip, "Why in the sundered World Tree would I accept that? Give it to her yourself." She took a step to leave, but he quickly stopped her by blocking her path back to her room.
"It's her money and she won't take it back from me. I tried." His voice was as fast as his feet, trying to get it all out before she escaped him, and he lost his chance. "It was from a bet we made together and she should have taken the whole pot," his speech slowed when Cira shifted back on her heels, not attempting to flee anymore. "But you know how she is."
"Stubborn." Cira guessed at what he was saying.
"Kind." He spoke the word softly, and the expression on Cira's face went from agitated to suspicious.
Cira hesitated briefly before speaking again, the vehemence nearly gone. "I missed quite a bit, I take it." It was more of a question to which Calas nodded slowly.
She heaved a sigh and with a begrudging expression, she held out her hand to receive the pouch.
"Thank you." He gently placed it in her waiting palm and looked her squarely in the eyes. He turned to go, his objective completed, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Hey." Cira's voice was short and insistent, but not confrontational.
Instinctively he flinched at the contact, but stopped himself from any other trained response when he glanced back to see that she wasn't about to deck him. He turned back toward her as it became clear that she wasn't going to continue without his full attention.
"What is it you want from her?" She wasn't condescending at all, which surprised Calas and he heaved a heavy breath.
"That seems like a loaded question." Calas responded and Cira clicked her tongue at him again.
"Come on. You know what I mean. Don't use weird debate tactics on me. What do you want from my friend?" She folded her arms and waited for a real response, her expression set in a firm and serious mask. It put him on edge like any physical brawl he had experienced.
"'Want' is a weird word to me. Like a fairy tale. So, seriously, rephrase your question." He felt his racing heartbeat and controlled his breathing subtly to combat the tension within him. Calas found himself rubbing the spot on his little finger and focusing on that ever-present pulse of emotion on the other side. The familiar beat was comforting and it helped more than he figured it would.
"Fine." Cira started, some of the annoyance returning to her voice. "What are your intentions for Serea?"
He nodded to her in thanks before responding, "I have no intentions other than to keep her happy and healthy." Cira puffed out a breath dismissively.
"You are so full of shit." She stated bluntly and Calas couldn't help but laugh. It broke some of the tension between them and he reminded himself that he was here to make peace.
"Unfortunately, not with this subject." When it was clear that Cira would not believe him, he continued. "Look, we might have become closer over the break, but she has given me no indication that she wants to go any further than where we are."
"Which is?" Cira asked impatiently.
"Friends." Calas leveled a look at her, but ruined it by glancing away for a moment. "I guess."
"You guess!" she mocked and her laugh was caustic. "And if she wanted more from you?"
"That sounds like something I would discuss with her, not you." Calas shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
"But you would, though, talk to her about it," she instigated.
"Sure," he shrugged, giving an apathetic gesture. "Why not? We've talked about stranger things."
"Have you kissed her yet?"
The casual way she asked left him flabbergasted. "What?"
"Not even once?" She continued, unphased, as if he had answered the question.
"No!" He finally responded emphatically.
"But would you?"
He covered his face in his palms in frustration and suddenly realized that he did not have to continue this conversation any longer. He accomplished what he set out to do, which gave him no reason to continue this ridiculous line of questioning. He gave her a negating gesture before taking a couple slow steps back, and pointedly hadn't responded verbally.
"You would, wouldn't you?" She continued to pester him, taking just as many slow steps toward him as he took back.
Calas' chuckle was unsettled as he responded instead with, "Enjoy your shopping trip, Cira."
Calas turned away from her with that, but Calas could hear her last words from behind.
"Tell me you haven't thought about it."
He found that pulse again as he ignored the elven girl behind him and focused instead on the direction of the one he was bound to. As he strode past her door, he was able to stare right at her without using his eyes as a guide. Their eyes met as they both came into view of one another.
Calas smiled wistfully at Rea from afar, her deep blue eyes glistened in the sunlit room. His heart thundered to the rhythm of the pulse he felt in his finger and offered her a wave in greeting and farewell. She stared back in that brief moment with an inquisitive expression for him before being drawn into a conversation with Cira, who had arrived just behind him. He didn't blame her for being distracted by the elven girl, but just as he thought it, a thought not his own echoed through the thread.
"Trouble?"
He chuckled at the sending as he headed back to his room on the other side of the Vodalysa commons and responded back.
"No. Enjoy."
Calas was rewarded with a complex emotion through their bond, and it made him pause at his own door. The mixture of relief, contentedness, and longing wasn't something he had ever felt from her before and he was both intrigued and confused by it.
Longing, he thought to himself, for what? It rekindled the conversation that Cira tried to goad him into. As he leaned his back against the inside of his door, Calas sighed and thought about every time he wanted to kiss the one he called Rea. After all, it was a nice fantasy.