They stood in a bright living room that was all white, except for the pastel blue carpet and velvet chairs and sofas. There were no paintings on the walls, just a few large windows. A chandelier hung from the ceiling but instead of candles, it held little glowing balls of light, like tiny versions of Ayden’s light spell. There was no kitchen, just a table with six chairs to the side of the room that was set with golden dishes.
“Who are we supposed to ask if we want something?” Tess wondered.
Ayden walked over to the table and picked up a golden goblet. “I want some cider.” He grinned when it simply appeared in the cup. “Just say so.”
“I want roasted duck with raspberry sauce.” Vivyka said and smiled widely when it materialized on the plate in front of her. “Awesome.”
“Just don’t get greedy, please,” Sera said as she wandered toward one of the three bedrooms.
Matt stood in the doorway and watched her as she looked around. There was white fabric everywhere, the only color was the carpeting that continued from the living room. The whole place was plush and had a feel of extreme comfort. This room, like the rest of the house, was bright and warm. The window, on the left side, was open and the sheer curtains rippled slightly in a soft breeze. The place gave you the feeling of a lazy summer morning in southern Kelstone.
Sera walked over to a dresser and opened a drawer curiously. She touched one of the light blue robes inside before closing it, then walking to the large bed and sitting down. She sighed at the luxuriously soft feel of it.
“Come here,” she told him quietly. “This bed is so comfortable.” She watched him close the door and walk over to her. She smiled. “I can’t believe how peaceful you are right now.”
He returned her smile as he sat beside her. He felt completely content, the heavy weight he usually bore was gone. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember everything, he just felt a bit detached from it. For the first time since he lost his mark, he didn’t feel that constant pain. He caressed her cheek and kissed her, his touch more tender than ever before.
Matt laid back on the bed, pulling her with him. She snuggled beside him, resting her head on the inside of his shoulder and laying her hand on his chest as they both closed their eyes. From the other room they heard Tess call, “Ayd, come check out this bed.” They chuckled softly before falling asleep.
—————
Someone bouncing on the bed woke them some time later. Matt caught Tess’ ankle and pulled, causing her to fall next to him. She giggled. “How can you sleep? This place is great,” she said as she covered Sera’s hand with hers and put her head on Matt’s other shoulder.
“What’s with people?” Matt asked lightly. “Everyone has to be touching me these days—grabbing me, sitting on my lap, hugging me.”
“You’ve gone all soft and cuddly like a big old teddy bear,” Tess said teasingly.
Sera laughed softly. “Do you want to know why for real?”
“Yes.”
“It’s because you’re big, strong, confident, and now you’re almost always warm and caring. Especially to children, you feel safe. People, at least those on your good side,” she amended with a smile, “feel protected around you, and everyone loves to feel that way.” She lifted her head to smile down at him. “Yes,” she said, answering his feeling. “That’s who you are now, or who you can chose to be. A protector.”
“Yeah, you saved that Ember girl, and then Viv in Halimi,” Tess put in.
“A monster turned protector?” He huffed a quiet laugh.
“Who better?” Sera asked rhetorically. “You know exactly what you’re saving people from. You know why it’s worth fighting for.”
“You do decide your destiny,” Tess said softly, repeating what she had told him after he had risked his life for her. “You did, and still do.”
He turned his head to look at her and smiled. “Guess so.” He was silent for a minute before he asked, “So, what’s your excuse?”
“For what?” Tess asked.
“For being… close. Being all touchy with me now?”
Sera smiled knowingly. “Because she loves you.”
Tess frowned at her. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.”
“Love?” Matt asked, confused.
“Like family,” Sera explained. “Like how she cares about Gavin. The same way you feel about her.”
“Oh.”
“What about that not telling other people’s feelings thing?” Tess grouched.
Sera shrugged. “It’s obvious. I don’t need empathy to see the relationship that’s formed between the two of you.”
“I don’t think you screw family members,” he pointed out lightly.
Tess sighed. “That’s so ancient history.”
“It was only a few months ago.”
“I get over things quickly.”
“I required getting over?”
She rolled her eyes as took her hand away from Sera’s to smack his stomach, making him chuckle. “Didn’t take much.” She smirked. “Why do you have to bring up shit like that anyway? I think you just like to stir up trouble.”
Sera laughed. “You certainly act like siblings.”
Just then, Ayden walked into the room. “There’s a horse at the door for you Sera.”
Matt glanced at him, wondering how he would react to his girlfriend laying on him, but Ayden just sat on the foot of the bed and seemed fine. These people were always surprising him, though he figured that part of his calmness might be the plane they were on.
“It says it’s time to go,” Ayden continued.
“A talking horse?” Tess asked.
“Sort of. It uses telepathy.”
“Cool.” Tess pushed herself up, making Matt tense his stomach muscles under her hand, then ran out of the room.
“Thanks Ayden,” Sera said, getting off the bed. “Will you tell it that I’ll be right there? I think I should change first.”
He nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
“Are you going alone?” Matt asked, sitting up as she pulled a light blue robe from the dresser. But when she set it aside and started taking off her clothes, he sunk back onto the bed and closed his eyes.
“What?”
“It’s best if I don’t see you naked, or you’ll be very late.”
“Stop even thinking about it.” She smiled. “You get all lusty and it’ll get me going.”
He chuckled. “Maybe this meeting won’t take long.”
She slipped the robe on, then walked over, and touched his knee. “We have all night,” she told him, her voice filled with promise.
He looked up at her and twitched an arched brow. “All night?”
“Yes. And you still have things to tell me,” she reminded him.
He sat up and growled huskily as he pulled onto his lap. He put a hand on her back and one in her hair and kissed her passionately. She moaned softly against his mouth.
After a few seconds, she pushed away, stood up again, and shook her head at him. “Stop it,” she said, trying to scold him but her words were breathy and thick with her own desire. She sighed. “I can’t think straight when you kiss me like that.”
He grinned wolfishly. “Good.” He made a grab for her but she stepped back.
“Behave,” she told him, smiling. “We have to go.”
“I’m coming then?”
“Yes.”
He nodded and sighed. “Okay.” He took a deep breath and followed her out of the room.
The horse, who stood outside the house, was pure white and majestic with crystal blue eyes. The others stood around it, Korin looking particularly awed by the creature.
Come. I will take you to the palace, the horse told Sera.
“Who is allowed to come?” she asked.
You.
“I want at least him with me,” she said, taking Matt’s hand.
Very well.
“Sorry,” she told the rest of them.
“Honestly don’t care,” Tess said. “Are we allowed to wonder around outside?”
No, the horse answered. This is not a place for mortals. You are only temporary visitors.
Tess pouted but nodded. “We’ll be fine here,” she assured Sera. “Good luck.”
Vivyka hugged Sera for a moment. “I hope you get your power back.”
“Thanks,” Sera murmured. “Even if I don’t, thank you all for helping me get here. I appreciate it more than I can say.”
“We’d do anything for you,” Vivyka told her. “You do so much for everyone else.”
The others nodded their agreement.
“Thanks,” she said again, beaming at them, then turned to the horse. “I’m ready.”
He knelt down before her and waited for her and Matt to get onto his bare back, then they headed north up the diamond road.
He stopped and let them off just before the high double doors of the palace. An angel, who looked very much like Aryst, met them with a small bow and a brilliant smile. They were shown through several grand halls before stopping in a throne room. Like the road outside, everything in here looked as though it was made from millions of tiny diamonds. The sun touched the walls in shafts of light from high windows, making them sparkle with glimmers of rainbows.
The goddess of healing sat upon one of the two thrones. The other, which was currently empty, most likely belonged to her husband, Daegon, the god of light. Aryst looked the same as she had in the temple, only now she emitted a soft glow as if a low-level light spell had been cast on her. “Sera and Mathias. Welcome,” she said, her voice sweet and gentle.
Sera bowed her head respectfully. “Thank you for seeing us.”
Aryst gave a slight nod. “Tell me, why have you come so far and through so much to find me.”
“I have come to ask if I can be a dream healer again,” she answered.
“You misused the sacred gift that I bestowed upon you,” Aryst stated neutrally. “Why did you do this?”
“Because of love,” Sera said simply.
“Can I say something?” Matt asked.
“Of course,” the goddess answered.
“Well, even though Sera didn’t use her power with the intention of healing, she did heal with it. There is no way I would be who I am now without her. Her love continues to heal me, and the dreams were a necessary start for that. I was too scared to let her come to me in the waking world.”
Aryst smiled warmly at him, and then looked at Sera. “His devotion and love for you, as well as the others you travel with, shows how special you are, as I knew you would be. That is why I chose you. Even without my gifts, you have the ability to love without limits, and love is the greatest power of them all.”
She stood and walked gracefully toward them, stopping in front of Sera. The goddess reached out a hand and touched her forehead. Sera closed her eyes and a second later, her hair turned from copper to the white-gold it had been before. She was a dream healer once again.
Finally, Aryst stepped back and took her hand away. “You will make a wonderful high priestess someday.”
“Thank you,” Sera said, beaming at her.
Aryst glanced at Matt for a minute, then looked into Sera’s eyes.
After a moment, Sera shook her head gently. “Thank you, but no.”
The goddess nodded. “Very well,” she said, then stepped in front of Matt and touched his chest. “You have a good heart, Mathias. As you have received love, so give it, not only to friends, but also to strangers. By helping those who need assistance, the light of your future will come to outweigh the darkness of your past.”
“I will,” he promised.
She returned to her throne and smiled at them. “Enjoy the rest of your stay on my plane. And carry with you my blessing.”
They thanked her and left. When they were outside, Matt asked, “What did she say to you?”
Sera bit her bottom lip for a moment and smiled. “I’ll tell you later.”
—————
It seemed Vivyka and Tess had the same idea as they took the hands over their perspective partners and led them into a bedroom. Vivyka closed the door behind her. “You know what I want?”
“What?”
“I want a bath.” As soon as she said it a large wooden tub appeared, filled with steaming water and white rose petals floating on the top. She striped and climbed in, sitting on a built-in seat and sighing at the feel of the warm water that was exactly the right temperature. “Come join me,” she suggested. She watched him take off his clothes, then walk to her. He moved as gracefully as an animal, always seeming so comfortable with himself and his surroundings, no matter where he was. “You’re strange,” she told him as he got in and sat on the opposite side.
He smiled. “Why is that?”
“You’re just so unlike anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Is that good?” he asked, though he seemed to know the answer.
She nodded. “But I’m not sure what to expect with you.”
“You are used to being in control.”
“Yeah, I made sure of that after…”
“Matt?”
“Yeah. With me he was completely different than how he is now with Sera.”
“He loves her very much,” Korin noted.
“He does,” she agreed, trying to keep any sadness out of her voice, but a hint of it was still there and, of course, Korin picked up on it.
“You wish he would have loved you.”
She sighed. “I understand now. He wasn’t capable of it back then. And I’m glad he loves her, they belong together.” She took a deep breath. “It’d be nice though, to be loved like that. The way Falcon loves Julia. The way Ayden loves Tess… well, maybe not that much.” She laughed. “I don’t want a puppy.”
“What do you want?”
She thought about it for a moment. “An equal,” she answered. “I want honesty and… devotion. But not all clingy, I like my space. I want to be my own person and have someone understand that and love me anyway.”
“What if they love you because you are your own person?” he asked.
“That’d be cool,” she said with a small smile, but then asked seriously, “Do you really want to stay with me? Can you really deal with everything I am? Do you even know who I am?”
“I am quiet because I watch,” he told her. “I observe. I see who you are with your friends. I see who you are when you think no one is paying attention. And I understand your nature. I am a ranger, a great lover of wild things. I have no wish to tame or change them, only appreciate them for what they are.”
“What if I get scared and run?” she asked quietly.
He smiled tenderly. “Then I will wait for you to return and hold you until you feel safe again.”
“What if I hurt you?”
“I will forgive you and know that you did not mean to.”
“What if I’m not good enough?” She whispered.
“You will never be perfect, none of us are, but you will always be good enough. I will love you as a whole, imperfections, and all.”
Tears filled her eyes. “What if I don’t love you?”
“You do,” he said confidently.
She moved over to him. “I do,” she breathed. “I love you. I want you, only you.”
“You have me,” he whispered back. “I am yours, only yours, always.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, that wonderful, achingly sweet kiss and she blissfully melted into him.
