Serene’s POV

I didn’t want to let go of Zeph but he stepped back hearing Ralph’s voice. I slowly removed my wings from around him and folded them as Ralph hopped towards us.

"Did I spoil your moment?" There was no shame in his voice, typical Ralph. I giggled while Zeph simply glared at him.

"So I was thinking we should show Serene around and maybe take her to the fair tomorrow?" Ralph announced his plans.

"A fair?" I questioned them curiously.

"Yes, we have an annual carnival here. It has fun activities and plenty of food."

"That seems like fun. I would love to go."

"Perfect," Ralph smiled at me.

"You should sleep for a while, your eyes show you haven’t slept in a long time." Zeph looked at me with concern.

"I don’t want to sleep," I replied looking down.

"Are they becoming worse?" He referred to my nightmares.

"She had one in the carriage while we were heading home," Ralph told him which I wished he hasn’t because his face suddenly became so tense as he clenched his fists tight.

"It wasn’t that bad, they occur less now." I lied so he won’t worry that much.

"Come, let’s go inside. You will rest for a while, I will take you out at night." Zeph took my hand and began to drag me behind him. Ralph took his leave and told us he will come at night.

"Wait!" I quickly grabbed his plate from the stall before going in with him.

He was still holding my hand when we entered the house, Kilamin gave us a serious look. He was standing by the window looking outside.

"Are you alright? Princess Serene." He tilted his head toward me. "Yes, I am fine." I tried to smile.

Zeph took me upstairs. There were two rooms one with a black door and the other with a blue door. Zeph opened the one with the black door. Was that his room?

The room was not big or small. It was covered with black dari carpet with a single mattress placed along the opposite wall from the door. That wall had a large wooden window which opened outside. There was a cupboard in one corner and a study table and chair in the other. The room was painted white to keep it lighted while a few lanterns were hanging on the walls. Different weapons adorned the walls of the room including his sword. A lonely black guitar hung near his sword. It was simple and elegant.

"Is this your room?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Yes, sorry it’s not very magnificent or according to your taste." He said with a certain edge to his voice.

"Don’t be ridiculous, it’s perfect." I went ahead and sat down on his mattress and began to peek outside the window. The view was mesmerising. The vast sandy land spread far and wide, I could see Ralph’s house. His brothers were playing outside with Zavrian with a ball. I placed my hands on the window sill and placed my chin on them.

I felt his presence behind me as he sat down and slipped his hand around my waist pulling me closer to his chest and placing his chin on my shoulder. We both began to view the outside world.

There was so much peace in his arms, I tilted my head to touch his and he kissed my cheek softly.

"Finish your food." I pointed to the plate which I had placed by my side.

"I will,"

We sat there for a long time, not saying anything just revelling in each other’s silence and proximity. "Sleep Serene, I am here with you now." He whispered in my ear and soon my eyes began to droop as I fell asleep in his arms.

When I woke up it was already getting darker outside. I was sleeping on his mattress while he was still sitting by the window reading a book with his right hand while his left hand was gripping mine. An empty plate rested at his side. Seeing me awake he smiled at me: "Feeling better?"

"Yes," and I got up to go straight in his left arm. He wrapped it tightly around me. "What are you reading?"

"Just an adventure book." Talking about books I remembered what I had discovered in Sahala’s diary and wanted to enlighten him.

"I have recently made some interesting discoveries. I think your ancestor and my ancestor were married to each other."

"What?" He gave me a shocked look.

"Yes, I was reading Sahala’s diary which my father had lent to me, and I made an important discovery. She married a Folkel and his name was Aaban. They met in the institute and were deeply in love. At that time a black crystal grew on one of our crystal trees, and Sahala harvested it and gifted it to Aaban. He was a master sword smith, so he used that crystal and Cramum to forge a sword. I think that is Aaban’s sword." I pointed toward his sword.

"Ohhh, that makes sense. My father never told me where the sword came from. He just told me it has been in our family for generations."

"Yes, but another important thing to note is that although the sword belongs to Aaban, he died when Sahala was pregnant with her first child. Her child stayed in Fae Realm and I am a descendant of that child. Aaban had a brother and sister, so Sahala gave the sword to Aaban’s younger brother after his death. You are the progeny of Aaban’s brother."

Zeph scowled at the story: "That’s tragic, Serene."

"I know, right? I cried when I read it. Aaban’s mother blamed Sahala for her son’s death and asked her never to come to their house."

"I can understand she was grieving but so was Sahala. How did Aaban die?" Zeph asked.

As I was about to answer someone knocked on the door. "Oyeee, Ziii open the door. You can’t monopolize Serene. She is my friend too." It was Ralph.

Zeph rolled his eyes before getting up and opening the door and Ralph barged in followed by Zavrian.

"Sorry, I fell asleep." I looked at the apologetically.

"Did you get some sleep in?" Ralph asked. "I did, oh! I almost forgot I brought you guys some gifts."

"You didn’t have to Serene," Ralph exclaimed.

"It’s not a big deal guys." I got up ready to head down.