Air {Elements of Power 3}

Chapter 50: Roxy

My stomach was a pit of roaring flames as I made my way to the castle's grand entrance to meet Brae for our 'date'. They settled slightly when I saw that he was already there, waiting for me, in a soft white shirt and trousers that were the colour of plain stone.

"Wow," he said, watching me as I walked down the stairs towards him. "You are utterly breathtaking. Where did you get the dress?"

"I'm borrowing it from Imogen. Jasmine... sorted it out for me." Flames. Thirty seconds in and I had already managed to mention his ex, who was also my sister. So much for subtlety.

Luckily, Brae ignored my slip-up and extended his arm. "Well it really suits you. Shall we go?"

Smiling, I took him by the arm and let him lead me through the doors. I had no idea where we were going; Brae had been extremely mysterious about the whole affair and it wasn't as though we could just go out to a restaurant in the city, for reasons too numerous to count. Once we were out of the palace doors, Brae led me round to the right, towards the palace gardens. We walked in silence for a few minutes as he led me beneath canopies of delicate white flowers and fairy lights, and round majestic old trees which had been miraculously untouched by the falling flames. Eventually, we emerged out into a small clearing, where a white and beige checked blanket had been lain out over the grass with a basket beside it.

My mind circled back to my time in the Sephan Realm. I now knew exactly what this was. "A picnic." I smiled. "What a brilliant idea!"

Brae visibly relaxed. "I'm pleased you think so! I spent ages getting it all ready."

"You did all this?" I asked, eyebrows raised. I had presumed that he would have asked one of the palace servants to organise everything for him.

"Of course," he replied, lowering us both onto the blanket and opening up the basket. "I spent all afternoon preparing everything. It was actually extremely therapeutic - I managed to think through quite a few of our current issues completely undisturbed down in the kitchen-by the time I was done, I had solutions to six or seven different problems! I think I will hide away down there more often. Then it was just a case of bringing everything out here before coming back to meet you."

"Brae, it's amazing. I... I don't think anyone has ever gone to this much effort for me in my entire life!" I suddenly felt ashamed of my own afternoon, wasted discarding dress after dress.

"I'm so relieved that you think so! I also spent a lot of time today worrying about how this isn't good enough for you - how you must be used to something so much fancier. If things had been different, I could have used this as an opportunity to show you the beauty of our Realm. I could have taken you out into the city and treated you in the luxury you deserve."

As he spoke, the breeze in the clearing picked up, causing me to shiver. "Look! I can't even really keep you warm out here! I did bring this though, which will hopefully help." He handed me a second blanket, which I draped around my shoulders gratefully.

"Honestly, Brae, there is nothing you could have done that would have been better than this - that could have meant more than this. Even the location is perfect, really. We spent so much of our time together in the Helian Realm outside in the palace gardens. When you left, it was the only place I could go to to find any solace. Being here now, with you again, and in your own garden. Well, it's just too special to even put into words."

I leaned towards him, letting the blanket drop from my shoulders. I had intended to kiss him softly on the lips, but his hands wrapped round me immediately, drawing me in so that I was sitting on his lap, with one arm planted firmly round my back, and I could feel the warmth of his hand through the lace of the dress, the other wrapped into my hair, pulling me even closer to him. His lips tasted cool, like chilled lemonade, but his body was warm against mine. After a minute, he pulled back, slightly lost for breath. "How about some of that food I spent so long preparing?" he asked, grinning.

"I think it will be fine if we leave it a little longer," I replied, pulling him back in.

{I remembered to update! Please comment to let me know what you think and vote if you enjoyed this one - I'm sure it will be polarising! 

Don't want to wait for the next update? The entire series is available for free from Smashwords until tomorrow. If you google 'smashwords elements of power' you can download all three in ebook formats.}