✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

30

Mia's POV

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Bow in hand, I head into the castle alone.

It's not that I don't want to talk to Knox, I just don't want to be awkward, and when he lets me into his room I can feel the space between us again- not cold, but calculated on my end. It's a space I don't like, but I'm the one making it. I don't get myself sometimes. I'm still comfortable around him, but I have a question- or multiple- in my mind that I don't quite know yet. Or ones I know and am trying not to think of consciously.

"El told me to give this to you," I say when I'm inside, trying to shake the weird feeling.

Knox takes the bow and hangs it up next to his cloak. I tap my feet on the floor idly. His black tunic flashes into view, and I get a quick flashback from earlier today, which has my face pinching in distaste.

"You're not still thinking about that, are you?" Knox asks. I shrug.

"I don't know. I mean, I was. Plus a bunch of other stuff, but you know, that's normal for me now."

I hear Knox sigh from next to me.

"Don't tell me you think that was your fault," Knox finally says after a minute of silence.

"No, if course not," I reply right away, hoping I fully believe myself. Of course it's not my fault. I finally look at him.

His hair is plain today, with only a few small, simple braids holding the front back. His tunic fits to his lean, strong frame. His skin, like usual, is smooth and he glows like most elves. Not physically, but you can feel it in the air about them, something you can't really describe.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that, by the way. Elanil was right."

"It's..." I mean to say fine, but it's like a cotton ball has gotten stuffed down my throat. I can't seem to say 'it's fine.' Because I still get a disturbed chill every time I think about it. It's not fine. But it's not Knox's fault, or El's.

I hear the soft, almost inaudible tap of footsteps as Knox walks over to me. He takes my hands in his then, and I'm so surprised I almost pull them away. Maybe I should. But my hands suddenly feel heavy, and I don't want to try. I look up at him. I feel the force between us melt a bit.

"You know if you ever want to talk about anything, I'll be here, right?" Knox says seriously, giving me a look that I don't recognize at first, but feel the need to decipher.

It sounds like it should be cheesy, but it doesn't sound cheesy at all, and I think I needed to hear that. When I look into Knox's eyes again I see it. He's looking at me the way I know I've looked at him before. And maybe it's the elf senses thing, but I swear we're communicating the same message to each other in the silence. But why would he be looking at me that way? Why would he feel that way about me?

I look down, and a question fills my head. It surprises me, but in my head it makes sense, and it makes my eyebrows furrow a bit.

"What is it?" Knox asks quietly, reading my expressions like he can do so well. I bite the inside of my cheek, not sure if I should voice my thoughts. But looking at our joined hands, and how tense from our sudden proximity I am, I feel like I should just be honest.

I'm almost full to the brim with nerves, but not the scary kind. The knowing kind, the one that makes you laugh because it's stupid that you're nervous, but you know why, and it's not a bad reason. Although my thoughts might change that.

I finally look back up at Knox.

"I just... Why me?" Now that the question is out, I feel better, but not satisfied. I need to get it off my chest. I start to nervously look out the window behind Knox, not able to meet his gaze.