Guardian of Calandria | ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Three

           Kira sat in the middle of the Guardian symbol, floating a leaf with her magic. Her eyes moved from the three colored stumps, studying them. She assumed they were there for a purpose, but she couldn't quite figure out why. It didn't help that her mind was distracted with thoughts of her father being alive. In one sudden swoop, she knew exactly how Addrick had felt when he found out Alyssa was Sabina. Much like he did, she needed to be alone to process it. She'd hoped trying to figure out the reason for a large Guardian symbol carved into the earth would help. The farthest she'd gotten was sitting in the middle, the cold, damp, earth soaking through her clothing.

Snow continued falling, the drifts outside the protected clearing piled higher and higher. They stood a good three feet in height, being held off by an invisible wall. Kira sighed, closing her eyes. She inhaled, taking in the scents of the forest. Traces of pine and wood drifted with the damp leaves and moss upon the bark. The stump with the red leaves secreted the strongest odor. Cinnamon swirled with hints of chocolate, Kira's two favorite smells. It was like that stump was designed for her. She opened her eyes, looking to the remains of what was once a tree.

The leaves had three points on either side, between the points it curved inward. At first glance they weren't unique, each leaf indistinguishable from the last. One narrow stem held seven leaves; sharp thorns lined the brown shaft between them. Kira stared at the leaves, the dark veins traveling through the thin blade, tiny holes created by the bugs who tried to eat through them. She knew those leaves were important, but she couldn't pinpoint why. They called to her.

"Are ye all right, Kira?" Addrick's voice was followed by his finger tracing the lengths of her chin. He slid on the ground beside her, grabbing the hand that still made a leaf float inches above the ground. Kira released the magic, allowing the leaf to float back to the soil.

"I understand you more now."

"Aye, I suppose ye do. I wish ye didn't have to."

"Can you be equally as happy as you are angry? On one hand, my father is alive, yet for eighteen years I thought differently. At least Sabina didn't know she was your sister. My father knew who and where I was. Does it make it acceptable if he did it to keep me safe? Or do I have a right to want to strangle him?"

Addrick tilted her head to look at him. She leaned in to him, feeling his warmth pool around her. His heart beat slow and steady, his breaths released in a cloud of vapor. Addrick's hand rested on her knee.

"Addrick," Kira said, "look to the stump with the blue flowers and tell me if you see or feel anything."

"I don't have to, I know. My favorite smells are coming from the stump; it calls to me as surely as ye do. Thousands of smells fill these woods, my leopard senses pick up most of them, but that stump overpowers me the most."

"What do you smell?"

"Ye, for starters. From the moment I met ye, ye became my favorite sense. And apples. Mix ye with apples and I'm a happy man."

"I'm not swimming in a pool of sauce from apples, don't even think about it."

His body shook with his laughter. He lifted his other hand to her cheek, turning her head to face him. Addrick leaned in, pressing his nose to her hair and taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes, listening to him fill his senses with her smell. She tilted her head to allow her mouth to fit over his. Kissing him was easy, it was natural. Kira feared herself when kissing him, afraid of allowing herself to be lost to the power he held over her. But after everything they'd been through together, knowing her father had been alive her entire life, the dangers still yet to come . . . losing herself to Addrick didn't seem so daunting.