The Realm Protectors - Chapter 45: Chapter 45

The air is chillier this morning, standing outside on the ponte. I could not sleep after the darkness elementals escaped last night. For some reason, I was afraid of what could happen, now that Griffin Gray is back out in the wild. And some of the information that the Ravena Crow woman told us... I sigh. The gateway still stands down on the horizon. My heart pounds at the thought of what could have happened to my home city, if it were not for their incredible power and bravery last night. The Nox has already killed many people. I cannot stand to watch them kill any more.
"Hey," Carter's voice carries softly across the ponte. I turn to see him standing in the doorway of the hotel, holding his arms to defend against the chill. I smile, opening the blanket I have wrapped around my shoulders. He scurries over, standing next to me and wrapping half of the blanket around his shoulders.
"Hello, my boyfriend," I say, leaning my head against his arm. He startles.
"You want to be my girlfriend?" He asks, shocked.
I pull away slightly to look at him. "Of course!" I grin.
Carter's cheeks turn slightly red. "I just thought that... after last night, I wondered if you actually didn't want that since you pulled away and–" I push up onto my tiptoes, pressing my lips gently to his cheek. His skin is warm, and he is blushing harder when I pull away.
"I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Carter," I tell him. His face breaks into the most joyous grin I have ever seen, his eyes lighting up with happiness. He wraps his arms around me, lifting me up and spinning me around. I find myself giggling as he hugs me tightly, pressing his face into the crook between my neck and shoulder. I rub his back gently. "Can we celebrate with milkshakes?"
"We can get all the milkshakes you want," Carter says, his voice against my neck making my stomach flip. He stands up straight, holding my face in his hands. "And I'll take you dancing – ooh! And rollerskating! And we can stay up late and look at the stars! We can do anything you want, Lyra. Anything."
I find myself smiling. "My sisters will be very jealous that you are no longer single." Carter laughs, the joyous sound making my heart pound. His eyes find mine, such a beautiful shade of the deepest blue. It reminds me of the sky during twilight, or the deepest waters of the ocean off the Stellune coast.
"Lyra," He whispers. His voice is strangely husky. "I... I really want to kiss you right now." His eyes flick down to my lips and back up to my eyes. I find my eyes mimicking his movement. His lips look very soft.
"I think I also want to kiss you,"
Carter starts to lean in, tilting his head slightly to the side. I close my eyes, lifting my face to meet his. His lips touch mine – a feather-touch, a brush – before coming back again. Sparks burst in my head as our lips connect, warmth blooming in my chest. One of his hands strays into my hair, the other sliding down to my lower back. He pulls me towards him, deepening the kiss. My hands slide into his hair, running through the soft, short locks. I shudder as he pulls away for breath. I open my eyes to see him looking at me. Carter's breath is warm against my skin, eyes alight with a raw emotion I have seen flickers of in him in the past few weeks.
"That..." I stumble on my words. "That was breathtaking." He chuckles lightly.
"I agree," Carter replies, his finger tracing loops on my lower back. His smile is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Carter looks at me as if I am his whole world.
"There you are," Someone says from the hotel end of the ponte. We turn around to see Faris leaning against the open door. "We've all been looking for you."
"I came up her to find her," Carter blushes. He turns back to me. "I was supposed to tell you that we're meeting to discuss our next steps after what happened last night,"
"Ah," I nod. "That does sound like a good idea." Carter smirks before grabbing my hand, entwining my fingers with his. He motions with his other arm towards the door, and we make our way inside. Faris watches us with a smirk the entire time.
"I knew you two had a thing for each other," Faris laughs.
"Just like you have a thing for Ciana?" Carter replies with a wicked grin. Faris blushes red and stumbles over his words in response.
Ciana, Avani, Nik, and Tucker are waiting in the lounge area of our room when we finish descending the stairs. Nile and Enya's voices can be heard shouting from inside Nile's room.
"They got in a bit of a cat fight," Ciana explains. Carter and I take a seat on the empty couch. Faris leans against the wall beside us. The yelling ceases as Enya walks out of his room, slamming the door behind her. She stops in the lounge area and takes a deep breath before speaking.
"Nile needs a minute to calm down," Enya says. "Let's quickly review everything that happened yesterday before we start thinking about what to do next."
"While we were busy interrogating that she-devil of a woman," Avani begins.
"Ravena Crow," Ciana adds.
"Yeah, her – she distracted us while a bunch of crows basically led a rescue mission inside the Civitastella jail, knocking out the guards and allowing the prisoners to free themselves."
"How can it be possible that a bunch of crows pulled of a major heist like that?" Faris asks. "They're just a bunch of dumb birds."
"Crows are actually known to be quite intelligent," I pipe in.
"Lyra's right," Avani agrees.
"Still, these crows couldn't have come up with this plan by themselves," Enya runs her hands through her hair in thought. "They had to have been trained or controlled somehow."
"Any earth elemental can train a group of crows like that," Tucker reminds us.
"I thought the Nox was all darkness elementals," Ciana furrows her brows in confusion.
"We can't forget that they have people with other elements at their disposal," Enya nods. "Griffin Gray is a space elemental with a darkness affinity. They could have other elementals with darkness affinities too."
"So what, we can't trust anyone but ourselves now?" Faris jokes. The room goes silent. Enya makes a face as if she is considering the thought. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Despite the joke, you might be right," Enya sighs, rubbing her temples. "It's time we realize that there is a very real possibility that the next tunneler could tunnel us right into the hands of the Nox."
"I agree," Tucker nods. "From now on, Lyra will tunnel us from place to place."
"I can do that," I nod.
"Great," Enya says. The door to Nile's room opens again, revealing a calmer–but still frustrated–Nile.
"Let's go over what we learned from Crow," Nile says as he walks over to his evidence board. "We know that she's an alumni of the Skole for de Sretk, and a pretty well-known one at that, yes?"
Tucker nods in the corner. "I'm almost ten years older than her, and yet I still heard the whispers from Mork about the Crow," Enya cocks an eyebrow at him. "That's what she called herself, and because she was so popular, it caught on quickly."
"What else do you know about her?" Nile asks.
"Not a lot," Tucker admits with a shrug. "I went to Asavanra, and she was in Mork obviously. Word traveled fast but not quite that fast. By the time she actually graduated, I was in hiding in Dunia already. I didn't hear anything about anyone once I got there."
Nile hums in thought. "Alright, let's think about what else she told us. She told us she's a lesbian,."
"And that she has a girlfriend who wants Realm domination," Nikolina adds.
Nile snaps. "That's right."
"Do you think her girlfriend is the head of the Nox?" Ciana asks.
"I don't think she'd let something so obvious drop that easily," Nile shakes his head.
"But it could mean it's one of the Nox's goals that she agrees with," Carter says. His thumb rubs absent-minded circles on the back of my palm.
"All in all, we didn't gain much, besides identifying more people involved with the Nox," Enya sighs.
"I'll add them to the list of people to keep an eye out for," Nikolina states. Nile hands her the list of names, written in clean, dark ink.
"We need to come up with a plan for what we do next," Nile says, crossing his arms and looking at all of us.
"We need to stay in Stelluna the full week," I remind everyone.
"You're right," Nile nods. "And I think it's the best plan too. The Nox might come back to end the gateway for real this time."
"Carter, you and Lyra can go to the School for Stars and Space tomorrow. We'll treat the rest of the week as normal as possible before Lyra tunnels us to Vesi," Enya decides. "Tucker, change our arrangements in Vesi. I want us to be staying as close to the gateway as possible. I don't care if we're camping with the soldiers on guard – I want to be there the next time these Ever-wretched Nox attack."
Tucker bows his head. "Done,"
"Tell them to upgrade their numbers at the gateway as well," Enya continues. "Ten times as many as their current numbers. We're going to catch these attackers again, and we're gonna bring these attacks to an end."
"The bands that play at Civitastella festivals are the best in all of Stelluna," I tell my friends later as we are getting ready. Senator Esmeray decided to throw a huge party to celebrate the safety of our gateway. Luckily, we all brought some fancy clothes that Jaq designed for us back in Capital.
"Lyra, can you come zip me up?" Ciana asks. I scurry over, the back of my dress trailing behind me. Ciana holds up the sunshine yellow sweetheart neckline of her dress while I zip the side of it up.
"Would you like me to tighten the ribbon on your corset as well?"
"Yes, please," Ciana smiles, admiring herself in the mirror. She is quite pretty for her age, with a sunshine yellow corset bodice diving into brilliant folds of fabric down to the floor. Swoops of sheer fabric cover her upper arms, and small golden sun pins hold back some of her loose curls.
"There you are," I tell her when I have finished tying the ribbon into a bow.
"Do you want me to help you with yours?" She asks, turning away from the mirror. I nod and take her place in front of it.
My dress is beautiful as well. Sheer fabric covers up collarbones before connecting to a sweetheart neckline, both a deep purple color embroidered with pinpricks of stars and tiny planets. A cinch at my stomach bunches the fabric together before it falls to the floor, stopping at my knees in the front and sweeping to brush the ground behind me.
"There," Ciana says, zipping up the back of my dress. "Perfect."
"Thank you," I reply. She smiles and bounces off to where Enya is pinning her fiery hair up into a bun. Nikolina is next to her, painting eye color across Avani's eyelids with surprising skill. Avani's cheeks are slightly red, probably from her inability to do her own makeup.
"Hurry up!" Someone shouts through the door, pounding on it to emphasize their words.
"Shut up, Faris!" Enya shouts back, tilting her head to put in her orange teardrop earrings. I walk over to the door and open it, revealing all three boys. They are all dressed in nice shirts and pants – simple yet fashionable. Carter's eyes light up as they find me, his face brightening with a grin.
"Are you guys almost ready?" Nile asks. "We all know Enya will be the last one done." Enya lifts her middle finger in response.
"For your information, Mr. Aquino," Enya snaps lightheartedly. "Yes, we're done." She pushes up from her chair at the vanity and turns around, showing Nile her scandalously deep neckline. Two strips of orange fabric are cinched at her waist and wrapped over her shoulders, leaving most of her chest and stomach exposed in an impressive V. She smirks as Nile blushes a deep shade of red.
"We'll meet you outside," Nile states, walking into the room with her and shutting the door behind him.
We all blink in confusion at the door.
"Well, they're definitely not making it outside." Faris snorts. Carter laughs under his breath.
"Come on, let's go enjoy the party," He says. Carter grabs my hand and kisses the back of it before leading me down the hallway and to the stairs. Our friends murmur as they follow behind us.
The streets of Civitastella are full of people dancing, singing, and selling. Vendor stalls are set up around the corners, selling fabrics, food, jewels, and much more. Carter leads me into the center of the dancing, sweeping me into his arms as I laugh. Joy fills my heart as I dance with my people and my boyfriend, rich Stellune music filling the air. It is perfect.