24. Twenty-One

Twenty-One

T he two sat still for several minutes in silence, listening to the crackling of the flames and the roar of the waterfall joining with a symphony of crickets and the percussion of leaves shivering in the silent breeze.

"What is that song?" Lily asked.

Asher only then realized he was humming. "It's a lullaby my mom used to sing to us as children."

"I don't want to be nosy, but...will you tell me about your family?"

He licked his lips and considered what to say. "I have two younger sisters and two younger brothers. I'm the oldest at nearly eighteen, and then there is Tara who is fifteen, Zeb is thirteen, Falu is ten, and then Bashton is seven. I'll warn you that Zeb is weirdly stand-offish right now, so don't be offended if he says something rude." She shook his head. "Tara is adopted. We took her in just after Zeb was born after her father fell ill and passed. Her mother died giving birth to her."

"That's tragic," Lily replied.

"She's happy now. She loves having a little sister, and Falu is basically her twin." He chuckled. "Do you...remember anything about your family? Anything at all?"

She looked back up at the sky, eyes distant. "Every time I try and think back that far, I cannot see anyone's face. I cannot see my memories before or shortly after a white glow. Wester says traumatic events can cause our minds to wall up the pain. The first memory I have is sitting in the wizard tower with Wester telling me stories while using magic to help illustrate them." She mustered a little smile and looked over at him. "I sometimes wonder if my parents died from the blood plague and Wester just didn't want me to know. Some people think the plague is passed down to children born during that time."

Asher rolled his eyes. "That's preposterous."

She smiled. "You seem like the kind of person all girls would like."

"They do," he admitted with a bit of a frown.

"And that's a problem?" She raised her eyebrows.

He rubbed his neck, recalling some of the girls who fawned over him a bit too much. "Well, it can be."

A giggle burst from Lily's lips.

Asher raised a brow. "You find that amusing?"

"You're a prince. You're brave and smart. Not to mention, your eyes would catch anyone's attention." She tossed another handful of sticks into the fire.

He leaned back on his hands. "You think I'm handsome, huh?"

"That wasn't a word I used," she retorted, but her cheeks grew red.

He chuckled.

Lily suddenly gasped and Asher jumped to his feet and spun around, searching the darkening forest for signs of danger.

"What?" he demanded, eyes searching the shadows.

Lily jumped to her feet. "What are those?"

Asher gave her a confused look, and then realized she was staring at the fireflies that had come out. "Those?" He pointed.

She nodded.

"They're fireflies. Want to try to catch them?"

"You can do that?" She glanced away from the fireflies. "They won't burn you?"

"Burn?"

" Fire flies." She put her hands on her hips. "Is their name a joke?"

"Ah. No." He shook his head. "The bugs just light up. Some people call them lightning bugs. I'll show you." The fireflies flickered like the stars, blinking as they flew this way and that. Asher focused on one of them until he felt confident enough to slowly reach his hands out and clamp them together. When he peeked between the cracks of his fingers, he grinned. "I got one. Take a look." He crouched in front of her and cracked his fingers.

Lily leaned forward and peeked to see the strange bug, whose butt glowed in little bursts of light. She looked at Asher, childish excitement glowing in her eyes.

Asher opened his hand and the bug flew away. "Want to try?"

Lily tried standing still, hand extended, as if hoping one of the flies would just land on her. She finally relented and began to give chase, letting go of whatever self-doubt tried to hold her back. She began laughing as she swooped her hands through the air, grasping at the fireflies until she caught one and presented it to Asher only for it to fly away. She laughed lightly.

Asher watched her dance and the world seemed to stop.

Lily spun around the bugs, which flickered like stars who had descended just for the opportunity to be with Lily.

All of the remaining anger Asher felt melted away.

He saw her beauty and her innocence, but she was also a powerful woman. The magic Lily spoke of seemed to sparkle all around her. She stopped and looked at him. The smile on her face put the beauty of the fireflies to shame.

And Asher fell in love with her in that moment.

"You're staring." Lily tucked her hair behind her ear.

He cleared his throat. "I'll grab some more logs." He walked away to collect himself. He couldn't fall in love with a girl he'd only known for three days. What was he thinking?

He soon returned with an armful of logs and sticks and set them beside the fire. He then worked on stacking the larger logs in a sort of chimney by laying two parallel to one another, then two more parallel in the opposite direction on top. The smaller sticks and twigs went inside.

Lily was already sitting on the ground.

"Let me know if you get too cold tonight," he said as he lay down behind her. "We will have to stay close to stay warm."

Lily lay down in front of him and scooted back so they touched, her back shuffled to his chest.

He wrapped one arm around her and let his eyes drift shut.

Somewhere in the darkness, a twig snapped.