Chapter 63: Jealous Elf
"I appreciate the story. The trust. The food." Pause. "Anything I can do in the future, if the moment arises, apparently you’ll be able to ask."
Vera nodded.
Sella smiled wider.
Kalen inclined his head.
"Likewise," Vera said.
After dinner, Vera retired to her study.
Sella and Kalen stayed in the dining room with Nathan and Liaraen.
Nathan poured more wine into all four glasses. Stretched out in his chair. Looked at the ceiling for a moment.
And with the specifically everyday tone of someone who’d decided to radically shift the conversation’s register:
"Sella."
"Yes?"
"The river. The one you said is two hours east."
Sella straightened in her chair. The broad smile appeared again, this time with more energy.
"You still want to go?"
"I still want to go. Tomorrow. All day if possible."
"Yes. Absolutely yes. I can take you." Sella turned to Kalen. "Is it going to be fun?"
Kalen inclined his head. He paused for a second to process, his white eyes moving slightly as if consulting something specific. Then he spoke.
"Very fun. Yes. For you."
"Perfect!" Sella turned back to Nathan. "Then early tomorrow. We leave at dawn. I’ll bring food. I’ll bring towels. I’ll bring hair oil in case you, Liaraen, want to reapply after swimming. I’ll bring everything."
Liaraen looked at her.
"You don’t need to bring things for me, Sella."
"Yes, I do. Guests don’t carry things. It’s settlement protocol."
"Acceptable."
"And Nathan." Sella turned to him with an even wider smile. "Kalen says you and I need to spend more time together because the possible paths indicate we’re specifically compatible as future friends."
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
"Compatible as friends?"
"Yes. Kalen sees it." Sella leaned slightly over the table toward Nathan, resting on her elbows, with the specific naturalness of a teenager who’d decided she liked someone and would express it without filter. "So tomorrow at the river, I’m going to try to push you into the water. It’s a welcome tradition."
"It’s not a tradition."
"I’m going to establish it as a tradition tomorrow."
"Acceptable."
"And I’m also going to test if you can dodge my attacks when you’re in the water. A personal experiment."
"Also acceptable."
"Excellent."
Sella straightened again.
And at that moment, Nathan noticed something specifically different in Liaraen.
She hadn’t spoken during the last interaction.
Which, in itself, wasn’t unusual. Liaraen sometimes observed conversations without participating.
But her posture had shifted slightly. Her shoulders slightly higher. Her hands, which had been resting on the table with recent naturalness, were now clasped in her lap with her aristocratic posture fully restored. And her pale green eyes were watching Sella with a different attention.
Not hostile.
Just very... attentive.
Nathan processed that for half a second.
*Interesting.*
He turned to Liaraen with his usual specific naturalness.
"Sprout."
"Yes, Nathan?"
"Are you coming to the river tomorrow?"
Liaraen looked at him.
"Yes."
"Good." Nathan turned back to Sella. "Sella. Confirmed. All three of us. River at dawn." Deliberate pause. "And one more thing."
"What?"
"I promised Liaraen I’d teach her to swim. She doesn’t know how. So the day’s primary objective is specifically that. All three of us are swimming, but my attention has to be on Liaraen during the learning exercises."
Sella looked at him.
Then at Liaraen.
Then back at Nathan.
"Okay," Sella said, her voice slightly smaller. "Understood."
"It’s not rejection, Sella. It’s practical priority."
"Understood."
"We can play afterward. After the lessons. When Liaraen can float and all three of us can hang out."
"Understood."
Sella recovered her smile after a second. Not with the previous breadth.
Kalen, beside her, spoke for the first time without being asked.
"Sella."
"Yes?"
"The possible paths still indicate future compatibility. Just not in the register you were assuming."
"Understood."
And at that moment, in the exact second Sella received the small diplomatic adjustment from her brother, Liaraen’s shoulders lowered two centimeters. Her hands, clasped in her lap, separated slightly. Her aristocratic posture relaxed to its baseline level.
Nathan noticed.
He didn’t comment.
*Interesting again.*
---
They went upstairs to the room around ten at night.
The room was larger than those in Marren and Valcrest. Two beds separated by a small desk, a window with a view of the settlement, a pitcher of fresh water.
Nathan sat on the edge of one bed. Took off his boots. Lay on his back with his eyes open.
Liaraen sat on the edge of the other. Took off her boots too. Began undoing her braid with her usual controlled movements.
Silence for several seconds.
Then, without turning, Nathan said:
"Sprout."
"Yes?"
"Sella is eighteen."
"Yes."
"She’s technically an adult."
"Apparently."
"And she has an ability and personality that make her notable."
"Apparently."
"And you’re uncomfortable with the energy she showed toward me."
Liaraen stopped undoing her braid.
She turned to Nathan.
"Nathan."
"Yes?"
"I’m not uncomfortable."
"Sprout."
"I’m not uncomfortable."
"Sprout."
"I’m..." Pause. "I’m protecting the functional dynamic we’ve established during the journey. Sella’s energy was different. Not hostile. Just different. And I processed the possibility that that difference could affect the dynamic we already had. As a strategic observation. Not as a feeling."
"Acceptable as a definition."
"Acceptable."
"Though it was both things."
"Nathan."
"Yes."
"No."
"Sprout."
"Quiet, Nathan."
Nathan smiled at the ceiling.
He didn’t say anything more.
Closed his eyes.
And a few seconds later, specifically without drama, he said:
"Sprout."
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow at the river, if I try to teach you to float, you’re going to have to trust me more than you have so far."
"I already trust you more than I’ve trusted anyone in my life so far."
Silence.
Nathan opened his eyes. Looked at the ceiling. Didn’t turn to Liaraen.
But across the room, she’d returned to her wooden comb and was brushing her loose hair with her usual specific efficiency. Also without turning.
"Acceptable," Nathan replied finally.
"Acceptable," Liaraen replied.
They fell asleep about ten minutes later.
Each in their own bed.
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