Chapter Twenty
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Kael remained still, his arm wrapped around Arith as though he could hardly believe she was truly there. The cool breeze drifting over the lake stirred her silver-blue hair, but she did not pull away. Instead, she smiled and rested a hand against his shoulder.
When they finally stepped apart, she looked him over from head to tail with an expression that mixed relief with disbelief.
"You have not changed as much as I expected," she said with a smile. "You are still just as proud."
Kael's golden eyes gleamed.
"I have always been proud."
"I know."
"You used to complain about it."
"I still do."
Aiden smiled to himself.
Somehow, it was comforting to watch someone speak to Kael without the slightest hint of caution. Arith teased him so naturally that it was hard to imagine she was standing before a prince.
Her attention finally shifted to Aiden.
"So," she said, tilting her head with open curiosity, "this is the human who answered my prince's call."
Aiden blinked.
"I don't think I answered the call. He was the one who called you."
A quiet laugh escaped her.
"I like him already."
Kael sighed.
"I was afraid you would."
"You say that as though it is unfortunate."
"It usually is."
Arith ignored him and walked over to Aiden.
Up close, she looked even more extraordinary. Her skin carried the faintest shimmer, as though sunlight rested beneath it. Tiny droplets of water floated lazily around her, rising and falling without ever touching the ground. They caught the light like tiny crystals before quietly dissolving into the air.
She smiled warmly.
"I am Arith."
"It's nice to meet you," Aiden replied. "I'm Aiden."
"I know."
He blinked.
"You... do?"
"Yes my dear, I'm a goddess." She stated "i know things"
"Oh."
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck.
"I suppose that makes sense."
"It does."
Arith looked him over thoughtfully before glancing back at Kael.
"You seem healthy."
"I have recovered enough."
"You have recovered enough to become difficult again."
"I was never easy."
"No," she admitted with a laugh. "You certainly were not."
Kael folded his arms.
"I choose to take that as a compliment."
"You always did."
Aiden looked between them.
"You've known each other for a long time, haven't you?"
Arith smiled.
"I met him when he was still very young."
Kael looked at her with mild annoyance.
"I was nearly fifty."
"You were young."
"I was an adult."
"You threw a festival because your father finally allowed you to leave the palace without twenty guards following you."
Kael looked away "That is irrelevant."
"It is very relevant." The goddess insisted
"You also fell into the Lotus River because you insisted you could walk across the stones without getting wet."
"I slipped."
"No you didn't, you walked straight into the water."
"I slipped."
"Oh now you slipped? I thought you blamed the rocks tho"
"They were poorly placed." Kael was sounding like a petulant child now
Aiden laughed so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
"You blamed the rocks?" Aiden asked between breaths
"They were uneven." Kael said and Aiden could almost imagine him stomping his feet as he said that which caused him to laugh harder
"They were underwater," Arith replied.
"They knew their duty."
Aiden laughed even harder.
"I can't believe you actually said that." Arith cried out
Kael remained perfectly serious.
"It was a reasonable observation."
Arith covered her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to hide another laugh.
"You spent three days insisting the river had conspired against you."
"It had."
"The fish certainly enjoyed the spectacle."
"I remember one particularly rude turtle."
Aiden could no longer breathe from laughing.
He looked at Kael, expecting the prince to remain as dignified as ever.
Instead, he saw something he had never witnessed before.
Kael laughed.
It was quiet.
Soft.
The sound lasted only a few seconds before he caught himself, but it was enough.
The laughter transformed him.
The weight he always carried seemed to disappear for just a moment, leaving behind someone younger.
Someone happier.
Aiden found himself smiling without realizing it.
"So," Arith said after their laughter settled, "your father never did believe my version of that story."
"Oh he believed you alright." Kael countered
"He knew you were lying."
"He always did."
Kael moved away from them and in a matter of seconds, he was back in his human form. He put on the short he'd brought with him as he'd ripped his trouser when he transformed to his naga form previously. Poor judgement on his part since those would have been better.
He walked back to the other two who were now sitting on a newly sprung flower bed close to the water. He joined then, sitting between them with his legs crossed.
A comfortable silence settled between them.
Then Arith looked at Kael more carefully.
The smile slowly faded from her face.
"You disappeared."
Her voice had become much quieter.
"I searched for you."
Kael's expression softened.
"I know."
"I searched every river that still remembered your name. I asked every spirit that would answer me. I even went to your kingdom."
Aiden looked from one to the other.
"You did?"
She nodded slowly.
"There was nothing."
Her eyes lingered on Kael.
"I thought..."
She stopped herself.
"I did not know what to think."
Kael lowered his gaze to the water.
"I was imprisoned."
The words were calm.
Too calm.
Aiden felt a chill despite the warm afternoon.
Arith closed her eyes.
"So it was true."
Kael gave a slight nod.
"For longer than I care to count."
"I should have found you."
"It was not your fault."
"I still should have."
"No." He looked at her steadily "The prison was made to hide me from everyone."
Arith was silent for several moments.
Then she asked quietly,
"And... him?"
The question hung in the air.
She never spoke the man's name.
She did not have to.
Kael's expression changed immediately.
The warmth disappeared from his face.
His shoulders stiffened.
"Do not."
His voice was calm, but it carried a finality that made even the breeze seem to hesitate.
Arith studied him for a long moment before giving a small nod.
"I understand."
She let the subject fall.
Aiden remained silent.
He had questions.
Far too many.
But whatever had happened between Kael and the mysterious man from his past was clearly a wound that had never healed.
This was not the time to ask.
Kael slowly released the breath he had been holding.
Then he looked back at Arith.
"I did not summon you merely to revisit old memories."
"I suspected as much."
"My strength has not returned."
Arith's expression became serious.
"I could feel that."
"There is a reason."
Kael lowered his eyes briefly.
"Before I was imprisoned, I separated my core from my body."
Aiden frowned "Your core?"
"The source of my true power," Kael explained. "I sealed it inside an object before my captors could take it."
Arith's eyes widened slightly.
"You actually did it?." She asked with disbelief in her voice
"I had no other choice."
"And now you cannot find it." She stated
Kael nodded."I awoke without it."
The goddess looked toward the lake, deep in thought.
"If your core has remained hidden all this time, that may be the only reason no one has realized you have returned."
"That was my hope."
"But if someone else discovers it first..."
Neither of them finished the sentence.
They did not need to.
The silence that followed spoke loudly enough.
Aiden looked at the two ancient beings standing before him.
For the first time since meeting Kael, he truly understood the weight of the journey they had begun.
They were no longer searching for a forgotten goddess.
Now they were searching for the heart of a prince.
His Prince.