The next day I was able to blow the flame back to the candle from across the room even if I pointed myself away from the candle. I was playing with the flame in my hand thinking about it growing larger, imagining it in my head for Bav to shout in surprise as the flame actually grew. I separated the flames and sent them to different candles around the room having fun with it.
"Try to create the flame." Bav was just as excited as I was to see me doing so well, but when I tried to create it, I had no luck.
"I keep pulling it from the candles! Blow them out please!" I was becoming frustrated after everything else I had done so far came so easily.
"Alright, it's okay if you can't do it yet. The book says that these things can take time, even he was not able to create a strong flame. However, I do believe you are from the Ignis family line. Which you should keep that to yourself, I don't doubt that most of what he wrote in there is true. So only use it in extreme circumstances." Bav walks around and blows out the candles, then wraps his arms around me.
"You're doing amazing already, my love. Don't stress if you can't get it today." He kisses my forehead and sighs, "Why don't we call it a day with this, I still have a surprise to take you to today." He leans back, rubbing my arms affectionately.
Sighing deeply, I let my frustration out with my breath. "That sounds wonderful, Bav. Let me freshen up. Should I change?" I ask before I head to the bathroom.
He looks me up and down, judging the frilly laced, lavender dress I am wearing. "Yes, I'll find you a different dress, to replace the lavender one. Go freshen up dear."
He takes care of me so well, I can not hold back the smile that catches the corners of my lips. "Thank you, my love." I go freshen up and he comes out from the closet dressed in plainer clothing, holding up a tan travel dress.
"Oh? We are going somewhere, aren't we?" My curiosity is now piqued, my heart giddy with excitement.
After leaving the house, he takes me to the airships dock and he buys us the tickets. I'm not as excited now, my fear of heights made it extremely difficult to get back on one of these, but Bav's reassuring hand and words helped me get on the ship.
"So where are we going?" I ask, rubbing my hands together nervously as we're led below decks to a private quarter.
"We have several destinations my lady." The crew member informed me, but said no more. He opened up the private room that had large windows and seemed to be located above the Captains quarters. After the crew member left, I looked around the small but lavish room, with chairs and a table, a bed, wardrobe and small bathroom attached.
"How long will we be traveling? I didn't pack a bag." I turn to Bav who nods to the wardrobe.
Upon opening it's heavy wooden doors, locked in place with a cranked latch, I see two sets of clothing for myself and Bav.
"Bav where are we going?" I laugh, he always thinks of everything, this amazing man.
"I can not ruin the surprise, my wife."
My heart swells with adoration for him as he smiles, radiating love towards me.
I'm going to miss him.
Tears fill my eyes, so I turn away and excuse myself to the lavatory. My heart aches already missing him, but I scold myself mentally for feeling that way.
'He is still present, Rakara. You can cry at a later day. Today is not the day.'
I collect myself the best I can, even as a few more tears escape my eyes. I'm able to take a few calming breaths and dry my eyes before rejoining Bav.
He rests in the heavily padded arm chair like a high court official who's mind is troubled, lost in thought, staring out the window. I quietly approach him, memorizing the way the light dances over his face, across his hair. The Elements could not have gifted me a more beautiful man, inside and out.
I rest my hands on his shoulders and massage them lightly as he comes out of his thoughts. His head tilts back with his eyes closed enjoying my hands working out his tense muscles.
"You are too good to me." He moans before leaning his head to rest on one of my hands.
"That's funny, I was going to give you that exact compliment." I lean forward and place a kiss on his cheek.
"Come here." He tugs me, twirling me around the chair to fall across his lap. Nuzzling his face into my bosom he huffs out, "There we go. Exactly where you should be."
"Bav..." I giggle as his breath tickles me. "So where are we going?" I ask as I notice our ship is taking flight, leaving the city of Lagford behind us. "Is it another city?" I ask as he gives me a glare at my repetitive question.
"Yes. That's all you are getting from me, so you may stop inquiring." His tone and impression tell me that he is insisting that I stop, so I merely nod, accepting his answer. I lean my head against his shoulder and rest it there as we watch the scenery out of the window as Lagford slowly becomes smaller and fades away from our view.
It's past the dinner hour before we start to descend and we are greeted by the lights of another city. The bright, golden lights of the Gilded district illuminate the top of the giant platforms of this city. The warm glow of their works districts twinkle from the windows as the works district has softer orange and yellow glowing spots that scatter farther out from the base of the towers than Lagfords.
Even outside of the cities walls, there's small twinkling lights, showing where the homes of the farms are located for this city.
"They have their farms located just outside the wall to the city? I wonder if there is a purpose to the location being so close?" I ponder the difference between this city to my own Lagford as Bav rubs my arm and points to the silver reflection of a river that winds around the landscape to the south of the city.
"Oh, for irrigation purposes. I wonder what this place looks like in the day time then?" I turn to gather my purse, but instead I'm pulled back towards Bav who walks me to the bed. I can feel my eyes narrow in question at him, while he merely smiles and sets me down.
"This is not our destination, this is merely a stop. We will only be here an hour. We should get some rest, so we're not exhausted tomorrow." He gets down on a knee and starts to remove my boots.
Tonight, he just holds me, cradling me close in his arms as we sleep. I awaken when I feel like I'm falling in my sleep. I jolt awake and realize the airship is descending. The early morning sun peaks through the gauzy curtains of our room making me curious as to see the view. I shimmy out of bed, where Bav still lays, sleeping soundly. I pull back the curtains and let my gaze focus on the view.
My mouth drops in awe. The vast vision of blue that stretches far out into the horizon is mesmerizing. I almost could not discern where the sky and water met on the horizon. I looked around to see why we were descending, but all that my eyes could find was water.
"Bav?!" I call out to him, panicked.
"What's the matter?" He sat up quickly, sleep still heavy on his eyes as he shook his head, trying to wake up as he rushed over to me.
"We are going down, but I do not view any land!" I exclaim clutching him close.
A chuckle erupts from him, making me step back and look up at him.
"It's not a matter that laughter is an appropriate response to, Bav!" I scold him angrily.
Bav merely clears his throat and grabs my shoulders gently. "We are landing on an island, Kara. They have to circle out over the ocean to land safely. The airship dock is too close to the mountains of the island to land safely from the direction we traveled."
I feel the flames of embarrassment flood my face, tears springing to my eyes. I feel like an imbecile. If there had truly been an emergency, the staff would have come to alert us. I can't believe I didn't think rationally.
"Hey... it's okay. You were unaware of the this. Don't look like that." Bav pulls me back into his arms and rocks me for a moment.
I push him away and shake my head, "I am fine. Shall we get dressed?" I quickly ask just wanting to forget that I panicked over nothing.
"Yes, This is where we are departing."Bav gestures to the closet and we get ready for the day quickly.
Up on the deck, I get to view the land that we are approaching. The wind smells different , salty, but fresh, as it rushes past us and the ship. I didn't bother asking where we were. I had overheard some of the crew talking about Primus City, the city where the government of Jakesha takes no part in. It's ran by the Elemental priests and is supposed to be free of crime and poverty.
'I suppose I'll get to see for myself, whether that is true.'