Dahlia looked between Dak and Rom and let out a sorrowful sigh, thinking that this wasn't the time to be angry at each other since they had other threats to worry about lurking around the corner, waiting for the right time to strike.
"You should forgive him!" Dahlia shyly suggested while looking at Dak with pleading eyes.
" I want to hear what Edýia has to say on the matter!" he retorted while lying on the ground next to the fire.
Dahlia nodded, and she lay next to Dak, placing herself between him and the fire, with her hands and legs bound, facing Dakran and studying his burly features, and for some reason, she found him enticing, his big build, powerful arms and legs. He was a good-looking man, and his surly demeanour made him even more attractive, she thought herself biting her lip.
Dak felt Dahlia's eyes on him, " Sleep, woman!" he said in a low voice, with his eyes closed.
" Do you have a wife?" she softly asked while looking at him, ignoring his earlier word; determined to satisfy her curiosity.
" No time to look after a wife!" he grumbled, refusing to open his eyes and look at her.
" Do you want one?" she curiously asked while her lips curled up in a warm smile when he opened his big brown eyes to look at her.
Dahlia unconsciously bit her lip, and suddenly, she felt ashamed under his scrutinising gaze.
His bushy eyebrows pulled together " Why do you ask?" he questioned back, curious as to why she wanted to know.
" Just curious!" she replied with a shrug.
" I do want one, but the North is unkind and dangerous right now!" he vaguely explained, wondering why she was asking.
" I know; Pelham used to speak about it before he moved to the North!" she casually replied while looking at his surprised expression.
" You know Pelham?" he excitedly exclaimed while pushing himself off the ground.
Dahlia lifted her hands, and Dak pulled her up to sit in front of him" Mhm! He was my teacher; he taught me all I know about healing potions and magic!" she clarified while looking up at his towering figure and felt the urge to bury her face in his big sturdy chest.
Dak frowned and cleared his throat" I see!" he absently mumbled, looking deep in thought.
" I would like to see him! Maybe I can come when you return to the North!" she shyly muttered while narrowing her eyes at him, waiting for him to answer.
" North is not a leisure place!" he deadpanned while lowering himself to the ground.
" Now sleep!" he said in a low commanding tone while pulling her down next to him and throwing a blanket over her.
Dahlia smiled awkwardly and felt even more attracted to him. She could feel shivers travelling down her spine whenever he spoke in that voice.
Dak kept mulling over what Dahlia said to him; with the creatures that kept coming at them, he never had time to even think about women, let alone take a wife. Now that he found himself in the same pot as Rom, he couldn't help but seriously consider Dahlia as his wife. She was a pretty woman, small in stature, with beautiful sandy hair, and one could drown in her big dark brown eyes.
Everyone fell asleep in the pitch black night, keeping themselves warm with a small fire, the night quickly passed, and the sky changed its colours as dawn settled in.
Rom woke up looking up at the sky that now had a reddish tinge and pulled himself up to see if Dak and Dahlia were awake.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise when his eyes fell on Dak and Dahlia, who was tightly wrapped in his arms, and his hand was cupping her breast, facing the fire.
Rom pulled himself up and rested his arms on his knees, looking rather smug about what he would say to Dak when he woke up.
It didn't take long, and Dak was next to wake, moaning and squeezing Dahlia's breast in his daze, making Rom chuckle and shake his head at the scene.
Still half asleep, in his lethargy, Dak felt something soft and warm in his hand and lightly kneaded it with his hand; Dahlia softly moaned in her sleep. She was next to open her eyes and looked down at her chest and furiously blushed and stood up and scooched further from Dak, making Dak suddenly get up and look at her with a puzzled expression on his face and his hand still on her breast.
Rom chuckled bearly, containing his laughter at the two, who looked embarrassed and ashamed of the situation they found themselves in.
" I guess you two will wed soon!" he casually commented while lifting himself off the ground and looking at the forest in front of looking for the slit in the veil.
Dak wryly smiled and looked at Dahlia, who looked down, feeling somewhat flustered as Dak's hand was still very much on her breast
" Can you please take your hand off!" she shyly muttered while she looked at his hand.
"Huh?" Dak absently replied while he followed Dahlia's line of sight when his eyes fell on his hand; he reluctantly took it off.
" I apologise! I- I - I didn't realise w-what I was doing!" he stumbled on his words awkwardly, laughing and scratching his head.
Dahlia blushed again " It's alright!" she shyly muttered while arranging her dress.
Dak let out shaky sigh; he couldn't believe he preached Rom, only to find himself in a similar situation and felt angry at his weakness.
Rom packed his things, strapping his bag across his chest; he turned to look at Dahlia and Dak, who looked uncomfortable and embarrassed around each other.
"Get your things ready!" he stated while looking at the veil, and he could finally see the sheen that covered the forest, glimmering in the sunlight.
Dak finally pushed himself off the ground and reluctantly helped Dahlia, still feeling flustered about the incident and awkward.
Dak packed their things and picked up Dahlia, and carried her to where Rom was " Show the way!" he curtly asked while still not willing to let go of the matter with his sister.
Rom nodded and walked through the bearly visible slit in the veil and into the forest that looked very different from what he saw the last time he was there.
" Something is not right!" he absently mumbled while looking around the forest when his eyes fell on the hill and saw the hut where his sister and Sylus now lived.
Rom's eyes widene and he quickly realised that intruders could enter the forest and Maya was no longer safe.
Dak looked around the forest and quickly realised that the forest wasn't any different from any other forest he had been in. He squinted when he saw a glimmer far away, deep in the heart of the forest; something shined over the tree line.
" What is that?" Dak questioned while pointing in the direction of the thing that sparkled.
Rom followed Dak's finger, and after looking for a while, he saw the same glimmer as Dak did.
"Vellai castle!" Rom exclaimed in disbelief while turning to look at Dak, who looked confused.
" There is a castle in the middle of the forest?! Dak rhetorically questioned while he focused even more on the sparkling dot, but that it was all he could see.
" This is the first anyone had ever laid eyes on it in a very long time. It disappeared at the same time she did and became a story later!" Rom explained as he made his way to the hut.
Dak frowned " Aren't we going to the castle?" he asked while staying glued to his spot with Dahlia in his arms.
" I'm going to check on my sister first!" He informed while he continued walking.
Dak followed Rom and quickly caught up to him " Your sister lives in the forest! Is she one of them?" he probed for answers making Rom laugh and look at him over his shoulder.
" No! It's a long story!" he curtly replied, increasing his pace as he couldn't wait to see how his sister was doing.
Dak did the same, with Dahlia in his arms still very much tied up, and at this point, she couldn't feel her wrists or ankles anymore.
Rom walked through the forest as fast as he could; he could only hope that his sister was doing well, and Sylus did as he promised and looked after her, as he had promised.
Walking through the forest, he kept a watchful eye, he knew that the Apollyon knights were coming there, but he was unsure whether they entered the forest or not since the veil seemed intact still.
He could only assume that something was happening with the Queen and was affecting the forest to the point that it had lost its magical properties.
The river at the foot of the small hill quickly came into view, along with Maya's figure that sat on the bank and was washing something in the river with her head down.