The Quest for the Sacred Tree (Defenders of the Realm Book 2) by Marie-Hélène Lebeault

Author:Marie-Hélène Lebeault [Lebeault, Marie-Hélène]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781990656972
Publisher: Beaches and Trails Publishing
Published: 2023-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Sixteen

Victor leaned against the trunk of the tree that Kaia sat beside. Even though she was sobbing, he didn't seem to be bothered by the noise. He looked up toward the sky, crooning to himself.

"You don't have to babysit me," Kaia told him between gasps.

Translation: go away and let me cry in peace.

"Who said I'm babysitting you?" Victor replied. His eyes remained locked on the sky.

Kaia couldn't help but glare at him. Even though Adina and Icarus had been brought back, both enthusiastic about their time among the Sprites, Kaia hadn't been able to recover. Professors Sabelle and Avery had told her that if she really needed to return home, they would arrange it. But Kaia didn't trust them to do anything of the sort, not anymore.

The problem was she didn't have anyone to talk about it with. Penelope only tried to justify the whole thing and tried to be calm about it. Herja raged and was more interested in her own anger than anything else. Adina and Icarus didn't think it was that big of a deal since they apparently had been having the time of their lives. Odele, Nolen, Vera, and Xena seemed to have accepted everything. Lena and Jalene would only start complaining; they thought that, since the Sprites led them all to Pheonix Ginkgos in apology, they should have to produce the paper for the witches' spell books as well.

Who did it leave Kaia and Wick to talk to? Just the adults. And she couldn't trust them after what happened!

Victor sat down next to her with a sigh. "You know what I think?"

Kaia glared at him, wiping her eyes. "Go away."

"Uhh… no, that's not what I think."

Kaia blinked at him. Even though it should have been annoying, she had to stifle a giggle. He had an expression of pure confusion on his face, as though he was serious about that being her 'guess'. Kaia took a deep breath and accepted the waterskin he offered her.

"I think you aren't used to being the person who needs comfort," Victor said after a moment, turning his face back to the sky. "That's why you pretend like nothing's wrong until you can run off and cry in private."

"And knowing I wanted privacy meant that you decided to come after me?" Kaia asked, but there wasn't any anger in her tone.

Victor shrugged. "Well, you saved us on Mount Eldavon."

Kaia drank some more water, calming herself. There had been so many children that summer that she couldn't remember all of them. Only a small percentage of them became witches and dragons. Most were human… like Victor. She flinched. He was their age; he went through that experience with them.

"I know the Odentian warriors couldn't be bothered with us humans, but it was terrifying all the same," Victor continued. "It took me a long time to realize that the adults didn't fail us. They had no reason to believe Odentia would attempt to come after us."

"I'm not mad," Kaia murmured. "I'm scared."

It was the first time, besides with Nolen, that she had admitted it.

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