CHAPTER TWELVE

Reading The Signs

 Her teeth chattered as she brought her arms closer around her body, leaning against the rough wall of an unoccupied cave they found whilst running from the storm. Outside, the rain had stopped and they felt reassured of their safety as soon as they heard the echo of birds chirping. They had ventured into another forest in their attempt to hide from the rain and were now off route.

Further up the cave, Jaehwa could hear the hushed whispers of the Princes trying to investigate the map they had except the rain had caused the ink to bleed everywhere and everyone remembered the map differently. The acid rain had taken a toll on her body and even though the charmed rain wasn’t particularly harmful, the pain, upon impact, stripped her of her energy.

She prayed that the Elves were doing well on their own and hoped that the acid rain hadn’t taken them off guard – if anything, the Eligorians had planned the storm so that the Elves would have little ability to fight back against any act of violence they wished to impose.

She closed her eyes feeling herself drift in and out of a light slumber. She was cold and uncomfortable in her wet clothes but she felt safe and for now that was all that mattered.

  Jaehwa didn’t know when she woke next but she felt something heavy on her chest and as her eyes fluttered open, she realised the night had fallen. The small tunnel of light that she saw flooding through the entrance of the cave had disappeared and in its place was pitch blackness. She moved her arms to feel the soft fabric of a blanket pressed over her body and when she took a whiff of it, she realised it belonged to Sehun.

A part of her warmed to the thought but as she sat up to stretch her body, she caught the sight of Soojung wrapped tightly around Sehun’s sleeping figure. He had an arm around her back as her head rested on his shoulder. Her eyes were slightly swollen but she looked so peaceful in his arms. She shouldn’t feel jealous but she was – that was something she couldn’t deny.

With a heavy heart, she collected his blanket from her body, shivering as the cold air hit her skin. Her clothes were still a little damp but she was in a much better state than she had been earlier that day. She supported herself up against the wall of the cave, gripping onto the rough edges and limped over to the duo. Carefully, she spread the blanket over both of them, tucking the blanket over both their shoulders so that it stayed put.

Her hands lingered around Sehun’s face for a while, inching closer and closer to touch his face. He looked so harmless like this, sleeping quietly. The beauty of it all brought tears to her eyes and she couldn’t decipher if she was happy for him or sad for herself. It saddened her so much to see the man she loved in the arms of another woman but she had seen Sehun struggle to find the simplest of joys in the world. She shouldn’t burden him with her happiness and give him a chance at his.

Sehun no longer belonged to Jaehwa but the sadder truth was, Jaehwa knew that Sehun was never hers to begin with. Never; not once, had Sehun belonged to Jaehwa – even when they had been bound together by marriage.

Taking in a deep breath, she collected herself and pulled her hand away before she could touch him. With care, she picked herself up and headed to the mouth of the cave when a strange blue light caught her eye. It flashed in the darkness and as she followed it, she felt a comforting coolness spread in her thigh. It wasn’t until she could see that the light formed a sign that she realised, it shone from the back of Lay’s hand.

It was an intricate symbol, like an ancient rune and against his pale skin, the blue looked stunningly mysterious. As she drew closer and closer, the light shone brighter and as she stretched her fingers out to touch his hand, the light disappeared. She blinked but there was nothing and in an instant, she was forced onto her back with Lay hovering over her.

The breath was knocked out of her and before the pain in her back could even register, her shoulders scorched under his touch. She winced but kept calm as she reached up to touch his hands, “Lay. It’s ok. It’s just me.”

A wild look lingered in his eyes as his breaths left him in heavy puffs. He seemed to stare straight through her as though something possessed him but at her touch, something in him clicked and he eased up. He pulled back almost immediately, helping her up by guiding her at the elbows.

“Are you alright?” He asked before she could, eyes wide from shock.

She swallowed, nodding before she settled beside him and pulled up her jeans to check her leg. Even in the darkness, the smoothness of her thigh was unmistakable and as her fingers ran across the smooth plain of her leg, she swallowed hard.

“You just healed me.” She whispered and he