Chapter 28
1921 Words
“What is your problem, Damian?” snapped Lashanna, as she pushed him with the palms of her hands, and Damain gave her a solid look at her as he glared.
“I don’t trust outsiders, especially Selvempts!” he snarled, and Lashanna rolled her eyes.
“Well, get over it. He technically isn’t a Selvempt.”
Immediately, Lashanna stopped herself, and she wanted to kick herself. Ashta had asked her to keep Roman’s identity a secret, and she was about to blow it.
“What do you mean?” asked Xavier, curiously.
“I mean that he is not just a Selvempt, he is a person too,” she stated, as she quickly covered her mistake.
Damian looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then his eyebrows shot down in anger.
“Selvempts are not good people. They are nasty vile creatures who only think about themselves, and they only do things for their personal gain,” Damian snarled, and Xavier nodded in agreement.
For a moment, Lashanna studied Damian and she thought about the way that he had been acting when Ashta was around. He seemed to think he was her boyfriend already, and that is not what Ashta wanted from Damian. Lashanna sighed a heavy sigh.
“Oh, I see what the problem is now. You are jealous and you like Ashta,” she stated, frankly.
“More than that,” muttered Xavier under his breath, and Damian looked at him and Lashanna oddly.
“What do you mean?” he asked, curiously.
“Do you like Ashta? I mean, do you want to do nice things for her, and maybe even want to sleep with her?” Lashanna asked, and Damian looked at her thoughtfully, for a moment.
“I wouldn’t mind if I was her mate,” he said with a smirk, and Lashanna sighed heavily.
“If you like her that much, tell her how you feel. Show her with love, not jealousy. Tell her how you feel, and kiss her on the cheek.”
Damian smiled widely and then he nodded. Lashanna thought he understood, but in his mind the only thing he heard was to kiss her and show her how he felt.
“Okay. I will try that,” he said with a grin, and Lashanna only nodded.
She hoped that Ashta would be able to let him down easily and let him know that she just wanted a friendship between them.
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As they did yesterday, Roman and Ashta made their way to the top of the waterfall, and Ashta sat down on a boulder as she caught her breath. At that moment, they both looked at each other and busted out laughing.
“That guy has it bad for you,” Roman teased in a deep husky voice, and Ashta looked at him smugly.
“What is there not to like?” she teased back, and Roman laughed as he put his finger in the air.
“When I see something, I will let you know.”
Ashta giggled as she took in a deep breath of fresh air. She really did like the fact that it was just her and Roman out in the middle of nowhere. It was very peaceful.
“So, teacher, what are we learning today?” he asked, as he sat down next to her, and Ashta looked at him thoughtfully.
“Well, class, today...” she giggled, as she looked at the handsome man sitting next to her.
Roman looked at her eagerly.
“Earth. The second to the last element,” she said, as she leaned her shoulder against his lightly.
He looked out onto the land and then he sighed.
“Earth? Hmm, sounds very boring,” he said, as he glanced at her with a soft look in his eyes, and Ashta shook her head at him.
“Come on,” she said, as she grabbed him by the hand.
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Evidently, they had found a place that they could easily work on and have enough space between each other, and as before, Roman caught on very quickly as they mastered bringing earth, air and water together. It didn’t take as long as Ashta had expected and she was pleased with how fast Roman caught on.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,” she said, as they made their way over to the waterfall.
Ashta bent her head and took a drink of the side spray.
“Okay. I was wrong. It wasn’t boring at all,” he said, as he bent his head and took a drink.
“We are almost done. Tomorrow is the last element,” Ashta said, as she looked up at him.
Roman wiped his face with his hand, and he gave her a knowing look.
“Then I guess we will have to come up with a new excuse to continue our playdates,” he said, as he raised one of his eyebrows, and she giggled.
“Yeah, I guess so. Maybe you shouldn’t have been such a fast learner.”
Roman looked at her, and suddenly his face was right in front of hers.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have had such a hot teacher,” he said, huskily.
Seemingly, Ashta looked at him in awe for a moment, and then she shyly smiled.
“Now you have stepped over the line,” she whispered, as she held his gaze.
Slowly, Roman glanced down at her lips and then he looked back into her eyes.
“Yeah, and what line is that?” He whispered, as she lost herself in his eyes.
Noticeably, his gaze was so intense that Ashta felt a sudden urge to kiss him. She wanted to feel his lips against hers, and she felt as though he wanted to feel her lips against his. Without another thought, Ashta planted her lips on his and he did not move. After a moment, Ashta pulled back and licked her lips.
“That line,” she said, huskily.
Evidently, Roman didn’t hesitate. Gently, he put his palms on her face and he kissed her deeply. Suddenly, a shockwave of energy shot through their bodies as they surrendered to each other's kiss. As their kiss ended, she leaned her forehead against his, and she took in a deep breath.
“I am sorry,” he whispered.
“Shsh,” she breathed.
She closed her eyes, and wanted to stay like that for a moment.
***********************
“Ashta, the missing princess, and Prince Roman. Welcome to the Earth Element Realm,” whispered a voice through the air.
Reluctantly, Ashta pulled her head back and looked around. Surprisingly, she and Roman were no longer at the waterfall on the cliffs, but they were on a flat grassy plain. Long bladed green grass waved in the slight breeze and the sun was high in the sky, shining brightly down on them.
“Who said that?” Roman called, as he protectively put his arms around Ashta.
“I am the earth god, and you two are almost ready,” stated the echoing voice.
“Ready for what?” asked Ashta, as she looked around.
“Once you learn to work with the fire element together, you will become...”
Suddenly, the voice stopped and the Earth Realm disappeared. Noticeably, they were back on the cliffs next to the waterfall. Heavily, Ashta sighed as she looked up at Roman.
“Become what?” she asked in a frustrated tone, and he shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her softly.
“I guess we will find out tomorrow when we work with the fire element,” he said, as he gently rubbed her shoulders.
“I guess so,” she breathed, and he looked at her in question.
“What’s wrong?” he asked sincerely, and she looked up at him.
“I just hate it when they do that. They can’t even give us a straight answer,” she said, as she crossed her arms and pouted.
Roman chuckled as he cupped her chin, and searched her eyes.
“One more day and we will have the answers to our questions, ” he said softly, and Ashta nodded.
“Okay. What is one more day,” she said, as she relaxed, and he smiled at her as he nodded.
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“So, what do you think they are doing?” Damian asked Lashanna, as they ate lunch in the dining hall.
Annoyed, Lashanna looked at Damian. She knew what Ashta and Roman were doing, but Ashta had asked Lashanna to keep her mouth shut, and so that is what she did.
“They are probably sorting out their differences,” she said quickly, and Xavier laughed.
“Differences about what? How do they even know each other?” He asked, and Lashanna looked at him thoughtfully.
“His mother was friends with her mother,” she lied quickly.
Xavier thought for a moment, and then he shrugged his shoulders. Later that evening, Lashanna had planned to ask Ashta how long she was going to continue to lie about what she was doing, because Lashanna feared she wasn’t going to be able to keep the act up much longer.
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Ashta and Roman both didn’t want the day to end already. Ashta thought about Riah, and thought maybe Roman would like to spend the afternoon with her. He was sitting on the boulder watching the waterfall, lost in thoughts, when Ashta touched his shoulder. He turned and looked at her as she grinned at him.
“Would you like to come with me and visit my friend Riah?” she asked, nervously, as she fidgeted with her hands.
She didn’t know why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. Maybe the kiss wasn’t such a good idea, she thought to herself, and then she saw the look on Roman’s face, and her thoughts faded away.
“Sure,” he said with a smile, and then he threw a rock over the edge of the cliff.
Ashta smiled cheerfully and he looked at her and chuckled. He stood up from the boulder and walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed the back of her neck with his thumbs.
“Thank you,” he said, as he looked into her eyes softly, and she looked at him in question.
“For what?”
Suddenly, Roman smiled shyly, looked away, and then he looked back at her.
“For giving me something to care about,” he said gently, and Ashta rested her hands on his waist.
“Sure thing,” she said, as she squeezed his wide hips.
Roman looked at her with lust in his eyes for a moment, and then it faded away.
“Come on,” Ashta giggled, as she took one of his hands in hers.
Happily, hand in hand, they made their way through the forest and down a path that led to the outskirts of Nemiph. They talked and laughed, and learned a little more about each other. Roman asked her about her childhood and what it was like growing up in the human world, and she asked him questions about his childhood as well. They both seemed to want to know about the other, and they both intrigued each other.
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Seemingly, Destiny was playing in the driveway and the yard, and then as she looked up her eyes got wide, and she squealed with delight.
- Writer
