Page 50 of The Dark Elf's Secret Baby
Sighing, I head to the upper decks to look out at the waters, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zerva the minute she comes in sight.
My mind drifts back to Layla and Jasper. Did they sleep alright last night? Did Jasper stop crying at some point? Does Layla miss me or was she glad I left?
It doesn’t matter. I’ll win her over. I’ll do whatever it takes to win her back. Even if I have to grovel at her feet, I’ll make sure she knows that she and Jasper come first from now on.
I’m never going to miss another moment of their lives. Jasper still has so many firsts and I can’t wait to see every single one of them. Maybe Layla will be willing to meet my brother and his mate if I tell her how supportive they are. Then Jasper can definitely meet his new cousin.
It will be so wonderful to have them with me. I can’t wait for them to show me everything in their lives that I missed, everything that they’ve built together. I’ll have to find something to do now that I’m no longer going to be a Lieutenant in the service.
Maybe I’ll fish. Maybe I’ll become a merchant. Who cares! That’s the beauty of it all. I’m free now. It’s scary but it will be okay with Layla and Jasper by my side.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when the sailors begin shouting that Zerva is coming into view.
We’re almost there!
30
Layla
Our bags are packed. Everything is ready to go. I packed away everything else into a few storage boxes with a note for Harper saying, “Please take anything you’d like and give out the rest to the villagers who might want it.”We can’t take that much, especially considering I have to carry Jasper too.
It’s time to get him from school. I managed to sell a few things in the market and purchased us two tickets on the next ship leaving Zerva.
To be honest, I'm scared to death about what we might encounter in Zhoig. It feels as though I’m betraying my parents’ wishes for me by going back there.
But I can’t live without Kerym anymore. I’ve given up on the idea that I can just be content seeing him every few months when he gets a break from work to come see Jasper. I love him. Jasper loves him too. It’s cruel to keep us separated because of some notion I have that I have to live here to be happy.
I need my family, I need us to be whole again. Two and a half years is too long for us all to go without each other. No more.
Picking up my bags, and Jasper’s satchel, I walk to the front door and turn around, touching the frame lightly. I set the bags on the porch and stare at my now empty house. Maybe someone else will move in here, some other young, single mom who needs a fresh start in life.
Maybe this can be her fresh start now.
With a wistful smile, I pick my bags up and head down the steps of the porch, onto the path that will take me to the school.
I pass by the homes of the other villagers who I met while working here. There’s Lilah’s cottage. She’s elderly and could no longer work in the hidium mines. There’s Horace’s bungalow—he got injured in a mining accident and couldn’t lift the carts anymore, so he got himself sent here to work as a fisherman.
So many of us came here looking for a new start. This place was a paradise compared to where we were from. And I’ll always be thankful for the time I spent here.
But I’m not sad to leave. I’m excited. New adventure awaits, just like I told Jasper. This is an adventure for us, leaving home.Nothing to be scared of, I tell myself.
I pass the overseer’s office. Iheru was definitely not the kindest man but he was tolerable. I don’t know if I’ll miss him but I’ll definitely never have a boss like him ever again.
As I pass by the pathway through the copse of trees that leads to the city center, I remember sharing a kiss with Kerym there the other day. It was so magical. I never wanted it to end. This whole place cast a magical spell over me, making me feel like I was living a charmed life.
But nothing will ever truly be paradise for me without Jasper and Kerym around. I can’t keep living here and pretend that everything is okay when it’s not, when I know that I made the choice to push the man I love away.
Everything is going to be new and different on Oshta. I may have been born there but I grew up on Tlouz. I’ll get to see where I come from.
The school is just letting out when I arrive and Jasper is practically bouncing off the walls. His teacher tells me that they’re sorry to say goodbye. Jasper has apparently been talking all morning about how he’s going on a big boat to see Daddy.
“Mama when we leave?” he asks, all but dancing around me in circles.
“We’re leaving now, baby,” I tell him, picking him up. “Are you ready?”
“Yes! Gonna see Daddy!” he yells. I wince and glance at the other students and the teacher, hoping we’re not being too disruptive.
No one else seems to mind Jasper’s excitement, thank goodness. I hug him and we start walking but he wants to get down, insisting that he wants to carry his own satchel.