Chapter 114: Black Beauty

Elara:

The moment Jasper turned the car off the main road and onto a narrow dirt path disappearing between the trees, I turned my head toward him, my eyebrows rising so high they practically disappeared beneath my bangs that I got last weekend.

He didn’t even glance at me. His eyes remained fixed on the road ahead, both hands resting casually on the steering wheel as the car bumped over the uneven ground, but the faint curl at the corner of his mouth told me he was perfectly aware of the silent question I was throwing at him.

Where the hell were we going?

I had been expecting Shadow Creek. Instead, we were driving deeper into the forest behind Moonveil Academy, farther away from the mountain road and everything remotely familiar. The dirt road was rough at first, forcing the car to jolt every few seconds, but after a little while it became surprisingly smoother, winding between enormous trees whose branches formed a thick canopy overhead. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in broken golden patches, and the farther we went, the quieter everything became.

Finally, Jasper seemed to decide that my curiosity had been sufficiently tortured because he glanced at me briefly and said, "I got a surprise for you."

That was it. One sentence. No explanation. No details. Nothing. I stared at him for several seconds, waiting for more, but when it became obvious he wasn’t going to elaborate, I leaned back against my seat with a sigh. "You are enjoying this, aren’t you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

His smile widened, but he remained stubbornly silent. I rolled my eyes and turned toward the window, deciding I would simply wait until we arrived rather than waste my energy trying to extract information from a man who had apparently decided mystery was his favorite hobby.

It had all happened rather suddenly. My classes had ended about a little over half an hour ago, and I had already been looking forward to a quiet evening in my dorm. Tomorrow morning, I was supposed to travel down to Shadow Creek for my weekend lessons with Master Brown, just as I had done for the past few weekends. I had barely finished showering and settled down with a small snack when Crazy and I had fallen into one of our usual conversations. The white menace had been complaining about the quality of the food I’d bought for him when there had been a knock on my door.

I hadn’t even finished pulling the door fully open when Jasper announced that we were leaving for the weekend classes immediately rather than waiting until morning. I had stared at him in disbelief while he stood there looking entirely too pleased with himself. Naturally, I had asked where we were going. Naturally, he had refused to tell me. And now, after following him into the car like some kidnapped princess with absolutely no survival instincts, I was apparently traveling deeper into a forest instead of down the mountain.

"If this turns out to be another kidnapping," I muttered, glancing suspiciously at him, "I’m going to be very disappointed in you."

Jasper finally laughed, the sound warm and amused. "I’ll keep that in mind."

I narrowed my eyes at him again. He was definitely hiding something.

Barely five minutes later, the car slowed to a stop. Jasper switched off the engine and stepped out before walking around to open my door for me. I climbed out, stretching slightly after the short drive, and immediately looked around.

Trees. More trees. And, because apparently the forest wasn’t satisfied with being surrounded by trees, there were even more trees behind those trees. Tall trunks rose toward the sky, their branches spreading overhead, while thick ferns and bushes covered nearly every patch of ground. The air smelled wonderfully fresh, damp earth and leaves mixing with something faintly floral. Somewhere nearby, a bird called, and the sound disappeared into the enormous silence surrounding us.

I turned slowly in a circle before looking back at Jasper. "This is the surprise?" I asked, pointing vaguely toward the wilderness. "Because I have seen forests before." He only smiled and started walking. I stared after him for a second before hurrying to catch up.

"Jasper."

Nothing.

"Jasper, where are we going?"

Still nothing.

"You are really enjoying torturing me today, aren’t you?"

He chuckled without turning around, which only made me sigh dramatically and follow him. I had barely taken ten steps when I noticed something beneath the vegetation - black stone. At first, I thought it was simply a rock formation, but then I realized they were steps. Narrow, dark steps disappeared upward beneath the thick greenery, climbing toward what looked like a raised mound of earth. I would have completely missed them if Jasper hadn’t already begun ascending.

"You could have mentioned the stairs," I called after him, gathering the hem of my coat slightly as I followed.

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Then it wouldn’t be a surprise."

I muttered something under my breath that made him laugh again. The climb wasn’t particularly difficult, but there were far more steps than I expected. Twenty. Thirty. Perhaps more. My legs were beginning to protest by the time we reached the top, and I was preparing to complain about Jasper’s questionable definition of a surprise when I stepped onto the final stone and looked ahead.

I forgot how to breathe.

Standing before me was the most beautiful cottage I had ever seen.

Granted, my experience with cottages was rather limited, but that hardly mattered. The little house looked like something pulled straight from a fairytale and hidden in the middle of an enchanted forest. It stood elevated above the dense greenery, surrounded by enormous trees and ferns, its dark wooden exterior blending perfectly with the forest around it. The steep, almost whimsical roof rose into a pointed peak, covered in dark shingles that glistened faintly beneath the damp forest air. Warm golden light spilled through the tall windows, creating a breathtaking contrast against the cool green and misty surroundings.

A small wooden deck wrapped around part of the cottage, and beneath it, the structure seemed to disappear into the vegetation. A narrow staircase led down through the ferns, while little plants grew around the edges of the deck as though the cottage had been there for years and the forest had simply decided to embrace it.

I stood completely still, staring.

Jasper walked a few steps ahead before turning around, and the bright smile on his face immediately told me he had been waiting for exactly this reaction. "Welcome to your new weekend house," he announced proudly.

I blinked at him. "My... what?"

He chuckled and gestured toward the cottage. "Your weekend house. You can stay here instead of going back and forth to Shadow Creek every weekend. Master Brown can teach you here, and I’ll train you here. You can actually relax when you aren’t studying or training."

For several seconds, I could only stare at him. "You built this?" I finally asked.

He nodded. "In a month."

My mouth fell open. "A month?" I looked at the cottage again, then back at him. "You built this in one month?"

He shrugged as though constructing a gorgeous forest cottage in thirty days was a perfectly ordinary thing to do. "I had help."

I didn’t know whether to laugh, yell at him, or hug him.

Perhaps sensing my confusion, he continued explaining that the cottage stood at the very edge of Moonveil Academy’s protective wards. Master Brown had also placed an additional ward around the property, creating another layer of protection. A small wooden fence marked the boundary so I would always know exactly where the protected area ended.

"Nothing gets in without you knowing," Jasper assured me. "And nothing gets out without you knowing either."

I looked toward the forest surrounding us, suddenly understanding why he had chosen this place. It was secluded, quiet, and far enough from the academy that I wouldn’t constantly be surrounded by students, nobles, arguments, gossip, and the five Regents. It was still close enough for me to return to the academy before classes begun again.

I opened my mouth, fully prepared to tell Jasper that there had been absolutely no reason for him to build an entire cottage when the little house in Shadow Creek had been perfectly fine. I really did intend to say it. I even had the first words ready. But then I looked at the warm light glowing through those windows, the beautiful wooden deck tucked among the trees, the quiet forest surrounding it, and something inside me softened.

I had spent weeks running from one crisis to another, pushing myself through classes, magic training, combat training, royal history, investigations, nightmares, and everything else that had been thrown at me. My body was tired. My mind was tired. And my soul was definitely tired.

And suddenly, the idea of spending my weekends here sounded far too good to refuse.

I looked at Jasper again, unable to stop the small smile that slowly curved across my lips.

Maybe this really was exactly what I needed.