24. The History of the World
24
THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
*Blanca*
I’m wrapping strips of my extra skirt around Kieran’s shoulder wishing I had something to disinfect the wound with. Of course, I had nothing like that in my room back in the castle, so it wasn’t like I just forgot it. I had very little. If Kieran would’ve known he was coming with me, he could’ve brought us a lot of supplies, but he didn’t.
Sometimes I still can’t believe he came with me. I’m not exactly sure I know why he’s here.
“What’s the matter?” His voice is just above a whisper, and I can feel the warmth from his breath on my cheek. I try not to let it affect me. He might not be my brother, but he’s still not thrilled about being my mate.
My eyes go to the mark on his shoulder as I think about it, trying to figure out how to answer his question. “Nothing,” I tell him, which isn’t the truth. “I was just thinking it would be nice to disinfect this.”
“Yeah, it would be. Oh, well.”
He doesn’t say more, and I find myself staring at his mark again. It’s different than mine. I try to ignore the scar on my chest left by Kieran’s fangs, but it’s definitely the shape of a sun. Every mark I’ve ever seen in Dun’s Crossing is a sun.
Kieran’s is a moon.
“What are you looking at?” he asks me.
Blinking a few times, I tie up the last strip I’ve wrapped around and tell him, “Put some pressure on that. It’s still bleeding a little.” Then, I find a spot across from him. It’s a bit lighter in here than our last cave because there are no bushes in front of the opening. “Your mark.” I hesitate, not sure whether or not we can discuss this.
He pushes on the wound as he raises his eyebrows. “What about it?”
I clear my throat, catching the edge of irritation in his voice. “Uhm… it’s a moon.”
He glances down at it, but he can’t see most of it. I marked him near his neck. “So?”
“So… mine is a sun. Isn’t everyone whose mate is from Dun’s Crossing marked with a sun?”
His eyebrows furrow. “Yeah, I guess so. I never really paid much attention. Is the moon a sign you’re from Escuro?”
I shrug. “I have no idea. I’ve never met anyone from Escuro. Except for Mr. Blake, I guess.” My father? Maybe.
Kieran lets out a loud sigh and leans back against the wall across from me. “All of this seems so obvious now, but at the time, I was so fucking weirded out, I couldn’t understand any of it.”
“I know.” I take a deep breath and think more about what I know about marks, packs, and all of that sort of thing. Not much comes to mind. Until I think about Mr. Blake again. He had told me something a long time ago, something I thought wasn’t true, but now, I find myself wondering and hazard mentioning it to Kieran. “Do you know why Dun’s Crossing is called that when all of the other packs around us have names that have to do with the sky or nature?”
“Doesn’t Escuro mean dark?” His eyes are so narrow now, I can barely see them.
“I meant Snowcrest and Starfall. Aren’t there more? Isn’t there a kingdom across the sea called Sundrop Gem?”
He nods slowly. “Yes, but it’s quite small compared to Dun’s Crossing. I don’t know why it’s called that. Maybe the first king was named Dun.”
“Didn’t you learn about that in school?” I challenge him. “I thought the first king was your great-great-great grandfather or something.” A few of the women who took care of me when I was little would tell me bits and pieces of history from time to time.
“True.” He grumbles a little. “I’m not sure, Blanca. Why are you asking?”
“Well, when I was younger, Mr. Blake told me a story. I sort-of dismissed it because I thought he was just being bitter against Dun’s Crossing, but now I’m starting to wonder.”
“What was the story?” He yawns a little, and I know I should let him sleep. But he asked.
“He said that many years ago, the kingdom across the sea, Sundrop Gem, grew quickly and became a flourishing kingdom. They had a lot of horse drawn carriages and the like, and they needed all of the surrounding pasture land for animals, so with all of those horses, cows, sheep, etc., they soon had a shitty problem.”
“A shitty problem?” he asks me.
“Yes. Literally.”
That gets a chuckle out of him. “So what did they allegedly do?”
“According to Mr. Blake, they decided to load all of the poop up and take it across the sea and dump it. He said that the narrowest point of the sea from Sundrop takes you to Dun’s Crossing. Originally, it was called Dung’s Crossing.”
Kieran chuckles. “I really don’t believe that shit.”
“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but he said that there was a group of people who rebelled against the king, and as their punishment, the king sent all of the rebels to Dung’s Crossing to live or die. They were banished. That’s where they started their new kingdom, and because that first king didn’t want to have his lands named after poop, they called it Dun’s Crossing, and he named his son Duncan.”
Kieran doesn’t say anything for several minutes, but when he speaks again, he asks, “Do you believe all of that?”
“I didn’t. But now that I think about it, maybe the reason people from Dun’s Crossing leave the mark of a sun is because you’re really a pack member of Sundrop Gem.”
“Or maybe it’s because we are the light of the world. That’s why we are named after brightness. Like our last name. Solberg means sun mountain.”
“Yeah, that actually kind of convinces me more,” I admit to him.
He yawns again, and I know we both need to get some sleep. “We might be able to make it to the border of Escuro if we hurry tomorrow.”
“Really?” I thought we’d have to sleep at least one more time.”
“It depends on how bad the terrain is, but maybe. If we hurry.”
“And then what?” I’m afraid to hear his answer.
“I have no idea,” he admits. “I hope there will be someone there who can help you, but I’m afraid everyone in the entire kingdom is dead. We might just find a land full of rogues and danger.”
I bite back the idea that we’ve already run into that without even leaving his beloved Dun’s Crossing, but I don’t say it. Instead, I yawn. “Do you want the backpack pillow? It’ll probably help your shoulder.”
“No, thank you,” he tells me. “I’m fine.”
Has he even noticed he had it last night? I don’t want to ask. “All right. Goodnight.”
“Good night.”
We both stretch out on the floor pretty far away from one another. My back aches from the rocky ground, but at least I have something to put my head on. I’m so tired, I think I’ll fall asleep pretty quickly.
Part of me wonders if we are close enough to Escuro for me to use the mind-link to try to talk to someone there, but I’m afraid to do that. How would I know if I can trust them?
I start to doze off, still thinking about what lies ahead of us in Escuro. Soon enough, I’m dreaming of walking into a beautiful land full of smiling, happy people who are so glad to see me. Kieran is there, too, holding my hand, and we grin at one another. I finally feel like I'm home.
I awake to my pillow wiggling again. My eyes fly open, and I’m staring into Kieran’s eyes, the light of day illuminating his handsome face.
He looks mad. “What the fuck is going on, Blanca?” he asks me.
Confused, I try to figure out what he’s talking about and realize somehow we’ve rearranged ourselves again, and his head is on the backpack while mine must’ve been… on his chest.
“Fuck.”
How does this keep happening?