36. Close Encounters
36
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
*Raven*
An odd sense of calm washes over me, even when Kieran has ascended back above ground, back into the sun. I pick up the teacup my aunt Nola gave me and sniff it suspiciously. She knew this would be hard for me, so she must have slipped me something to calm me down. The thoughtfulness touches me as I leave the apothecary to find her and my mother waiting for me.
“You look tired, my darling,” Mother tells me with a knowing look. My cheeks redden under her gaze. “You should rest. There’s much to do.”
I shake my head forcefully, when I hear Kieran’s voice in my head.
‘Miss me already?’
What a strange thing to be linked to him after all this time when our minds have remained cut off from one another.
‘Not as much as you miss me,’ I tell him cheekily.
“Ah,” Nola says with a gleam in her eye. “The joys of newly wedded bliss. You and Cole were like that once you were linked,” she says, turning to my mother.
A brief sadness colors my mother’s face, but it’s gone quickly.
“And soon we may be again,” she says with a cautiously hopeful expression. “We’ll leave you to it,” she tells me, squeezing my shoulder affectionately and grabbing Aunt Nola by the arm, dragging her away.
I meander through the corridors until I find my way back to my new home. Our home. One day it will be again, I have to believe that. He will come back to me safely.
‘Our bed is cold without you,’ I think sadly as I sink down onto our unmade bed. I know it’s impossible, but I swear I hear a howl somewhere far away. My chest burns with the ache of being away from him.
‘It’s no picnic up here without you,’ he tells me gruffly. ‘ How could my father do this? It’s even worse now, somehow, after I’ve seen how they all survive down there. They did nothing to deserve what he did to them.’
My blood boils hot in my veins as I look around this small cottage, cut off from the light and warmth of the sun. King Gavin took that away from them. From us. And I know that if he had any idea that they survived down here for all these years, he wouldn’t hesitate to smoke them out and finish the job.
‘Raven,’ Kieran’s voice comes in clearly now, and I hear the pain in it. ‘You didn’t deserve what he did either. What you- what my mother did to you. I will make them pay, I swear it.’
I lie down against the comfortable mattress, pull the quilt over myself, and close my eyes, imagining that Kieran is lying next to me, that we’re just having a normal conversation.
‘Tell me something happy,’ I say, wanting very much to never think of those people ever again.
I have a real mother, one who loves me and is happy to have me around. Back in Dun’s Crossing, I have a real father. He watched over me my whole life, and I wasn’t even aware. Those are my parents, my family. Not the cruel King Gavin and Queen Rowena. Not the monsters who beat me until I bled, who starved me, who neglected me
‘I love you,’ Kieran’s voice rings in my ear. ‘How’s that for happy?’
I smile and squeeze the quilt against my chest, hugging it to my mark, as if I had Kieran’s hand hovering there to hold.
‘I love you too,’ I tell him earnestly, still amazed at how easily the words form and how right they feel when I say them. ‘ But tell me something else happy. Give me something I can hold onto when I can’t hear you anymore and I’m waiting for you to come back. It could be weeks, Kieran.’
There’s nothing for a while, and I know he must be thinking. My heart aches already, even with the tea, and I can’t imagine how I’m supposed to survive this. He really will be out of range soon, and I have no idea when he’ll return. The truth of it comes crashing down on me, threatening to drown me.
‘When I come back,’ he finally answers, ‘and my father is dead, I’m going to build you a house in the forest. In a meadow, where the sun can always reach it, but somewhere we can have privacy and only have to see other people when we want to.’
‘My parents can visit, of course,’ I say with a laugh.
‘Not too often,’ he nearly growls. ‘And not for several weeks after I return. Maybe months.’
I turn my head and giggle into a nearby pillow that’s still covered in his scent. I breathe him in deeply, and the ache is dulled.
‘Trouble,’ he says sharply, and my eyes open wide. In the small, dark cottage, I try to imagine what he’s seeing, to hear what he’s hearing.
‘What is it?’ I ask, my heart thumping in my chest.
‘I can hear my father’s men. They’re close. They’re searching Escuro trying to find you. You have to warn your mother.’
I’m already on my feet, running back toward the village to find my mom. She’s not at the apothecary, but why would she be? I’ve been gone over an hour. Someone helpfully reminds me how to find her cottage, and I knock briskly, hoping to get her attention.
“What is it darling?” her dark eyes search mine, and her hand cups my cheek.
“There are soldiers searching Escuro for me. Kieran says they’re close.”
She nods curtly and grabs me by the arm, pulling me to the town square where she gathers some of her people. I follow the crowd through a maze of tunnels, sure that I’ll never learn this place. We’re heading north, toward the crops. If King Gavin’s troops see them, they’ll know that someone is living here. Even if they can’t guess to what extent, they’ll keep looking. They will literally leave no stone unturned.
“Fret not, my love,” Mother assures me. “We’ve prepared for this. We’re lucky to have someone like Kieran here to give us an advanced warning.”
Rather than pierce me, as I expect it to, the comment enlivens me. My mate helped us. He’s given us a chance to prepare, to survive. But what happens when I can’t hear him anymore?
There’s no time to worry about it now. We work for hours to secure the livestock in some kind of makeshift underground barn, which the animals don’t seem to like at all. Thankfully, my mother, Aunt Nola, and I are able to encourage them in a way the others cannot. The animals are not happy, but at least they seem to understand this is for their own good.
While we work, another group harvests what they can of the crops and use an intricately woven grass blanket to hide the rest. From a distance, it truly just looks like an empty field, and as long as the troops don’t get too close, they hopefully won’t smell the fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Skunks,” my mother says, as if reading my thoughts. “They’ll spray far enough away from the crops to not damage them, but close enough that no one would be able to smell anything else for miles.”
I smile, thinking of my plan days ago to do the same with mine and Kieran’s scents.
When the work is done, we head back underground, and Mother calls a meeting of all the residents. It’s a small community, of course, so word has already spread that the soldiers are nearby.
“We don’t have to hide from them,” a young man calls from the crowd. Even in the dim lights, I see his dark eyes burning with passion. “We could fight them. Surely, we could take on a few soldiers.”
A cheer goes up from several of the young men, but Mother fixes them with a stern glance and they go silent. For a moment, I envision how differently my life would have been if my wrongdoings had simply been punished by that glance, and not from Queen Rowena’s more severe torture methods. Of course, had I grown up here, many of my “wrongdoings” likely would not have been viewed so harshly.
“There will be time to fight,” Mother promises, though her voice sounds more like a warning. “For now, you will do as I say and stay hidden. We’ve gathered enough of our crops to last a few weeks at least. We’ll remain concealed until the danger passes.”
The young men nod their consent, though disappointment is etched in their faces.
‘Thank you,’ I murmur to Kieran, not even sure if he’s still within range. There’s a stabbing pain as I think of the hours I’ve had to spend without talking to him.
‘You’re welcome, my love,’ comes his tender reply. ‘I’ll always protect you.’