Chapter 34
CHAPTER
34
The day had arrived where Idris would escort Trace and Gia south to their next destination. I was nervous for them, but I needed to appear confident for their sake. If I were being sent behind enemy lines, I’d want to know those closest to me actually believed I’d be okay.
Nori helped Gia pack what little she’d brought, even though most of her belongings did not matter. Instead, the king’s tailor had already prepared an assortment of gowns and fineries packed into ornate trunks. Vastly different from the attire of a Northern noble, these thin, delicate pieces concealed little, bordering on indecent. If Gia was going to successfully convince them she came from wealth, then she’d need to appear so. Solid gold accessories ranging from chains, charms, and intricate headpieces to compliment her beauty were packed neatly in a velvet lined chest.
Similarly, Trace had received several Kingsguard uniforms. They looked very different from the uniforms worn by the Cambria military. To his dismay, they were not black.
I had no idea what role myself and the others would play once we too were implanted, but seeing all of these items felt like props, essential to the facade.
It was then that I realized being a member of the Imperi was just as much about acting, deception, and lies as it was about abilities and strength. I didn’t think I had fully understood that till now. We were not a show of the king’s brute force, we were what came before. We were the silent warning. A warning that, if executed properly, would ensure there’d never need to be anything more.
We joined the two outside the doors of Basdie as their belongings were loaded onto carriages. Idris would escort the unmarked caravan, which meant this was goodbye until we could join them.
The lump in my throat ached at the thought. Things between Trace and I were unresolved, but he was one of us. I worried about him just like I worried about Gia.
Cairis wrapped his giant arms around Trace, an embrace to which he reacted with a frozen uncertainty. Nori went up and did the same, and I was pleased to see him slacken a bit and relax into her arms with the faintest hint of a smile.
Varro walked up to Trace, giving him a nod of respect. That was more than I had expected from the two of them. Now it was my turn. My mouth watered trying to find words, any words at all.
I approached him slowly, silence filling the space between us.
“Take this for later,” he said quietly, as he handed me a folded piece of parchment.
Ignoring his words, I began to unfold it, but he quickly placed his hand atop mine. “Later,” he repeated.
I nodded in acknowledgement, tucking the piece of paper into my pocket. I glanced over to my side, catching a glimpse of Gia, and turned back toward him.
“Protect her. Please.”
“I will.”
“And yourself, too. Be careful.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
He looked at me, guilt and confusion in his eyes, as this was the first time I’d shown any semblance of concern for him since he’d left me for dead.
“Goodbye,” I added somberly, hoping he would do better for Gia than he had for me or Varro.
He leaned down and said softly into my ear, “I will right my wrongs, this I promise.”
Realizing I had momentarily lapsed my mental shields, his response was no surprise, and yet the weight of it felt heavy on my heart. I stepped away from him and made my way toward Gia’s carriage. Cairis lifted her feet off the ground in an embrace, squeezing her tightly, and she squealed for him to put her down.
I was much more worried for Gia than I was Trace. Having experienced firsthand what can happen when you play the bait, I had nothing but trepidation regarding what may be in store for her.
She can say she has no heart; she can try and convince me there’s not a single chink in her armor, but I know now the kind of monsters she will face. I know what it feels like when the hot breath of vile intention is upon your neck, groping your body, and it makes my stomach churn so much that I have to fight back the bile.
I grabbed both her hands, clasping them in mine. “No mercy,” I said, echoing the same words she had offered me.
A knowing smile spread across her gorgeous face. “They have no idea what’s coming for them,” she said, voice steady and controlled.
The monster that flickered beneath the surface of her gaze looked like it was truly ready to be unleashed. I wouldn’t be shocked if, given the chance, she’d bring Silas and his entire damn court to their knees before we even arrived.
Idris indicated it was time to leave and Gia began to make her way into the carriage. Suddenly, that odd humming sensation began to buzz under my skin again, reminding me that I had forgotten to ask either of them about it.
“Wait!” I exclaimed as I leaned into the carriage door. “I meant to ask you, have you felt any sort of new sensation since the Offering? It’s like a humming feeling, a low vibration; I’m not sure how else to describe it. Sorta makes your skin tickle or itch. I’ve felt it since—”
Wide-eyed, Gia cut me off before I could continue my hurried explanation, “You’ve felt a bond calling?”
“…What?” I looked at her incredulously.
“What you’re describing is the call of the mating bond. I knew it the moment you said it,” she exclaimed. “What do you mean you’ve felt it since the Offering?”
It was then I heard Idris whistle and the sound of the carriages starting to shift forward, indicating they were leaving. I stared into Gia’s confused expression with horror. “Wait, what? No! Hold on!” I called out to her as I stepped down from the moving carriage, left with a swirl of overwhelming confusion.
Unable to control the onslaught of emotions and questions rampantly overtaking every fiber of my being, I took off running inside, farther down, all the way down to the bottom of Basdie where I entered a door I knew about but had never opened.
The noise was deafening. The sound of the waterfall running straight through the center of Basdie with nothing to muffle or contain its power.
I walked across the slick stone, feeling the mist coating my skin. I stood there behind the waterfall as it crashed down in a constant show of unrestrained power; nature at its peak.
I fell to my knees, unable to quell my outburst any other way. I began to scream; I screamed over and over, my voice completely lost to the sound of the falls. I screamed until I was hoarse, fighting back the stinging tears trying to escape.
It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. Please, Gods, do not do this to me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Varro peer into the chamber. By now I was soaked from head to toe. I didn’t understand how he had found me. He beckoned me toward him, looking nervous.
I was not ready for this. I was never going to be ready. I wanted to jump into the falls and let it drown me, but something began to distract me. There it was again. The incessant humming that made my wet skin prickle and my hair stand on end.
Still trying to fight back tears, I walked carefully toward the exit making sure I didn’t slip and fall. When Varro shut the door behind me, I could finally hear my own thoughts again.
“Are you okay?” Varro asked exasperated.
I stood there silent, staring at him and unsure how to answer.
“Cress, you were shaking the entire damned mountain. What’s wrong? What happened?”
Oh no, I thought to myself. I had done it again. I had lost control. But now, something else consumed my focus completely.
“Moirai,” I said through gritted teeth, “What does it mean?”
Varro’s shoulders sagged and the expression on his face changed immediately. “It’s just a nickname, Cress.”
“What does it mean ?” I demanded.
He took in a deep breath, looking like he’d had it knocked out of him.
Licking his lips, he met my accusing gaze and answered, “It means fated one.”
“No, it doesn’t!” I lashed out. “I know the literal translation for those words, and it’s not Moirai.”
“That’s because it’s the word my people use for fated one.”
We stood there staring, locked into one another, silent tension the only thing keeping me from falling to my knees in shock.
“You… All this time. You’re my mate?”