Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
“We cannot thank you enough,” August says for what feels like the one hundredth time just this morning.
I take his hands in mine. “Your hospitality was more than enough. I am simply glad Iris is feeling better.” I went to see Iris once more this morning, and she looked even brighter than yesterday.
August nods before elbowing his son where he stands beside him.
“I am uh…sorry,” Evander chokes out on a cough. “About our means of getting you here.”
Rylan holds out his hand between them. “A simple request would have been just fine,” he says as Evander closes his hand around Rylan’s. “But I understand you have a flair for the dramatic.”
Evander scoffs, and Rylan only grins wider. “You'd best keep practicing your swordsmanship.”
“As should you,” Evander says as Rylan mounts his horse just outside the main cave entrance. “Because the next time we cross paths, you won’t best me.”
Rylan raises his brows. “I look forward to it.”
I shake my head as I give Merlin a rub on the nose. Someone collected the horses after we left them in the forest and took them to a small stable at an abandoned cabin not far from here. The horses were clearly tended to in our absence, but I can’t help but feel guilty for leaving him behind.
I swing my leg up and over his back, settling into the saddle as best I can.
I fell asleep in the small chair at the table last night.
The darkness finally claimed me after hours of my mind turning.
The vials, the key, the dagger. I spent hours trying to connect it, and the only thing I could string together is that all of it comes from Arizaya.
We know my dagger does, and the key has the same pattern.
It must have been the same smith who crafted both pieces.
And the vials…well, they were hidden amongst everything else.
“Ride safely.” Toren appears by my side, his hand falling on Merlin’s freshly groomed coat as he smiles up at me.
I smile. “We will.”
“I hope fate finds us meeting again, Everleigh.” His kind words pull my smile even wider before Rylan clears his throat.
I tip my head. “Keep well until then,” I say. “All of you.”
The three men see us off before disappearing back into the main cave, leaving Rylan and I to find our way to the forest road and back to Sylvan.
I worried leaving would weigh heavier on me. While I am disheartened, I ache to be back in the comfort of my own cabin, to hear the familiar sound of birdsong at my window, and to restock my apothecary with everything Imogen left me.
As we weave through the trees, I wonder if anything has changed in Sylvan. It has only been a few days since we left, but recent events have proven that things can change in an instant.
I wonder if the shields have been back to my cabin, if they ransacked it like they did my shop. If they found the loose floorboard and my mother’s journals hidden beneath it.
I thank myself internally for giving the vials to Cedar. She would keep them safe at any cost, but what would that cost be? Would someone like Mayor Hawthorne even know of the vials? Would he recognise them, or would he simply think they were a potion? The work of a witch?
“How did it go yesterday, with the apothecary?” Rylan asks quietly. “Did you ask her about Arizaya?”
My stomach sinks. I didn’t have a chance to ask her, not after she disappeared at the mention of the vials. “She didn’t know anything about it.”
It’s a lie. At least I think it is. I have a feeling deep in my gut that it is all connected, and if she knew about the vials, she knows about Arizaya.
“Oh.” Rylan frowns. “Gods, I thought she might be the person who could tell us something about it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He shakes his head as he looks over at me. “It is not your fault.”
But perhaps it is. If I had asked about Arizaya first, who knows what she could have told me? But maybe she would have had a similar reaction. Maybe I would never have been able to ask about the vials that way.
It matters little—it is done now.
Rylan reaches forward to rub his horse's neck before murmuring words of encouragement to the gentle beast. I get glimpses of it every now and again, this honest side to him. No teasing or cheeky glances, just him in these quiet moments.
“I trust you, Rylan.” He sits upright, eyes narrowing even as a small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth.
Among all the other jumbled thoughts that kept me up last night was his question. Do I trust him? I was always hesitant to—to put my faith in this person who I didn’t know—yet all he has ever done is help me, save me, and look out for me.
I should hate it. I should tell him I can look after myself, but I don’t.
Because beyond any of that hesitation—and the fact that I wanted to make this trip alone—I like having him around.
His irritating taunts, his teasing smirk, and his drunken confessions.
He doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore.
“Last night you asked me—”
“I remember,” he says. If he remembers that, then he must remember the other things he said.
“All right,” I say, forcing my gaze ahead of us. “Well, now you have my answer.”
“Thank you.” I can hear the grin he is wearing in his voice.
“You’re welcome.” I purse my lips, forcing myself not to ask the same question back. But when the forest road appears in front of us and we start our journey back to Sylvan, the words slip out. “Do you trust me?”
I let my gaze slide back to where he smiles gently beside me. “I have trusted you from the moment I met you, Rosie."