Chapter 31 #2
“It’s daylight,” I said, stating the obvious. “Are you not sleeping tonight—I mean, today?”
The giant wither shrugged, giving me a concerned look.
“Fable is craving a peach that is not too sour and not too sweet. I’ve gotten two baskets worth incorrect thus far.
Yet I will search every peach tree in Nisse, and travel to other forests if needed, to bring my claimed exactly what she desires. ”
A smile warmed my face. “Pregnancy cravings, huh?”
The wither nodded.
“Are you ready to be a dad? I mean, are you ready to be a father?” I still wasn’t quite sure what Fable would actually give birth to… a human or a wither? Some sort of hybrid maybe? I always felt it would be imprudent of me to ask. I guessed I’d wait and see just like everyone else.
Cadaver combed through the top branches of a peach tree, meticulously plucking tiny fruits and testing their ripeness between his claws. It constantly amazed me how such terrifying creatures could manage to be so tender.
“It is a great honor that we have been blessed with a child.”
I nodded, picking a particularly nice-looking green apple.
Cadaver rustled the branch, finding more fruit.
“It is also the most frightening thing I’ve done in all my years.
The thought of losing her to birth, the thought of harm befalling our child, and the weight of guiding such offspring.
The enormity of it all… however, if I can fetch peaches to make any of this easier, I suppose I shall. ”
“You’ll be a good dad,” I said without hesitation. “You and Fable will be amazing parents.”
Cadaver filled his basket, thanking me for my assurances, before leaving to bring his findings back to his claimed.
Such kind beings, the withers were. I found myself feeling grateful to have been accepted into their presence.
The gratitude I felt for Wraith coming to find me…
it told me that Nisse cared for me apart from Vore.
That in my mate’s absence, my community still wanted me, still loved me, and accepted me as theirs.
Wraith sat me down at the entrance of a glowing blue spinning door. “Is this the spinning door?” Of course it was, but I awed in its presence all the same as Wraith confirmed.
“On the other side of this door… I don’t even know what it could be. Asunder? Who even is Asunder?”
Wraith stared down at me, waiting for my next move.
I reached out my hand. Wraith reached his out, too, but wavered, unsure of what happened next.
It occurred to me that as a single wither, he’d probably never held a woman’s hand before.
He seemed afraid of hurting me as he hesitated, eyeing his claws.
To make it easier for him, I simply wrapped my hand around one of his long, clawed fingers.
“Ready to get Vore back?”
Wraith lifted the corner of his mouth, his eyes soft, as he nodded once.
The door spun, a whooshing sound accompanying every turn on its invisible axis. I sucked in a breath, waiting for the right turn, the moment it felt right. The moment was upon us after five spins.
“Here we go,” I said, motioning for us to step forward.
Bright blue light blinded us. I wanted to cover my eyes, but knew not to let go of Wraith’s finger. I feared what would happen if I did. It was as if the Underworld were so erratic, he could very possibly disappear before my very eyes.
The brightness subsided.
As my eyes adjusted, a patchwork brick path stretched out before me.
“It’s the same brick road I found myself on when I first came here.
We must be on the right track,” I told Wraith.
“That’s when I followed a white fallope to a giant strawberry and a butterfly man.
” I shook my head. “This has all been such a strange adventure.”
The atmosphere darkened as we traversed the brick road.
Its bright and colorful bricks evolving into darker, muddier shades.
The landscape surrounding the path was nothing but dried grass and a dreary gray fog.
Fear pricked my senses, and I only then, after making it so far, asked myself what I’d even say to Asunder.
I didn’t know anything about this legendary being who enacted horrible rules and raptures upon my realm.
What does a common girl even say to someone like that?
How could I convince them to give me my claimed back?
“Do you know anything about Asunder?” I asked Wraith.
The wither wobbled his head as if to say, Not much.
Despite my anger towards Rumor, in that moment, I wished she were with me.
My older sister was built for this kind of quest, not me.
If she were here, she’d likely have Asunder to his knees in moments.
Somehow, in some way, she always got what she wanted.
Either by force or horrible means, but that didn’t matter to Rumor, as long as her end goal came to fruition.
When she killed Vore, that’s all she cared about.
She didn’t listen to me, or take me seriously, or hear what was important to me.
Rumor wanted me to stay with her, to stay safe, and that’s all that mattered.
Even still, my sister was ten times more ruthless than I was. With her headstart of experience in knowing she was a witch from a young age, and now, having Blackthorne daimons likely coaching her with advanced dark spells… I feared my sister may become unstoppable.
Hopefully she stayed put and didn’t bother me anymore.
I could hope for that, at least. However, if I failed at bringing Vore back, there’d be no me for Rumor to find.
I’d told Wraith that if I failed, he could bring me back to Nisse…
but I had no intentions of returning if Vore wasn’t coming with me.
Wraith could return and he may as well tell Nisse that both Vore and I had died, because there was no life for me without him.
I knew that when I chose the black door and not the pink one.
My choice was one of sorrow and oblivion. I’d gladly accept that fate for the chance of freeing my mate. What the pink door offered me was sunshine and an afterlife numb to what I lost. If I were to truly lose Vore, that isn’t something I wanted to be removed and set aside in some paradise.
If Vore were lost to the Underworld… I would be too, if only to be closer to him.
A light flickered up ahead.
I gripped Wraith’s finger at our first sign of life past the spinning doors. This was it.
As we approached, a large, round, wooden table came into view. Atop of it were lace circles of fabric, multicolored teapots, and trays of sweets.
My heart froze in my chest as figures seated around the table appeared. Three women, each of them wearing pointed witch hats.
“Are you sure we went through the right spinning doors?” I asked Wraith. “These look like witches… witches having tea?”
I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing.
As we neared, the witch at the head of the table spied us and rose, rushing around the table to stand and wait for us. Wearing a long, dark purple dress, her long gray hair billowed down her back and dragged behind her on the dry grass. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled when we made eye contact.
“Prism,” she greeted, bowing her head slightly.
“So happy you’ve finally decided to join us.
” She gestured to an empty chair at the table.
Above it was a perfect, lacy place setting and a pale lavender tea kettle.
The items on the table moved on their own.
Spoons stirred and clanked, and kettles tilted and poured liquid into teacups before floating to their next place setting. “You’re just in time for tea.”
I glanced up at Wraith who only offered a befuddled look.
Stammering over my words, I said, “Hello, I’m not sure we’ve met.”
“Oh, we have, sweet girl,” the witch replied ominously. The three other witches around the table stared on with vacant expressions. “We’ve been waiting so long for you to find your way to us.”
“Who are you?” I asked, pulling my attention away from the ringing of steam from a fresh pot of floating tea.
The witch tilted her head, her pointed hat flopping to the side. “You’ve worked so hard to find us, don’t you know the answer to that?”
My mouth opened but no words came out as I fought to piece everything together.
Smiling a smile that showed all of her teeth, the woman answered my unspoken question. “We are Asunder.”