Chapter 12 #2
Boris was a good friend of mine. He visited me often to tell me about the human world, which I cannot visit for my own safety.
I’m sorry to hear of his passing, and I’m sorry for your loss.
I’ve seen you from afar, Cassian. I see how you’ve always cared for the beings around you, humans included.
I told Boris to never tell anyone he saw me, but I permitted him to tell you.
“Me? Why?” I asked.
You’re special, like Boris. You use your power for the good of your community. You are the kind of human I want occupying this land, and I’m afraid the one who wants to take it from you is not.
“Do you know who placed these rune stones?” I asked.
I do.
“Will you tell me?”
Ponsaria huffed through her nostrils. You can see me because your intentions are pure, Cassian, but acting on even the purest intentions can still result in the wrong outcome.
“What are you saying?”
I suspect you already know.
I stroked her soft neck as I thought about it. “I don’t believe my own family would turn on me.”
Because you wouldn’t turn on your family. You also wouldn’t kill a fellow human, and yet humans kill humans every day.
“I don’t want to believe it.”
You don’t get to choose reality. You simply get to live with it.
“Are you saying it was Jasmine?” I asked, glancing at the stone in my free hand.
I struggle to find the stones myself, but I’ll uncover as many as I can. Don’t give up, and please don’t tell anyone you saw me. I must go.
“Wait! You won’t tell me?” I asked.
I can’t help you with that, but you’ve already found someone who can.
She was gone before I could speak, leaving me in a cold gust beneath rustling branches.
I followed my own footprints back to the inn, pressing the rune stone into the same boulder by the inn’s sign out front before returning to my duties as the innkeeper.
“Hey, Cassian! Where’d you go?” Jasmine asked.
“I went on a walk to read Grandpa’s letter,” I said.
“What did it say?”
I scrutinized her face, trying to see any hint of deception on it, but she was the same girl I grew up with. The same girl I swam with in the river on hot summer days. The same girl who was always there for me on bad nights like this one.
How could she do this to me?
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I guess I’d been staring too long. “Nothing,” I said, looking away. “Grandpa wanted the inn to go to you if I couldn’t cut it. Did you know that?”
“Oh, really? I, uh… No, I didn’t know that.” That sounded like deception. But why would she lie about that unless she was guilty?
“So… Have you made any progress searching for rune stones?” I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling she’d say no.
“No.” Big surprise. “We still just have the one.”
I paused. “Which one?”
“The one you moved,” she said.
I hadn’t told her about that. I turned to watch her with a furrowed brow. “Did Willo tell you?” I asked.
Her eyes widened briefly, and then she smiled. “I guess I forgot to mention it.”
“Interesting,” I said, watching her closely. I had an opportunity here to test my reality, but I couldn’t mess it up. “Did Willo tell you where we moved it?”
“Out front, right? Near the sign?” she asked.
My heart sank, and I understood what Ponsaria had been trying to tell me. I had good intentions in bringing Jasmine here, and I had good intentions in choosing family over my boyfriend, but despite my good intentions, I’d made the wrong choice.
I was alone when I moved the stone. Not even Willo knew where it was. She would only know where it was if she had placed the stones herself.
Sterling was right. It was Jasmine.
“Great. I’m glad she told you,” I said. My tone was tenser than I intended.
I should’ve been devastated, but I was furious.
How had she stood beside me all this time pretending to care while she was the reason I thought I was failing?
She was the reason the rest of us had no money while she kept her inheritance all to herself, just waiting to snatch mine from me the moment I gave up.
What could I do? She obviously wouldn’t admit it. I couldn’t contact the Force again since I’d called off the investigation, and Sterling wouldn’t want to see me, anyway. Maybe Willo could help.
I stood up. “Can you watch the counter for me? I need to talk to Griffin.”
“I’ll come with you!” Jasmine said cheerfully. “It’s slow tonight anyway.”
I couldn’t think of a reason not to let her join me, so I reluctantly agreed.
There was only one person in the pub when we arrived, and he was chatting with Griffin.
I remembered what my grandfather had mentioned about our shared fascination with strangers and wondered if he preferred working with similar people.
Or maybe this was a regular, and Griffin was adding up his hellos.
“Gimme just a minute, Tad,” Griffin said, patting the counter as he walked away to address us. “Hey, kids. Is there a problem?”
There was a big problem, but it had insisted on following me in here. “Is Willorunia available soon?” I said.
“‘Fraid not. Sorry, Cassian. Winter’s always busy for her. Maybe I can pass along the message?” he asked.
I glanced at Jasmine. There was no way Griffin could pass along my message without her hearing it.
She must have known I was onto her, and that was why she’d followed me here.
What else could I do? I needed Sterling.
“I’ve bothered her enough. Perhaps I’ll take a trip into Ladiall to visit Gertrude.
It’s been too long, anyway. Jasmine, can you watch the inn while I’m gone? ”
“I had so much fun in Ladiall with Sterling. Can I come with you?” Jasmine asked, watching me with so much false hope that I had to look away before I snapped. She definitely knew.
“Someone needs to watch the inn,” I said.
“Don’t worry about that, Cassian. Olive and I will take care of it. You two deserve a break. Go enjoy the city!” Griffin said.
“Great. Thanks,” I said.
“Are you going to visit Officer Thorndrop while you’re there?” Griffin asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering how to navigate this.
If Jasmine came with me, I’d have to have some reason for visiting him that wouldn’t make her suspicious.
“I’ll certainly try. I miss him terribly,” I admitted.
It wasn’t a lie, and I knew neither of them would think it was. They had both seen how down I was.
“Why’d you break up, anyway?” Griffin asked.
I clenched my fist on the bar top. “Was it that obvious?” I asked, deliberately avoiding the question.
“You’re not subtle,” Griffin said with a chuckle.
I forced a smile. “I made a mistake. I hope he’ll forgive me.”
“That boy was crazy about you, Cass,” Griffin said. “You should have seen the way he looked at you.”
I couldn’t force a smile anymore. Sterling only wanted to help me, and I broke up with him. After I promised I would accept his answer.
Gods, I was an asshole.
STERLING
I lost track of the days that passed after my return. I’d been demoted, which meant that instead of spending my days helping citizens in need, I spent nights standing guard at the eastern entrance to Ladiall, staring down a dark dirt trail.
I had to keep reminding myself I was still helping my community, but it was hard to believe that when nothing ever happened. It was the least-used entrance into the city. There were hardly any travelers, let alone crime.
I thought about Cassian a lot. It was hard not to.
I wondered if I would have done anything differently, but I wasn’t sure if I could have.
Cassian was a temptation I couldn’t resist. How could I have broken the news about Jasmine to him in a way he would accept?
He wouldn’t have accepted it no matter what I said.
No matter how hard I begged him not to leave me.
But he had just been waiting for me to leave him. We were together for less than a month, but I would have stayed if he’d asked. I would have done a lot for him. There was no one in this world, man, woman, or otherwise, who had captivated me as Cassian had.
Needless to say, I was not well.
After ending another long night of staring into the eastern void, I returned home. The sun was just rising as I reached my small, empty house. I fell into bed and passed into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke to a knock at my door in the middle of the day, rising blearily from my unmade bed. Who would possibly need to speak to me? I was no longer important, and I had no one in my life.
I staggered to the door and yanked it open, expecting a salesperson or a city petitioner, ready to tell them to get lost, but it wasn’t either.
It was Cassian.
And Jasmine?
The sight of him woke me right up. “Cassian!” I raked my fingers through my messy hair, wishing I had bothered to put on a shirt. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Sterling,” Jasmine said with a bright smile and a little wave. Cassian threw a subtle frown her way before fixing his beautiful blue eyes on me again.
“Hey, Sterling. Can we talk?” Cassian asked. I couldn’t believe I was looking at him. Was this a dream? He wore his usual black cloak, and his golden hair shone in the bright daylight of a rare cloudless day. It was as if his own radiance brought sunshine to Ladiall.
“You and me? Or you and me and Jasmine?” I asked.
Cassian opened his mouth to answer, but Jasmine spoke first. “Cassian brought me for moral support. He wants me here too, right, Cass?”
Cassian crossed his arms and glared at the doorframe.
I thought I understood what was happening.
Cassian must have realized I was right but hadn’t told Jasmine, and Jasmine was onto him.
She didn’t want to let us speak alone. I was a little disappointed this was about the case, but I couldn’t refuse to help a citizen in need, even if it broke my already broken heart.
“I’d prefer to speak with Cassian in private,” I said.
“That’s not what he wants,” Jasmine said.
“I don’t know what he wants, because you spoke for him. Is that what you want, Cassian?” I asked pointedly.