28. Flight #2
Halla threw herself around Anara’s waist, but only Larissa noticed how Anara winced, touching her stomach when Halla let go.
Minutes trickled by as Larissa packed the bag with clothes for herself and Halla.
Her gaze slid to the door more often than she’d care to admit, wondering if Darien was still with his father.
Someone knocked, and the door opened. Kai stepped in with a bag slung over his shoulder. As though uncomfortable with the stares in his direction, he closed the door and leaned against the shadows on the wall.
“Now we wait for Darien,” Anara said.
“How will he know where to find us?” Halla asked.
Anara looked at Larissa. “He’ll look for Larissa.”
They didn’t wait much longer before there was a knock at the door again. Darien had changed out of his finery. He strapped his sword and gun to his dark gear, clothes meant for movement.
His presence alone was a balm to Larissa’s anxiety. “Darien! I didn’t know if Torsten would let you come.”
“I told him I wouldn’t.” His eyes held hers with palpable intensity. “But nothing could keep me from going with you, Lov.”
Kai leaned toward Halla and whispered, “Didn’t you say they’re supposed to be some kind of secret? They’re pretty obvious.”
“Only to anyone with eyes.” Anara’s dry remark let Kai know he wasn’t as quiet as he thought.
Another knock sounded at the door. Darien laid his hand on his sword, but Anara rose, swaggering to the door. “Relax, I sent a message to arrange our departure.”
Astonishment flooded Larissa to see Jari standing on the other side of the opened door. He bowed to Anara. “It’s ready. Bay Three. We’ll take your bags. You’re too noticeable with them.”
Grabbing the bag from Anara, Jari handed it over to Haki, who waited at his side. As if noting the confused looks, Anara explained, “I asked Jari and Haki to prepare a truck for us. We’ll be out of the city before Torsten knows we’re gone.”
“Do you really think he’d try to stop us?” Larissa asked.
Anara side-eyed Darien. “He might try to stop some of us.”
“Don’t walk as a group or all at once,” Jari warned. “There’s too many of you.”
“Jari,” Larissa called before he could leave. “Thank you. I know what it looks like, that I’m leaving my people. Again . . .”
His eyes met hers and he bowed, not the forced movements he’d made before, but a genuine bow that caught Larissa by surprise. “You kept your word, Princess. You freed your people. I believe you will come back.”
His belief was a promise in Larissa’s heart, a vow that she would not, could not break. She would come back. The twins left without another word, though Haki smiled at her even buried beneath their bags.
“I’ll take Halla and Kai with me,” Anara said. “Give us five minutes, then follow us down to the bays. Take the servants’ stairs in case Torsten goes looking for Darien.”
Then they were gone.
Awkwardness pervaded the room as Larissa watched Darien rock on his heels. She moved toward him, conscious of the anger he was trying to hide.
She laid her hand on his arm. “Your father was wrong to say what he did.”
“Is he?” he muttered. “Look at everything he’s accomplished.
He survived Shiko’s execution of the royal families.
When he thought he’d lost his entire family, he didn’t break—he founded the Vienám .
He’s been undermining Shiko every day. If my father thinks I am the wrong son to have returned, then I am. ”
“No, you’re not,” Larissa grabbed his arm more tightly.
“Your father did break. Look at him, Darien. He’s not the same; he had to become someone different to survive, just like we did.
But this person he’s become can’t recognize how incredible you are.
Don’t you doubt yourself, Prince Darien of Safír. ”
As though drawn by an irresistible force, Darien closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her.
It had been days since their night watching the stars, but Larissa fell back into that moment as easily as if she had never left.
She wanted to tell Darien that he didn’t need to come with her, that he could stay with his father and serve his people, but she was terrified that if she said so, he would do it. And she wanted him to be with her.
“Thank you for coming with me,” was all she could say.
“Of course, but Larissa . . .”
Her heart sputtered at the way his voice trailed off. “Yes?”
“I’ll get you to the Norn safely, but if you have to stay there, if there’s another obstacle—” He struggled to find the words.
“My people need me like yours do. My father will march on Safír in a week. I have to be there. I have to be a part of it. If I really am going to rule one day, I could never look my people in the eyes if I hadn’t been a part of their liberation. ”
Larissa swallowed, understanding every word he said. Darien was hers, but only for a time. Then he would go. He would have to go.
She stepped back. “After the Norn explain the prophecy, I’ll go with you to Safír. I want to help you like you’ve always helped me. But if I can’t, if you have to leave, I understand.” She couldn’t distract him from his responsibilities.
No distractions. Her words came back like a slap in the face.
Darien nodded, more to himself than to her. “It all depends on the Norn, doesn’t it? Does it ever feel like they’re playing a game and we’re just the pieces?”
“More and more each day.”
Darien reached back, pulling up his large hood and shading his face. Larissa mirrored his movement. He tugged the right side, shielding her scar. “We should go. It’s probably been long enough.”
But Larissa moved to the desk in her room, rummaging through the drawers until she found a piece of paper and a pencil.
Quickly, she drafted the note leaving General Soren as acting Regent over Perle while she was gone.
At least this way, Torsten’s hold over Perle would be influenced by one of their own even in Larissa’s absence.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
As Larissa followed Darien down the halls that led to the servants’ stairs, memories assailed her in waves.
They’d done this before, she realized. Escaped hand in hand down the stairs, past the servants’ confused looks.
Only then, they’d been escaping lessons and lectures, off to find Anara and Aeron to lounge by the lake or stroll through the city. How time had changed everything.
The last set of stairs exited out the side of the palace.
They only had to cross the expansive grounds to reach the royal mews, stables that had been renovated over time to stall not horses but the royal vehicles.
In the third bay, Anara waited in the driver’s seat while Halla and Kai leaned out the sides of the truck bed.
Larissa could have laughed at the sight of the familiar rusted blue pickup.
As Anara turned the key, Helga greeted Larissa with a loud grumble. Larissa ran her hand along the passenger door’s peeling paint. She pulled herself up, scooting in next to Anara to make room for Darien. “How?”
Anara shifted Helga into gear. “Apparently the Vienám brought her to Perle; she was too old to be of use in the battle. Haki thought you might like to see her again; plus, no one would expect the Princess of Perle to be in this old contraption.”
“Don’t worry.” Larissa rubbed the dash, feeling Helga’s familiar vibration under her hand. “She’ll get us where we need to go.”