13. A Sword?
A Sword?
Darien
D arien’s feet protested every step.
Nearly a day had passed since he’d left Aagen’s farm.
He knew the farmlands were well spaced out—after all, unofficial contact between the farms was not encouraged—but he hadn’t realized how long his search might take.
He’d only passed two other farms so far, and neither of the farmers had daughters.
They’d each looked at him strangely when he asked, no doubt believing that Darien worked for the Empress.
Just as he left the second farm, an armored sentry truck had made its way up the drive.
Darien only hoped the farmer would not mention him or his strange questions.
Now the sun was setting again as Darien debated whether to keep walking through the short summer night.
His body cried for rest, but his mind replayed his conversation with Aagen.
He’d always known that Aagen was not his biological father, but to have only spent one year with him was a blow.
The further he walked, the more the truth of Aagen’s words grew in the pit of Darien’s stomach.
His childhood memories on the orchard had taken on a blurry and distorted quality.
Was this because Aagen had told him the truth, or because of what the shifter had done to him?
If he’d stayed, Anara might have been able to answer that question, but would she have allowed him to find Larissa and Halla? His visions had been unclear, but he’d seen the sisters. Fragments of them, but still. If he found them, maybe they would fill the empty gaps in his memories.
“I’m sure we’ll find them,” said a reassuring voice.
Darien glanced to his side half-heartedly, already knowing who walked beside him.
Maybe finding Larissa and Halla would stop the hallucinations.
Until then, they persisted in the form of the black-haired boy from before.
As they walked side-by-side through the trees, Darien felt every type of fool for not recognizing his own face at the start.
He could have blamed it on the age difference or the fact that he so rarely had the time to stare at his own reflection, but the truth was he’d simply rejected it out of disbelief.
His younger self walked straight through trees as if they were incorporeal as he.
Darien envied the boy’s feet, certain they did not hurt as his own did.
This particular hallucination had come and gone so frequently during the day that Darien no longer questioned his existence, but merely acknowledged his return.
In a way, he was grateful for the company. “Thanks, Mini-me.”
The boy pointed to his chest. “My name is Darien.”
“No, my name is Darien. You can be Mini-me, or you can go.”
Mini-Darien pouted, kicking a rock—or at least attempting to—as his foot passed through it. “Why are we trying to find these girls anyway?”
Darien hefted himself over a fallen tree. “I’ve been seeing things—”
“Sounds like a personal problem.”
Darien paused at the boy’s snicker and raised his eyebrow.
Mini-Darien averted his eyes, but the smile remained.
Wondering if he’d always been this obnoxious, Darien shook his head and continued.
“I don’t know if they’re memories or visions from the gods, but I saw these sisters.
I can’t push away the feeling that I need to find them.
It’s like a stomachache that won’t go away. ”
Mini-Darien nodded, his young eyes serious. “That’s how I feel around the Princess. It’s like there’s a bunch of flying things in my stomach trying to get out.”
Darien chuckled. “Are you telling me that you have a crush on some princess?”
“I don’t have a crush,” he protested, pink splotches rising on his cheeks.
“Sure, kid, and I’m not losing my mind.”
Darien paused as the boy’s words registered.
In his vision, the other boy, Aeron, claimed to be a crown prince.
Now this mention of a princess, but the monarchy had been wiped out decades ago.
The Empress had seen to that. There was no timeline in which his mini-self should have interacted with any of the royal families.
“Earlier today, you and your friend Aeron—”
“Brother.”
Darien stopped. “Brother?”
Mini-Darien mirrored Darien’s pause but raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I told you he was my best friend.”
“You didn’t say he was your brother.”
“ Our brother, actually. I can’t believe you forgot him.”
“Ouch, kid.” Darien drew his hand up to his chest in feigned hurt, though it wasn’t entirely an act. He had a brother? The thought stopped him in his tracks.
The image of a smiling boy with dirty blond hair teased the edges of his mind.
Some memory was settling into place, but when Darien reached for it, it shattered.
Darien huffed as frustration built inside of him.
With every answer he unlocked, more questions arose.
If he had a brother, what had happened to him?
Panic flared in his stomach as he feared the answer to that question, but it was soon replaced by guilt. What kind of brother was Darien that he could have forgotten Aeron so easily? And worse, to still not remember him?
Mini-Darien rocked on his heels. “Weren’t we looking for those girls?”
Darien shook his head, shoving down the emotions. His feelings would have to wait, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep seeking answers. His feet continued down the trail. “You said you and your—our—brother were supposed to meet someone? Aeron thought it was the Princess of Perle, right?”
“Right.”
“But that can’t be right. There hasn’t been royalty since the Empress killed off the old monarchs. That was fifty years ago. How is it possible that Aeron was a Crown Prince or that you—we—would know a princess?”
The boy bounced on his toes, crossing his arms. “I don’t remember.”
“How can you not remember?” Darien demanded, rounding on the boy.
“You don’t remember either!”
Darien ran a hand through his already tousled hair. Was it possible that these hallucinations, these memories, could only reveal what he consciously remembered? Not particularly helpful.
A crackle of leaves caught Darien’s ear.
He felt eyes watching him. He moved in a slow circle, but no one else was around except for his hallucination.
A bird crowed twice; Darien looked up to find a raven perched nearby, its body leaning in his direction.
It stared at him through one beady eye. Darien shifted on his feet and considered picking up a rock to toss at the bird.
The raven’s wing snapped out as it took flight, circling once in the air before barreling straight at him.
Darien threw up his arms to protect his eyes, but instead of sharp talons, he felt a thump on the ground in front of him reverberate through the soles of his feet.
Lowering his arms, he found himself face-to-face with Anara, who brushed black strands of hair back from her face.
“Darien, it is you,” she said. “Thank the AEsir .”
“Woah,” mini-Darien whispered. “How did she do that?”
Darien side-eyed him. “I was wondering the same thing.”
Anara blinked once. “Who are you talking to?”
“Myself, of course.” He pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “ You did this to me, you know? I was mostly sane before you came along.”
If Anara felt any remorse, she didn’t show it. “We don’t have time for this. Larissa and Halla are in danger.”
“How do you know about Larissa and Halla?”
“The same way I know you. If you want answers, you’ll follow me right now.” She captured his wrist in her long-fingered hands.
Darien flinched, expecting the shock, the paralysis, and the onslaught of confusing memories.
Instead, he was pulled forward, surprised by the strength in Anara’s grasp.
A quick glance to his side showed his hallucination had vanished.
Then they were running. The bag on Darien’s back jostled against his shoulder blades, and his feet cried out, but he couldn’t resist the firm pull on his wrist.
“I don’t know how much you’ve remembered, but there must be something there if you’ve come all this way.
Something drew you to Larissa and Halla, right?
Dreams?” Anara panted through her words, ignoring the sharp look Darien cast her way.
“I’ve been watching them for days. I spoke with Larissa tonight.
She’s even more reluctant than you to remember.
I was going to go after her, but an overwhelming sense of foreboding stopped me cold.
It was as though the Norn had severed my string.
Then I smelled you. If my premonition is correct, I won’t be able to save her on my own. ”
“You smelled me?” Darien asked incredulously, huffing as he was pulled along after Anara, who seemed to have boundless reserves of energy. “I realize I’ve been traveling all day.”
“Don’t be a hálfviti, Darien. Stop here for a moment.”
They burst into a small rock-filled clearing.
Darien nearly snapped back that he was not an idiot, but his mouth hung open at the sight of Anara withdrawing a long object encased in leather.
The next moment, she stripped the duffle bag from his back and thrust the object into his hands.
“I have a bad feeling you’re going to need this.
Pull it over your shoulder and strap it around your waist.”
Darien eyed it. “Is that a sword?”
“What else would it be?”
“Why would it be a sword?” he shot back.
“Darien, something is going to happen if it hasn’t happened already; I can feel it. You can feel it. Just put this on.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a gun somewhere in those rocks instead?”
Unamused, Anara pressed her lips together. “This is your sword, Darien, the sword of your ancestors.”
Ancestral Blood, royal blood, and his hallucinations sent a cold wave washing down his spine. He knew that if Aeron had been a prince and his brother, it meant that Darien was…no. He would deal with that later. “Fine, hand it to me.”