18. Rejection
Rejection
Larissa
L arissa jerked back, shaking off Darien’s hand and ignoring the hurt that flashed in his eyes. “I’m not the Princess.”
Darien swayed with the truck bed as Helga bounced out of a particularly large pothole.
Larissa scooted away, suddenly desperate to put space between them.
The new look in Darien’s eyes was too intense, too focused.
He’d seen something, that much was true.
What was worse, the voice inside of Larissa told her to listen.
“I don’t know what’s happened since, how we got here, or why we lost our memories, but it’s true. Fifty years ago, before the Empress took over, I was a Prince of the Safír kingdom. That’s how we met.”
“You’re a Prince?” Skepticism laced her question.
“Yes.”
“I’m a Princess?”
“Yes.”
“From fifty years ago?”
Darien caught her tone that time. “Lovisa, I’m telling the truth.”
“That’s not my name,” she shot back. Standing on wobbling feet, she pounded her fist against the metal top of the truck cab. Larissa didn’t know why, but the name twisted her guts as guilt settled in her intestines.
Tires squealed. The truck stuttered to a halt, flinging Larissa back, landing her in Darien’s lap.
Heat flushed to her face as they attempted to untangle their limbs; Darien’s murmured apologies caressed her ears.
They had only just detached when the back tailgate opened, revealing Anara and Halla standing side by side.
Anara raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
“It’s not exactly a smooth ride back here,” Larissa retorted, scooting further from Darien’s lap.
Anara hopped into the truck bed, hoisting Halla up after her, then placed a hand on her hip. She turned her sharp eyes back to Larissa. “Why’d you want me to stop?”
“Darien’s lost his mind.”
Anara turned questioning eyes toward Darien, but he was already staring at her. His mouth had dropped as his eyes re-focused. Recognition dawned; he leapt to his feet, throwing his arms around Anara with a smile so wide it stretched across his face. Larissa’s breath caught at the sight.
“Guess I owe you my thanks after all,” Darien said.
Confusion vanished from Anara’s face, and Larissa tasted jealousy on her tongue from the look of understanding they shared. “Darien! You remember me?”
“Mostly.” He held a hand to his temple. “I’m still trying to piece it together, but I do. I remember you, Anara. How did this happen?”
“I only know bits and pieces myself. I tried to wake you.”
“In the woods.” Darien nodded. “That shock when you touched my face. I started to remember things after that, but they came slowly.”
Anara’s mouth twitched at the corner. “Tell me about it. I thought it would be instant, that you would just remember. I’ve searched for you both for years.”
Darien’s grin turned sheepish. “It’s a good thing I’m worth the wait.”
Anara rolled her eyes, though she playfully landed a fist against Darien’s shoulder, but Larissa’s mind was stuck on two words.
You both , Anara had said. Larissa clenched her hands at her side to stop them from shaking. “What on Evrópa are you talking about?”
The smile fell from Anara’s face. “You still don’t remember, do you?”
“What doesn’t she remember?” Halla asked, sitting next to her sister’s feet.
“There’s nothing to remember.” Larissa could hear the panic in her own voice. What they were saying wasn’t true; it couldn’t be. She had no blank spots in her memory like Darien. She was the daughter of Dal and Vern, sister to Halla.
But a voice in her mind, the same voice as before, spoke. Be still and listen .
Pressure on her fingers brought Larissa back into the moment as she found Halla’s hands gripping her own. If she was the Princess, it would mean that her parents had not been her parents. It would mean that Halla was not her sister.
Larissa could not stand the three faces staring at her, expecting something from her. She rose to her feet. Thoughts of escape were dashed by the clinking sound of the pearl ring rolling across the bed of the truck. Anara snatched it up before it could disappear behind the boxes.
“Larissa, where did you get this?” Anara spoke slowly, examining the ring.
“Why?”
Halla gasped. “That was Mamma’s!”
Larissa shook her head. “I’ve never seen it before today. Why do you keep looking at it like that, Anara?”
Anara rubbed one finger over the surface of the pearl, then held the ring out to Larissa. “This is no ordinary gem. Look at it, closely.”
Go on , the voice whispered.
Reluctantly, Larissa leaned in, noting the slight imperfection in the pearl itself. “It’s scratched, so what?”
Anara shook her head. “Not scratched, etched. It’s a rune.”
The minuscule lines formed an elongated X enclosed by vertical lines. Larissa found herself unable to look away, her eyes transfixed by the rune. In the pearl’s reflection, she thought she could see a pair of green eyes.
She shook her head, forcing herself to look away. “Why does it matter?”
“In Pappa’s stories, stones and runes have magic,” Halla answered. “Remember, Lara?”
“ Galdr ,” Anara corrected, “but otherwise, you’re right.”
Darien peeked over Anara’s shoulder, “I wouldn’t exactly call a pearl a stone.”
“The translations have been garbled over the years,” Anara explained.
“People found it more pleasing to say ‘stones and runes’ when, in fact, the original word simply meant ’gems.’ Those of Ancestral Blood could access their galdr without the use of these gems, of course, but gems made them more powerful.
Each of the royal families and even their aristocrats had specific gems and runes associated with their bloodline.
This is the Dagaz rune. It is a rune of awakening and awareness. This is the rune of Perle.”
Anara held out the ring once more to Larissa. A ruby pendant flickered out from beneath her clothing as she leaned forward. Larissa kept her arms crossed pointedly against her chest. “Why would Mamma have this? We’ve lived in Safír all our lives, just like our ancestors.”
“She kept it for you.”
Larissa’s head swung back toward Halla. “What?”
Halla’s eyes had changed. An agelessness shone through their green brilliance. It was more than just the trauma of what she had gone through, but before Larissa could comment, Halla blinked. Her eyes looked as they always had. Had Larissa imagined it?
Halla plucked the ring from Anara’s hand. “Mamma’s story about the goddess who visited our farm. She told it to me.”
“No, she didn’t,” Larissa argued, but Halla wasn’t focused on her. Her eyes looked inward at some memory Larissa couldn’t see.
“It was before you came to us,” Halla whispered, almost trancelike as she stared at the ring.
“Mamma said the goddess made her promise to hide someone, and she gave us the ring to give to that person. Mamma told me that she’d been waiting her whole life, but the goddess never returned, so I would carry on her promise when I got older.
That night I prayed to the AEsir for a sister to help me when the time came. The next morning, you were there.”
Larissa felt Darien’s eyes on her. Anara could only stare at Halla, as though her words were unlocking some secret in Anara’s mind.
Halla paused, her voice colored in confusion. “But Lara, that doesn’t make sense. You’ve always been with me. Haven’t you?”
Larissa snatched the ring out of Halla’s hands, shoving it deep into her pocket. If only she could dispose of these questions as easily. “Always, Halla. You’re remembering wrong.”
“It’s possible you’re both remembering what someone wants you to remember, just like me and Aagen.
” Darien’s voice quickened. “My father said he lived with two memories, so maybe Halla has too and just didn’t remember them before.
Think about it. I was the Prince of Safír, and I was hidden with Aagen.
You’re the Princess of Perle, and you were hidden with Halla. ”
Halla’s eyes widened. “You’re the Perle Princess, Lara?”
“No, I’m not,” Larissa snapped.
Anara laid a hand on Darien’s forearm. “Give her time. Draugr don’t act on their own; we’re most likely being followed already. We need to find somewhere safe, and the roadside won’t cut it.”
Panic flared inside Larissa. “Where can we go? Why should we even travel with you? You’re a shifter from Rubin. You belong to the same family of the monsters that killed my parents. How do we know you’re not taking us straight to the Empress?”
“How about because I nearly died saving your life, and to do so I had to attack my own kind?” Anara spoke through gritted canine teeth, her slitted eyes glowing yellow.
With visible restraint, Anara shook off the transformations.
“I nearly died protecting you, and I would do it again. Besides, if I were a draugr , I would’ve lost hold of my human shape by now.
You’re going to have to trust me. For Halla’s sake, at least.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“To Perle.”
Larissa’s stomach dropped. “I’m not the Princess, Anara.”
“We aren’t going there because of you. I’d rather stay away from Perle as a whole; Shiko’s sentries are everywhere there, but I have contacts with people inside the Walls who can show us the way to the Vienám.”
“Vienám?” three voices asked in unison.
“The resistance group against Shiko. They’ll protect you.”
Larissa huffed. “If I agree that I’m this Princess?”
“They’ll protect you even if you say that you’re not. They’ll protect Halla, too.”
It was exactly the right thing to say, and Larissa knew that Anara knew it. “Fine.”
Larissa dropped back to the bed of the truck, pulling Halla down beside her and making it clear that she would ride with her sister from here on out. Darien could ride in the cab with Anara. She did not miss the look of hurt that crossed both their faces, but she chose to ignore it.