43. The Rift
The Rift
Kaiden
Kaiden splashed his face with water, shivering against the icy chill seeping into his skin.
Outside Randale’s blackened gates, the air was fresh and clean.
The morning light shone on small poppy flowers which pushed against the light snow beginning to fall around him.
Frustration settled into his very bones and he forced his teeth not to grind.
Aradia.
He had watched her interact with Varinis. He was handsome enough and it appeared Aradia also agreed. Kaiden rolled his eyes.
“Jealous,” he scoffed at the words Varinis had taunted him with.
Kaiden splashed the stream with a rock. It sank to the bottom with a quiet kerplunk!
To make matters worse, Kaiden realized Varinis had been right.
He was jealous. They had spent the remaining night planning, plotting, organizing and yet he hadn’t had a moment alone with Aradia.
She had wanted to talk but every time he looked at her the gloom of her future shrouded any happiness he felt in her presence.
Aradia spent most of her time huddled with Varinis, discussing gods-knows-what.
He bristled at anyone else bringing out the rare smile which dimpled both sides of her cheeks.
He himself had only been graced with being on the receiving end of those smiles a handful of times.
Every time it was like the sun chasing away the shadows surrounding him.
“There you are!” A warm voice said behind him. He didn’t have to turn to know who it belonged to. The hair on his arms rose with the beating of his heart. “We were looking for you.”
Kaiden turned to where Aradia approached.
She had opted out of her Gail greenery and donned a pair of Cahira’s leather pants.
It clung to her curves in all his favorite places, making him shift uncomfortably from the sudden tightening in the front of his pants.
Her white vest was a stark contrast to the warm umber of her skin.
Black curls, which were usually pulled back into a tight braid, hung freely around her face and down her back.
It softened her features, and framed the high cheekbones he had found himself often wanting to trace with his thumb.
“We?” he asked.
Aradia stopped in front of him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. A motion he noted she did quite frequently when in his presence.
“Well …” she said, glancing down. Two dimples appeared in her cheeks as she looked at him through thick lashes. “I was looking for you.”
Her smile soothed the cracks of his hardened heart, like a cleansing balm, filling him with a peace he had not known before her.
He reached out against his better judgment, twirling a soft curl around his finger and tracing her square jawline.
Aradia’s breath hitched at the contact and she stepped closer. She leaned against the palm of his hand. Her lips brushed his wrist at the movement and Kaiden desperately wanted to know what they would feel like against his own.
“You were rather quiet last night.” Her hazel gaze implored him.
He coughed, stepping back. “I’m fine.”
A chilly breeze hummed around them as the silence stretched a bit too long. He shifted his weight, begging the gods to give him something to say.
“Did you sleep well?” Her voice was hitched as if anxious.
“I did and you?”
“Yes, surprisingly well.”
Kaiden tried not to think about Varinis being any reason for why she slept so soundly.“ No visions then?” he asked instead.
“No.” she smiled. “Varinis certainly has a way of showing off. You should have seen the breakfast feast he gave us.”
His mood soured. “Good.”
She tried to hide her growing smile, but it only deepened her dimples. “Rest assured, Varinis is …” she sighed, “well, a lot.”
“I don’t think I can rest when it comes to Varinis in general,” Kaiden answered truthfully.
“You know” — she leaned forward with a mischievous wink — “we could just leave all this behind. Sail the Black Seas, maybe live in Rhydar’s country.”
“We?”
“Why of course. I’ll need you to fight the bad guys for me,” she teased.
Kaiden joined in her laughter, even if the idea was preposterous.
“Plenty of time to make a head start. But I can’t very well leave without my things, or food, and horses.”
Kaiden smiled. “It seems you’re stalling.”
Aradia laughed. “I suppose I am.”
“It’s better to travel with the inner circle and stick together.”
“I know,” she breathed with a small grimace.
They walked together until Randale’s gates came back into view.
“Have you ever thought what it would be like to leave it all?” Aradia’s voice was small, thoughtful.
He didn’t have the strength to laugh at her serious question.
“Did you forget who we are?” He wasn’t sure he was ready to have this conversation, not when he knew what the outcome would be.
“I’m serious.”
“Which is what’s concerning.” He stopped walking and faced her.
She tossed him a look that reminded him of their first encounter. “So, you’ve never thought about walking away from the Valencia legacy and simply … living?”
Definitely not a conversation he felt like engaging in but if she asked, he would deliver.
“Every day.” He sighed. “But I would never be able to walk away from who I am. I’m Kaiden Valencia, Crown Prince of Arkan.
And you” — he slipped an arm around her waist pulling her to him — “Aradia Damali, are our realm’s last hope.
” He lifted a hand under her chin, raising her head.
“They will come for us no matter where we go. Why run?”
Saying it out loud drenched him in the brutal truth of their future.
“We forge our own paths, Kaiden.” She shook her head.
“We’ve gotten the chance to change our realm for the better.
The first in centuries of bloodshed and monsters.
” Her hand lifted and he felt the softness against his stubbled cheek.
“No dark father, threats or prophecies of death. No gods, monsters or blood legacies. A true chance at peace in all six kingdoms.”
Kaiden smiled at the thought. “Sounds too good to be true.”
“It will be.” She pushed him playfully. “We’ll build it together.”
Kaiden’s thoughts drifted to his father and then to Aradia’s looming future. Today he would let her believe centuries of history could change in a few months.
“I’d like that.” He reached for her hands and placed a kiss on both palms. “Know that I will protect you with everything I have. I will fight for you — fight with you — for this future.” His gaze locked on hers and he watched her throat bob as she swallowed whatever emotions his declaration had stirred.
“Only days ago we laughed at the idea of you becoming a true member of our inner circle. Yet …”
Aradia remained quiet. She blinked rapidly as if begging him to continue.
When he witnessed her first vision and held her in his arms, the uncomfortable feeling began.
When he removed the armor around his heart and bared a piece of his soul within the confines of their room, and their shared bed, it only confirmed the truth.
When he read the inevitable gods-be-damned prophecy in the library, he knew it to be true.
Kaiden was falling in love with Aradia Damali and the thought of losing her broke him more than his father ever could.
Kaiden swallowed but pushed the words he had been itching to say out. “Yet, standing here now, you’re so much more than a member to me.”
Aradia’s smile was golden as if the magic inside her shimmered underneath her skin, giving her the ethereal appearance of a goddess. She cupped a hand against his cheek and drew closer until their foreheads touched.
Her words were a whisper against his lips. “I believe I’m beginning to feel the same way.”
Randale’s horn blared behind the gates, breaking their moment. Kaiden stepped back but returned her smile.
“We should head back.”
Aradia nodded.
The black gates were a few hundred paces away, but they remained covered in the privacy of the forest. Randale’s landscape was huge, dark, and old as the mountains beyond.
The forest canopy was contested by rowan, walnut, and linden, enough light filtered through their crowns for a hodgepodge of ferns to flourish in the moss-covered grounds below.
Coiling vines held onto every tree, and a cluster of flowers, which were scattered occasionally through the cold ground, added more life in the otherwise monotonous forest grounds.
A cacophony of chirps resonated through the air in harmony with the occasional sounds of large animals in the distance.
It was peaceful walking with her. There was no tension between them like Cahira and Fintan, or clear segregation in power and rank like his court matches.
Kaiden smiled at the thought. Perhaps he had finally found his equal.
Their surroundings began to shake with his thoughts, as if laughing alongside him.
He stopped. The hair on his arms raised.
“What's wrong?” Aradia’s smile slipped from her face.
The trees rustled and critters scampered to their homes in fear. Wind whipped around them, slicing and threatening to tear him away. It choked and forced its way into his eyes, nose, and mouth. It hurt to breathe, let alone walk.
He reached for Aradia and she squeezed his hand tightly.
Screams of terror and earth-shattering power erupted behind the gates, bringing him to his knees.
Aradia screamed as the ground cleaved in two underneath her feet. She wrapped her hands around her ears, tears streaming down her face.
His jaw clenched, making the vein in his forehead bulge.
“Hold on!” Kaiden reached for Aradia’s hand.
“What’s happening?” Aradia shouted in his ear.
“The Veil.” His heart beat with the toll of the bell within the city. “It’s being torn apart.”
“Ukoron?” Aradia gasped.
My father.