Chapter 123
I woke to warmth, damp cheeks, and a very unhappy back.
I groaned softly and shifted, wincing as a sharp ache travelled through my lower back.
"Owww. My back."
What on earth had I done?
I tried to sit up, rubbing the sore spot with one hand, and only then realized something was very wrong with my sleeping arrangements.
My head had been resting on something warm.
I slowly looked down.
Rhaevan.
I was curled against him, my head resting in the crook of his arm while his other arm lay loosely around me. At some point during the night, I had apparently decided that the High Arcanist made an excellent pillow.
Then I noticed the damp patch on his sleeve.
I stared at it.
Oh, no.
I had drooled on him.
I immediately began rubbing the sleeve, hoping I could erase the evidence before he woke up.
Unfortunately, that was exactly when Rhaevan stirred.
His eyes opened slowly, and he looked at me.
Then at my hand. Then at his sleeve.
"What are you doing?", he asked bewildered.
I stopped rubbing.
My mind went completely blank, refusing to come up with an excuse.
"I was checking your sleeve."
He blinked. "For what?"
I glanced at the damp patch.
"Quality control."
He stared at me for a moment.
I stared back.
His gaze dropped to his sleeve again before returning to me, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and the quiet realization that I was probably not going to give him a sensible answer.
He shook his head slightly.
"Come on."
He released his arm and pushed himself to his feet, then extended a hand toward me.
I stared at it for a moment before taking it.
"Where are we going?"
"To get you some food."
I blinked.
"How do you know I'm hungry?"
He gave me a mildly amused look.
"Cassiane, you always wake up hungry."
My stomach chose that exact moment to growl.
I closed my eyes.
Betrayed by my own body again.
Rhaevan's mouth twitched.
"Apparently, I'm right."
"Don't look so pleased with yourself."
We walked out of the cavern and into the forest, following the narrow path between the trees.
"We still have a clue to find," I reminded him as we continued walking.
"We'll come back after the meal."
I looked at him, unable to resist the opportunity. "That must be the cleverest thing you've ever told me."
He turned around, placed one hand over his chest, and gave me an exaggerated little bow while continuing to walk backward. "I'm honoured, my lady."
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't stop the small smile tugging at my lips.
He turned back around just as we reached a clearing where he could teleport us safely. He stopped and extended his arm toward me. I stepped forward, preparing to take it, when a sudden breeze swept through the clearing.
It brushed across my face, lifted my hair from my shoulders, and passed over my ear.
I stopped.
For the briefest moment, I thought I had heard something. A whisper.
I turned my head, but there was nothing. Rhaevan was still standing there with his arm extended toward me, watching as I remained frozen in place. His expression shifted from mild confusion to concern when he noticed that I had not moved.
I touched the spot beside my ear where the breeze had passed.
"I... the wind."
His brows drew together slightly, his eyes searching my face.
"What about it?"
"I thought I heard something."
I glanced around the clearing again. There was nothing unusual. Only the trees shifting gently in the breeze. I let out a slow breath, trying to dismiss the strange feeling settling over me.
"I must have imagined it."
I was about to step forward when another gust swept through the clearing.
This time, it was stronger.
The trees rustled violently, their branches shifting against one another as the wind rushed through them. And then I heard them.
Whispers.
Dozens of them.
They came from everywhere at once, layered over one another until I couldn't make sense of a single word. The sound rushed through my ears so suddenly that I clapped both hands over them.
"Stop!"
Rhaevan immediately moved toward me. His expression tightened as he reached me, clearly unable to understand what had caused such a reaction.
The whispers grew louder.
Names.
I could hear names.
So many of them.
Some were clear for only a heartbeat before being swallowed by the others. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to separate one voice from the countless others crowding my mind.
"Did you hear that?"
The wind finally died down, and the clearing fell silent again. I lowered my hands and opened my eyes.
Rhaevan was crouched in front of me, his face drawn with concern as he studied me.
"Hear what?"
"The whispers."
Confusion crossed his face. He glanced around the clearing before looking back at me, as though searching for whatever I had heard.
"I didn't hear anything."
I stared at him, still struggling to steady my breathing. The disbelief on his face only made the experience feel stranger.
"How could you not hear that?"
"There was wind."
"No. There were voices."
His expression remained troubled as his eyes searched mine.
"Are you alright?"
I didn't answer.
Something had changed.
I could feel it.
A faint pulse of magic was coming from the satchel hanging at my side. My attention shifted toward it, and I slowly reached inside. My fingers closed around the Star Compass.
The moment I pulled it out, the runes across its surface began to glow.
I stared at it, then at Rhaevan.
The realization came so suddenly that I almost forgot to breathe.
The wind.
The whispers.
The compass.
I looked toward the forest behind us, my grip tightening around the compass.
"Rhaevan..."
He rose slowly, still watching me with a mixture of concern and confusion.
"What?"
I looked back at him.
"I think I know where the third clue is."