39. Nora
39
Nora
W ithin five minutes, I had changed back into my outfit and was out the door. My heart thrummed in my ears, loud enough to drown out my pounding footsteps against the ground. I bolted across the village without a care for being discreet.
I had to find Chol. We’d been apart for maybe fifteen minutes, and I hedged everything I had on the hope that he still wandered the streets to wherever he called home. I scaled to the top of the ledge, and didn’t waste a second as I sprinted across the field and up the slope of flattened grass he’d created. I immediately tore through the streets of Sunvale.
The only hint I had about him was his close proximity to the castle. He lived in either Sunvale, Waterview, or the inner village. Thousands of homes and a litany of streets, but I blocked out how daunting the task truly was, my lungs burning from exertion as my legs carried me rapidly in an unknown direction. A sweat broke over my skin, but I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t.
I desperately needed his help. We may have stopped that man from stealing weapons, but that was no indicator that they hadn’t successfully smuggled anyone tonight.
Backup, I needed backup from the one person who would draw his sword without question, because this time, when I caught any of them, my daggers would be painted with blood.
I raced past rows of homes that weren’t crumbling from time, following the main road and its incline. My head remained on a constant swivel, searching through the night for any evidence of movement. The town slept, as was expected, only the occasional shift in the breeze causing lush gardens to rustle against buildings.
“Chol!” I shouted into the desolate street, continuing to run. Panic took over, fearing what I would do if I couldn’t find him, if I was left to reel from this on my own. Sending every bit of energy I had into my legs, my stride didn’t falter. “Chol!” I cried out again. Each cry filled with more desperation. Nothing mattered besides finding him. Only he could help me find her. I would wake this whole gods damned town if it meant he would hear me.
“Ella?” A distant call.
I broke with relief, stumbling over myself, crashing to the ground on my knees. My eyes blurred with tears. “Chol!” I repeated, my fingernails digging into the dirt, unable to look up or control my ragged breathing. I choked on each breath, the awful reality becoming ever clearer.
“Ella, what’s going on? Are you hurt?!” Dull footsteps made their way to me until he crouched by my side, hand on my back.
Through the sheer terror coursing through me, I could barely manage to claw my hands up his arms, gripping onto him as if he had the power to save me. I gulped down another breath, warm tears spilling into my mask. “They took her.” By some miracle the words came out clearly.
“Took who?” His steady hands clasped my elbows, bracing me.
My body trembled. “My sister, Mel—” I cut off the rest of her name, trying to stop myself from exposing our family. “She-she didn’t make it home tonight. I let her go alone, and they took her. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.” I crashed into him, barreling into his chest as the sobs came out loud and unrefined.
He embraced me in a solid hold, and everything in me gave way. The truth coated my words like poison. I shouldn’t have let her go home alone, should have known it wasn’t worth the risk. Fuck, I would take her being mad at me for the rest of her life for chaperoning if it meant she would have been safe. How could I have been so reckless?
“We’ll find her,” he said, so sure of it.
I shook my head back and forth. “We have to, Chol, we have to.” Another wave of despair poured over me, his grip only tightening around me. More sobs fought their way out, amplified by the guilt I felt for taking time to cry instead of doing something. But what was there to do?
I didn’t know. I was drowning in iniquity and the inability to think clearly enough to form any sort of plan. Emotions beat down on me, pummeling me until all I could do was try to weather them.
“Do you trust me?” Chol asked after a moment.
I sank my fingers into his corded biceps, trying to grasp onto something sturdy. “What?”
“Do you trust me?”
I heard his words clearly this time and nodded. “Yes.” He was all I had left.
“Come with me.” He rose to his feet, bringing me with him. His hand found mine, and he led the way. We weaved through the streets of Sunvale until we crossed the boundary to Waterview. We raced through the night, as if trying to outrun time itself. Maybe fifteen more minutes passed until he brought me to a stop along the stone wall that bordered the castle grounds, not releasing my hand until we got there.
“I want you to wait here. I’ll be back.” He braced my arms, leaning down to stare pointedly into my eyes, ensuring I understood.
My tears had stopped during our rush through the cities, my attention zeroed in on the hidden routes and shadowed areas he led us through. “Okay,” I said, nodding almost absently, dreading the time I would be left alone with my thoughts and fears.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then bolted into the night. He disappeared around the natural bend in the wall, and I stood, wrapping my arms around myself. The cool, lonely howl of the wind, and the song of insects were my only company. I should have been nervous about being so close to the castle in my night gear. Instead, my thoughts snagged on a memory from earlier in the day.
Is there anything you need from me , the prince had said. My gaze snapped to the highest point at the wall. Surely the prince would help if I went to him. Begged him. And I would. To get my sister back safely, I would do whatever it took.
I didn’t know where Chol had gone to, what his plan was. Could he even do anything? I contemplated my options. I could, right now, tell the guards at the entrance—no, demand that I speak with the prince immediately . With the support from the prince and his resources, he could probably find Melody before sunrise. He could rally his guardsmen to…
I stepped to bring myself to the front gate, but paused. Chol’s sources had been from the guards, but they’d proven to be untrustworthy. I couldn’t know which guard had access to the armory, which among them would gladly silence a lone woman who knew too much.
I questioned why I’d wasted time coming this far. What if the ship was docked at the port and she was on it? What if Melody simply went to someone’s house for the night? I fell against the stone wall, digging my fingers into my head.
If the ship was there, it would have a crew running it. I’d be outnumbered and overpowered. Without magic, they might simply kill me and toss me into the waters. Then Melody would be completely on her own.
And she wouldn’t have stayed at someone’s house without letting Kenzie know. She wouldn’t let her worry like that. She was too kind. My lip trembled as heat surged behind my eyes.
My heart stuttered in my chest when a horrendous thought sprung to mind. What if they killed her? What if this was her last night in this world? That thought alone made my knees buckle, and I dropped to the ground. If that were the case, I would gladly throw myself at the corrupt guards in hopes that they’d bring me to her, so that she wouldn’t be alone. So that we would go together.
I rested my hand over my stomach. Tears fell to the ground. She didn’t deserve this. She was too good, too pure. I had been a wretch of a sister, treating her like some brainless doll on a shelf. But she was strong, and she’d been discovering her magic. She had too much to give the world. Her light couldn’t be snuffed, it just couldn’t.
Where the hell was Chol?! I leaned back, resting my head against the rough rock, staring up into the starry sky. “Please, protect my sister. She has too much to offer this world. Don’t let this be her end. Take me instead. Please.” My cheeks became wet, and my lip developed an inconsolable tremor. I didn’t even believe in the gods. After the loss of my mother, I determined they couldn’t exist. Better to acknowledge their lack of existence than a world in which they looked down upon us and simply didn’t care.
But I would beg, barter, and bargain with any person or deity. “Please don’t do this to her.” With my hands clasped in my lap, I bowed, bending until my forehead kissed the ground. “Please,” I repeated in a whisper.
Not a shift in the breeze. No sign that any being heard my cries, or cared. I wanted to curl up on my side and die. To admit defeat that the world had done its job, leaving me thoroughly destroyed.
When I heard the clip clop of hooves, I knew where Chol had gone. He appeared with two horses, reins in hand, guiding them through the grass.
“We’re going north,” he said.