43. Nora
43
Nora
M y body ached, but I remained tense because it was impossible to relax. The camp sang with people performing various activities, often tossing glances my way. This outfit provided me camouflage in the night, but during the day it had the opposite effect. I wondered if I’d draw less attention by revealing my face.
The man who’d made us forfeit our weapons on the trail hovered around the tent, and I guess finally reached a level of boredom or curiosity enough to walk over to me. “Do you wield?” he asked.
“Do you?” I replied with snark.
He chuckled, apparently not easily ruffled. His hand contorted, and a summoned wind swept around me like a boa constrictor before he let it fall to his side and the world returned to calm.
“I guess that answers that question.” I tried to keep my astonishment contained.
“Were you born and raised in Highcrest?”
“I was.”
He threw out a passing look of judgment before it was gone. “Do you think magic is dangerous?” He was assessing me, no doubt likely to report it to his leader.
Luckily, the truth was on my side. “Magic isn’t dangerous, it’s the people who wield it that can be.”
A momentary stare down, ending with an approving dip of his chin. His dark hair was pulled back into a stubby ponytail, the shorter hairs falling over the back of his neck. The chestnut brown of his skin stood out brightly against the washed-out navy clothes he adorned.
From what I’d gleaned since he’d escorted us into camp, he downplayed his fighting skills. I’d noticed it from how he’d refused to let Nicholas or me out of his line of sight, and the way he kept his stance planted as if ready to square up within a split second. All while avoiding any hint that he would retrieve the sword sheathed at his side. Judging from his sculpted muscles and proper posture, he appeared as sufficiently trained as Chol—Nick.
“You from Windguard?” I asked.
He paced the firepit, body angled toward me even though his face scanned the perimeter, still not risking unguarded exposure by giving me his back. “I am,” he mimicked my response, just as I’d mimicked his stunted questions.
“Were you a soldier there?”
He paused, glancing over at me, furrowing his brow. “What makes you say that?”
I shrugged, the small act exhausting after that tortuous journey. Just then, Chol—Nicholas emerged from the tent. I straightened against the agony in my back and shoulders, searching his eyes for any indication of how the meeting went. Behind him, the man who I assumed was Radhak followed, clasping a hand on Nicholas’s shoulder. My heart picked up its pace.
“Ravinder, fetch Ro and tell her she’s to set up a tent for our visitors,” Radhak said.
My chatty companion nodded and stalked away without another word, and I glanced between the two men. They looked alarmingly alike. I’d bet money they were siblings. Radhak possessed more jagged features, a little bit of gray peppering his dark hair. The elder sibling, higher in the hierarchy.
Nicholas fixed his gaze upon me, silently questioning my well-being. It flared my anger, if only because I hated how I enjoyed that he still cared. He turned toward Radhak, extending his hand. They clasped in a powerful shake, one exchanged between two leaders. I didn’t dare assume everything had gone according to plan, though it looked that way. If I did, I would be crushed when I found out it didn’t. Still, the nervous energy made me wiggle my toes in my boots.
“Rest. We’ll make sure to summon you both for dinner,” Radhak said, offering me a welcoming smile and a nod before dipping back inside his tent.
Nicholas slowly approached, treating me like a skittish deer.
“Well?!” The question burst from me.
His eyes scoped our surroundings as he replied, “He’ll lend a crew of his men tonight.”
I sighed so deeply my lungs nearly caved in. Like my curiosity had been the last thing to hold me up, my knees gave out. Chol moved before I could blink, his sturdy arms catching me. A heartbeat later, he swept me into a cradled position against him. I couldn’t even consider protesting, because my muscles and very bones groaned with relief from not having to support myself.
“Is she alright?” Glancing over my shoulder, a blonde woman, hair and skin dusted with age, wiped her hands across her flour-laden apron. “Does she need something to eat?”
“N-”
“Yes,” Nicholas said. “Whatever you have, I’ll pay for your kindness.”
Fine. He could use his royal coin. My stomach ached too much to resist. Nicholas had offered more apples during our trip here, but after losing the last one, I’d held no interest. Plus, ignoring his attempts to bridge the chasm that’d split between us kept me full of enough anger to battle against the weariness that’d wracked my body. But now, I was feeling desperate.
The woman scoffed, waving off his offer as if it had been an insult. “Psh, no need for all that. We help our own here.” She moved to her cooking station a couple tents away, pulling a freshly baked loaf from a hanging basket, the steam wafting into the air in tantalizing curls. She dipped behind a tent for just a moment before returning with something else wrapped in cloth. I could have moaned in delight when I saw her unwrap it to reveal a hunk of cheese. “Take these. If you need anything else, my name is Alba.”
“Alba, you are a gift,” I breathed out, taking the offering in my hand before balancing them on my body, my arms too sore and now shaky to hold them. The prince’s hard chest kept me together, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. Alba silently departed and another girl, young, perhaps a few years younger than me, stalked over with Ravinder at her side.
“You must be the newcomers,” the fair-skinned woman with freckles dusted over her nose said, her burnt auburn hair shimmering like embers in the sunlight. She had a bow and quiver with arrows strapped to her back. Maybe one of their hunters.
A rush of shame washed over me, my cheeks heating. I must have looked pathetic, draped in the arms of a strong man in front of this huntress. She’d never know I was capable and skilled, not looking like a weakling like this.
“Come, I’ll show you to your quarters.” She waved, turning on her heel for us to follow, clearly not interested in introductions.
“Play nice, Ro,” Ravinder dragged out his warning.
The young woman bounced on her feet, whipping to face him with a scandalous smile, her straight hair swishing past her shoulders. “Don’t I always?”
Ravinder glanced skyward, as if asking the heavens for patience, but gave Nicholas a reassuring nod to follow. She took us through the camp.
Eventually, Ro stopped at a tent that rested on the outskirts, the canvas darkened and dingy from age and weather. “Here we are,” she said on an exhale, resting her hands on her hips. “I’ve been told to fetch you once dinner is ready. Until then.” She saluted us with two of her fingers and swaggered away.
Nicholas ducked to enter the tent. A water basin sat at the side, and two single cots on either end of the small space. He stepped close, gently lowering me on my bed.
“You plan on sharing any of that?” His voice was low, teasing, an attempt to facilitate friendly conversation.
I tore half the loaf, knowing I wouldn’t be able to eat the entire thing anyway, and tossed it, sending it bouncing on his bed. He took the hint and laid himself down, picking at the fluffy loaf. I combined chunks of cheese and bread together, holding in my moans of delight. Once I’d nearly consumed it all, I stopped mid-chew and extended the last of the cheese across the aisle between us. He took it, but didn’t let his stare linger.
“Thanks,” he said, sounding defeated. My chest cracked open a little.
“I need to get my sister back,” I said, hardly loud enough to be heard.
“I know,” he said softly.
With that, I turned over on my side, despite the soreness in my muscles, and closed my eyes.
Nicholas stood before me on the grassy knoll on a summer’s day. The wind ruffled his exquisite golden hair that glowed in the midday light. Seeing him erased all my burdens, and I ran to him. My bare feet dented the plush green grass, and my clean summer dress billowed in the breeze. The smile on my face would have rivaled the brightness of the sun. I continued running, step after step, never seeming to make it any closer. I thought he’d been smiling. I’d been able to see the joy in his eyes even if his lips remained straight.
Then clouds formed, crowding out the light. Shadows fell off the planes of his face, his expression unchanging. Any joy drained from him, and instead, those sparkling blue eyes looked at me with anger and disdain. I halted, a streak of lightning flashing across the deepening purple and gray skies.
Thunder cracked so loudly it shook my bones, and in an instant he was on me. That familiar tree pressed against my back, only this time, he pinned me there with no affection.
“I’ll show you what happens when you cross me,” he snarled.
Another bolt of lightning, and suddenly Alejo, Gregory, Dee, and the others from that meeting hung from the executioner’s rope in the distance.
True terror like I’d never known consumed me. He’d discovered I’d been willing to help them, to remove him from the throne by assassination. My eyes snapped back to him, and he was now fully cloaked in his night gear. My heart cried. “Chol, no. I wouldn’t do that to you. I love you!” A rumbling rain swept over the land, howling wind blocking out my pleas, my confession.
Guards appeared on either side, hauling me to the platform in Waterview’s square. The cherub-faced counselor read from a scroll. It took a moment to hear what he read, but then I recognized it. Obsequies. The hollowed faces in the crowd stared at me with malice, and I spotted Melody and Kenzie among them.
I called out, begging for help, to speak up on my behalf, but they remained silent. The rains continued down, and the guards forced me to my knees. I hit the wooden boards with a thunk, and I looked up to see the sharp edge of an axe hovering—
“Nora.”
I sat upright with a gasp, the air chilling against my slick skin. Nicholas quickly adjusted, leaning beside the cot. “You’re alright, it was just a nightmare.”
My lungs worked to catch the air they desperately needed, and it took me a moment to recognize my surroundings. We weren’t in South Harbor, or even technically Highcrest. We were among dissenters from Windguard, in hopes of finding my sister.
Remembering didn’t calm my racing nerves. His warm hand caressed my back, but I winced at the touch. Moments ago, his face, full of fury and resentment, stared at me and sentenced me to death.
He recoiled immediately.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I went to check on dinner. It’s nearly ready,” he spoke tenderly, the words a healing balm to my still receding terror. I swiped at the back of my neck, the skin damp and warm.
“Here.” He moved to the water basin in the corner of our tent, filling a glass and returning to me. I took it and gulped it down.
Releasing a heavy breath, I said, “Thank you.”
He didn’t reply, merely nodded and sat on the edge of his cot.
That dream—nightmare—had shaken me. It was partially the reason I never wanted to see him again after this, because of what would happen if someone recognized me and told him what I’d done.
I hadn’t had a chance to attend another one of those meetings, only leaving Alejo a note regarding what I’d learned from the ball, but mentioned that I wanted to discuss our approach.
Even before learning Chol’s true identity, I’d wanted to change their minds.
But leaving a note like that had been foolish. A paper trail? In connection with a group seeking to murder the prince? It’s not like I’d signed my name, but if that staff girl from the castle was ever questioned about sharing details with any of the guests, paired with being spotted alone with the prince in the garden, and put in the spotlight on that dance floor…
That prince in my dream wasn’t real. I shook the soul-splitting image from my head. The man in this tent with me, offering me a glass of water, taking me across the kingdom to save my sister, that’s who he was. The thought of that made me all the more hungry to receive his kindness, to banish who he’d been in that nightmare.
“What’s for dinner?” I lifted my gentle gaze to his as I asked.
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped in between his spread legs. At my question, he seemed to brighten, lifting himself up slightly. “Uh, meat and potatoes, it looks like.” He answered with surprise. Surprise that I’d spoken to him at all, let alone looked at him.
I realized neither of us wore our hoods or masks. In this tent, I sat with Nicholas, and he saw me. Knew the desires of my heart, had tasted my passion, witnessed my fear.
Things had grown so complicated with this beautiful man, and an ache spread in my chest as I began to mourn the things we would never be to each other.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, his deep voice like a sensual caress, sending shivers down my spine.
“Um.” I took a moment to take stock of myself. Doubting if I should say it out loud, admit to it, I said it anyway, “I’m scared.” I knew he’d meant about my physical state, but my fear caused me more anxiety than weary muscles ever would.
He sighed heavily through his nose. “Nora, I’m sorry. For all of this. I never wanted—” he rubbed his hands together before dragging one down the length of his face. “I never wanted any of this. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to do anything sooner, that I didn’t put an end to the kidnappings, that your sister…” His head fell, hanging low between his shoulder blades. “It may not mean much, but I want you to know I tried, Nora. I’m trying.”
It became difficult to swallow. I played through our interactions, filtering them through the lens of his princely position. He’d learned he couldn’t trust some of his guards. The anger he let slip in the garden while staring at the castle, that he wasn’t always solely in charge. For all the anger and excuses I could throw at him, reiterating his power and influence, I’d seen this man. Behind, and in front of, a mask. Knew he fought to find a different way to help my people—our people.
And though it didn’t make a difference for us going forward, warmth spread behind my eyes—because I believed him. “Today, we turn the tide on their whole operation. We let them know their reign of terror is over, and we save my sister. We end them.” So we can put this chapter to a close.
He nodded, his ocean eyes turning glassy. I knew it was because he thought I was coming around. That I was returning to the Ella he knew. A fracture spread over my heart, knowing my deceit.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” I said to lighten the mood.
Light laughter, as gentle and sure as a babbling brook, streamed out of him. “Then let’s eat.”