Chapter 8
Night had fully fallen by the time the fish were cleaned and cooking over a fire. The air soon smelled of charred wood and crispy fish skin, and when the human settled in across from Xavi, he noted a slightly worried expression as she gazed periodically into the dark.
“Is it… this doesn’t seem safe,” she finally burst out. “I’m afraid that monsters may be attracted to the smell of meat.”
“Beyond the edges of the valley, perhaps,” he agreed.
Indeed, though he felt no fear for himself, there were few others who could safely traverse this part of Dunmaren without concern.
The predators were many and hungry. “But they are wise enough not to pass the boundaries of the mist. And whatever monsters made this place their home have long since fled.”
Or died, when they attempted to defend their territory against a much more dangerous creature than themselves.
“You said most,” she reminded him, eyes narrowed. “Most monsters are deterred by the boundary.”
“Yes, I did,” he returned blandly, suppressing a momentary flinch. “But there are no monsters here that will hurt you. So long as you take care not to anger the salamanders.”
She glanced at him, gray eyes wide, with no guile or artifice to conceal her reaction to his words.
“No monsters that will,” she said slowly. “Not none that can.”
Did she need him to say it? To admit aloud that he was more a monster than any other?
It seemed too bitterly obvious for a reply, so Xavi simply continued to turn the fish over the fire, encouraging the coals to burn hotter with a tiny trickle of magic.
The human, too, fell silent as she turned to unbuttoning one of her many layers of clothing. Xavi watched her for a moment before hazarding an interruption.
“Is this some sort of human custom? To disrobe before eating?”
She merely laughed as she wriggled out of first an overcoat, then a buttoned-up vest, and then the heavy-looking skirt that had apparently concealed several more layers of skirts. It was honestly a wonder the woman could move at all, with all that weighing her down.
“Not exactly.” Once less encumbered, she began to spread the various pieces of clothing over the ground close to the fire. “But they are wet and covered in salamander slime, and I felt like this was an excellent opportunity to dry them before…”
Xavi chuckled silently. Sooner or later, her innately curious nature was going to get the better of her, and she would waste her third question.
And in the meantime, it was almost entertaining to remain silent and watch her squirm with impatience.
There was so much she wanted to ask. So much desire to know that burned within that tiny frame.
It was a kind of power of its own, and had she ever turned that passion to some other end, she might have been truly dangerous. As it was…
A slash of self-loathing bit deep, but Xavi ignored it. He could not afford to ask questions any more than she could. Especially the kind that reminded him of the person he had once been.
Instead, he ought to be thinking of how he might convince her to accept the burden she was now doomed to bear.
Because she must be the next bride. Even if she wasn’t the bride.
There was no time to seek another before the mountain would begin to awaken once more.
No time to feel pity or wish that things were otherwise.
No time to mourn what would be lost to the world when she finally agreed.
But the only way to accomplish his goal was to make conversation, and Xavi had an uncomfortable suspicion that the longer she talked, the less taste he would have for this task.
She was too innocent. Too young. Too sheltered to know what sort of monster she now kept company with.
“Tomorrow,” he said abruptly. “Tomorrow you will ask your third question.”
She made a little humming sound he took for agreement. “And tomorrow I hope to explore more of this valley. Compare it to my father’s account.”
She would want to see the king. Would want to know if all that her father wrote about in his journal was true. It was Xavi’s greatest bargaining chip, and he must use it—ruthlessly if necessary.
Xavi.
Blast it. Of all times for Kel to be awake.
Not awake awake, of course. But periodically he drifted close enough to consciousness for them to speak mind to mind.
You’re not alone, Xavi. Don’t tell me you…
Yes, he shot back, almost fiercely. I did. I lured another innocent soul into my trap with promises of magic and a long life. And I will do it again and again without remorse, until the day you are finally free of this binding.
You know I can tell when you’re lying.
Drat him. Kel had always been able to tell what he was thinking, even without magic. Thanks to the even deeper bond this enchantment had forged between them, it was now all but impossible to hide.
All right, fine. She came of her own accord this time.
Xavi could sense Kel’s astonishment.
A human woman? Entered the valley by choice?
A long story, Xavi told him. She’s a scholar. Came here in search of legends and myths. Wanted to see this one for herself. Even you can’t blame me for indulging her.
Kel was silent, and for a moment Xavi feared his king was angry, but as the silence stretched on, he realized Kel had merely fallen deeper into slumber, beyond the reach of thought.
“Yes, tomorrow. Explore the valley,” he said aloud, feeling suddenly grateful for the restriction their bargain had placed on the human’s tongue.
It meant she could not ask him what came after tomorrow.
“And after that,” she added, “we must discuss my departure. I want you to know that I will not continue to darken your doorstep. No matter what happens, my presence here is not your fault, and I fully intend to make my own way home before winter arrives.”
As old and bitter and jaded as he was, Xavi barely stopped himself from gaping at her in dismay. She thought she could go home on her own? Through weeks and weeks of trackless Dunmaren wilderness filled with monsters? Without a weapon, supplies, or a plan?
Did she intend to beat her enemies into submission with that ridiculous sack full of books?
“Yes, I realize it seems unlikely,” she continued blithely, “but I am determined not to be a burden. At least, no more of one than I already am.”
“Tomorrow,” he growled again, poking at the fire with an almost vicious energy. Though he didn’t quite understand why he was feeling so angry.
A stubborn silence fell between them—she unable to speak without risking a question, and he unable to give voice to whatever was irritating him.
At length, the fish were cooked to smoky, crispy perfection, and he handed her one without a word. She took it in the folds of her skirt, blew on her fingers, and then set to with an enthusiasm he would not have expected from a woman clearly raised to a more civilized standard of living.
And when she’d picked every bone clean, she tossed the remains into the fire, closed her eyes, and sighed. “That was almost impossibly delicious,” she proclaimed. “Thank you. I’d have spent a very hungry night without your intervention.”
Xavi huffed. Somehow he imagined she would have managed. Even if she had to eat salamander.
“Next time you can catch your own.”
She nodded briskly. “Of course. And I feel there must be other sources of food here at this time of year. Berries, nuts, or mushrooms, perhaps. I would be absolute rubbish at hunting, but gathering is not that different from searching for information so long as I know the parameters.”
Part of him wanted to remain silent. Refuse to offer any answers for free. But he would be doing it in order to annoy her, and that was the part of him that was more Lesh than Xavi. More the cruel, capricious forest spirit than the man who’d protected his people with his life.
“There are a few,” he acknowledged. “No mushrooms, but there are nuts and edible wild roots. Winter sorrel, possibly some late-season berries if the birds have not yet taken them all.”
“Then I won’t starve,” she said cheerfully, leaning back against a rock with her pack beneath her head. “At least, not right away. Not unless it snows. And there is every reason to hope I can leave these mountains behind before the snows come in earnest.”
Xavi decided her groundless optimism was the most irritating thing about her. And there were a lot of things to choose from.
But he needed not to scare her off by snarling. “The valley rarely sees snow,” he informed her. “It seems protected from the worst of the elements and all but the most severe changes of season.”
The human’s eyes tried to brighten but then slammed shut as she gave an enormous yawn.
“It must be part of the enchantment,” she mused.
“Perhaps this place truly is set apart from the rest of the world. Not only in place but in time. Though that would require a staggering amount of magic—far more than any enchanter could manage, I would think. So unless your king did so by accident while trying to…” She stopped, and pressed her lips together to hold back whatever had been coming next.
Oh yes. Her insistence that there had never been a volcano.
But then why would both he and Kel have memories of fire? Of the ground trembling with rage beneath their feet?
“Just because you cannot see the evidence you expect doesn’t mean the volcano does not exist.”
Her head came up to stare at him intently.
“It isn’t just the lack of physical evidence,” she pointed out, exhaustion seemingly vanished in the face of her conviction.
“Though that matters. A volcano cannot simply threaten an entire region without leaving traces of its activity. But the idea of a curse or a geas makes so much more sense of the story when you consider that a volcano is a purely natural phenomenon. I can well imagine your king exhausting his magical resources and falling into a deep sleep as a result of confronting a volcanic eruption, but this is more than that! This geas you are under could not be of natural causes. The valley and the mist, the compulsion to find a particular kind of person in order to survive… It all feels like far more than a simple enchantment gone awry.”
Xavi stared back at her, a cold rage stirring in his chest at her hubris.
How dare she? After all these centuries, did she think she could decipher the heart of this enchanted prison with nothing but books and enthusiasm?
Her bright gray eyes were so full of innocence and hope, and he wanted to lash out—to remind her of how truly ignorant and helpless she was.
If he and Kel had not been able to find answers through all these tortured years of waiting, how did she imagine she could do so in a matter of hours?
So many competing impulses raged through his veins.
He could run away—disappear into the night until he was calmer.
He could shift into a thousand shapes, take flight, and not come back until she’d given up and left the valley.
He could take the form of a monster from her darkest nightmares and hunt her until she stank of terror…
No.
That was not him.
Even here, even now, the cruel impulses he experienced as Lesh had begun to haunt his waking moments.
Xavi’s hands clenched into fists and he closed his eyes, certain they must be glowing with his fury and frustration.
Further evidence of the darkness that crept ever closer, threatening to steal away all that remained of his former self.
He would not allow it. He was stronger than this.
A deep breath filled his nostrils with scents both familiar and grounding. Smoke. Fish. Night air. Emberwood. The mossy turf he’d crushed beneath his fingers.
And then there was the less familiar…
Ink and paper. Soap and salamander. Something bright and fresh, like a breeze off the ocean in spring.
An unfamiliar sound startled him to full alertness—a light, breathy snort—and he’d jumped to his feet before he realized what he was hearing.
The human was snoring.
She’d sat across the fire from probably the most dangerous living creature in all of Dunmaren, challenged him to his face, and then fallen asleep.
For some reason, his anger deflated as swiftly as it had burst into flames. It was far too difficult to remain frustrated with something so small and soft and helpless—too innocent and inexperienced to understand the powers that held sway in this cursed place.
The human’s face was relaxed and peaceful in sleep, lacking the animation of her intense curiosity and determination. When awake, she was the oddest combination of dauntless courage and absurd squeamishness, but now she just looked fragile and hungry. Vulnerable and alone.
And here he sat, plotting how he was going to take advantage of that vulnerability and innocence, because fate had given him no choice.
If there was a place of torment awaiting those who lived unworthy lives, it was the only destination he was fit for.
He knew and accepted that. His own innocence had been sacrificed long ago.
There were far too many dark memories to choose from, and many more he had long forgotten. But if he could somehow still save Kel…
It would all be worth it in the end.
No matter how many brides it took. He would find the one true bride, and then this suffering would end.
A brief flash of memory overtook him, of blazing eyes and wild auburn curls—of a fierce woman he’d believed might be the one.
You’ll find your ending, Lesh. It won’t be me, but you’ll find it.
She’d denied him. Challenged him. Defied his every threat.
Perhaps you think I ought to pity the poor woman who eventually becomes your king’s chosen bride, but whoever she is, she is stronger than you think.
She would have to be. The chosen bride could be nothing less than extraordinary to bring an end to these centuries of torment. And the human Sky had indeed been extraordinary…
But she had not feared him. Instead, she’d dared to pity him.
This endless searching… It is not what you were meant for, and it would break anyone doomed to endure it. So I hope you do find your ending, and with it, the heart I suspect you once had.
Find his ending… Write the final chapter to a story he’d never asked to live in.
Yes, he would one day reach the end of this cursed tale. One way or another.
But it was far, far too late for his heart.