Chapter 64
Gaeren and Riveran dropped Thallahan off in town, teasing him about his upcoming marriage and whether or not Fay still waited for him. The rest of the ride to the palace was somber as each man considered their next steps.
“Are you sure you want to come with me?” Gaeren asked.
Riveran nodded. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“I could send you off,” Gaeren offered. “Get funds from the coffers before they decide what to do with me. You could start over. You’ve already sacrificed more than any man should have to for the sake of Vendaras.
No one would judge you for wanting to live out the rest of your life in peace and quiet. ”
Riveran grunted but didn’t respond, confirming Gaeren’s suspicions that the other man still loved his sister. Living a life without knowing how she fared wouldn’t be peaceful at all.
“How is it that you still love Enla after your bond’s been broken?”
Riveran’s eyes widened, but he didn’t deny the claim.
“It’s not about the bond. It never was. The bond strengthened what was already there.
But even breaking the bond couldn’t weaken the love it stemmed from.
Maybe for a time it did. But I’m more likely to stop breathing than I am to stop loving her. ”
The words came out with so little hope that Gaeren felt the first stirrings of anger that his sister had married Croft so quickly. Then he marveled at the way his thoughts toward Riveran had shifted over the last year.
“She’s a fool,” Gaeren muttered.
They passed their horses to the stable boys, but then Gaeren hesitated, eyeing the main entrance. “Let’s go through the back gardens instead.”
Riveran followed without question, smiling when Gaeren gave his traditional mocking bow to Queen Amaya’s statue.
“Who does she look like to you?” Gaeren asked, and Riveran shrugged, squinting up at the porcelain face. “Doesn’t she look a bit like Orra?”
Riveran frowned. “Maybe. Didn’t Orra say she’d followed her descendants over the years? Could it be one of her daughters?”
Gaeren laughed. “I guess that would make us related.”
“No more than you and Aeliana are related.” Riveran elbowed him in the side, and Gaeren winced.
“It was a thousand years ago. It’s not like she’s my cousin.”
Riveran chuckled, the sound reminiscent of his carefree days before he’d been sent away.
They climbed the lattice leading to Gaeren’s balcony. Unsurprisingly, the door to his room was locked, but he found the pin he’d hidden in the railing years before and swiftly opened it, gesturing for Riveran to enter first.
The room smelled musty, like Enla had ordered it shut up, knowing Gaeren would never return. It remained just as he’d left it after the trip to Lorvandas, even though he’d sailed around the entire continent and crossed a second barrier to Sayhla Island since then.
“You should think about hiring new maids,” Riveran joked as he wiped thick dust from the desk’s surface.
Gaeren frowned. “Usually she foresees my return. She gets everything ready for me.”
Riveran gave a mock pout. “Is Gaeren not the most important thing in the world to Enla anymore? Did she find matters more pressing to attend to than her baby brother’s needs?”
Gaeren shoved Riveran half-heartedly, but his mind still raced. Something was wrong. He could feel it. “Maybe you should go back to the ship,” he said. “Catch them before they leave.”
Riveran dropped onto the bed, sending up another cloud of dust. He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back against the pillow. “They’re already well out of harbor. Sylmar wasn’t even willing to do a supply run for fear of being recognized. Why? What’s wrong?”
Gaeren shook his head. “I’m not sure. Isn’t it odd that she told us to come but didn’t get my room ready? Even if she hadn’t foreseen it, she told us to come.”
Now Riveran’s face turned wary, and he glanced toward the door. “It was written in her hand, though. And I don’t think anyone could fake the letter she wrote me.”
Gaeren nodded. “True. Maybe she just forgot or miscalculated how close we were.” Even as he said the words, they didn’t sound quite right. By now, Enla should have come to his room. “What if she’s sick? Or what if my parents are sick?”
“Your parents haven’t been right for a while,” Riveran said. “And after your dramatic exit last time, I don’t think you should seek them out without first finding Enla.”
Gaeren nodded slowly, studying the room more closely. He tuned in to the space around him, but the memories evaded him, all far too old to still be present. No one had been there in days if not moons.
“We need to go find her.” He opened the door to the hall, tuning in as far as his starlock’s power could reach.
His parents and their soldiers had crossed through these halls, but there was nothing that gave him concern.
They headed toward the main hall, creeping down the winding path until they drew close enough to the central quarters that Gaeren suspected they’d be caught.
He let his magic unfurl like the tendrils of a vine until it latched on to a soldier standing guard just outside the front entrance. He pushed his starlock’s power to infiltrate the man’s memories, speeding back through them until he recognized his sister.
Despite looking healthy, her eyes were vacant, like she remained lost in her visions while walking through the halls.
He swore softly under his breath, wondering why Croft wasn’t watching out for her.
He was a bondmate. It was what he was supposed to do.
And yet deep down, Gaeren knew. Her stubbornness likely prevented the other man from protecting her from herself.
“She’s in her quarters,” he whispered.
“In the middle of the day?” Riveran’s brow furrowed. “That’s not like her.”
Gaeren nodded. “At least it will be easier to get to her.”
“You think the guards will just let you waltz in there?”
Gaeren grinned. “Have you forgotten how we snuck in as children?”
This time Riveran’s smile matched Gaeren’s. “Are you saying that passageway still exists? I assumed your parents blocked it up when they discovered us using it.”
Gaeren rolled his eyes. “Of course they did. But we have our own resources. Stone masonry can be broken down.”
They headed back to Gaeren’s quarters, where he shoved aside a bureau to reveal a small trap door only two feet tall.
“Hmm,” Gaeren said. “It looks a bit smaller than I remember.”
Riveran snorted. “There’s no way you’re fitting into that.”
They opened the door, coughing as the hinges creaked and even more dust filled the air.
But despite signs of the passage’s abandonment, a note and parcel sat before them.
Gaeren grinned, ripping the note open and scanning its contents.
Enla’s script stared back at him with a short but relieving message:
I’ll come back here this evening. Keep to your rooms. There’s enough food here for both of you.
“Oh, food,” Riveran sighed, then nearly moaned in his relief as he unwrapped the package, revealing biscuits, cheese, fruits, and jerky. He tore off a biscuit and paired it with a slice of cheese.
“Do you think it could be a trap?” Gaeren asked, even though he’d told Larkos he was confident it wasn’t.
“We came back once already. She has no new reason to trap us.”
Gaeren winced, thinking of all the ways he’d betrayed the throne since finding Aeliana.
Just because his sister claimed to have forgiven his departing words didn’t mean she truly had.
Since then, he’d met with the Recreants in Andel, promising them the moon when he didn’t even have Stars to give.
And now that he’d committed to helping Aeliana and the other Recreants, Enla was sure to have seen that possibility in his future. What did she think of it all?
These thoughts swirled through his mind as he and Riveran ate and waited for the Sun’s sleep.
Even then, they sat in the darkness for at least two more hours until the first hint of scuffling sounds was heard on the other side of the passageway.
When Enla’s blonde locks finally came into view, Gaeren and Riveran scooted back, allowing her space to crawl through and out the other side.
When Enla stood, even the dust clinging to her dress and hair couldn’t detract from her regal grace.
Gaeren saw the admiration in Riveran’s gaze and wasn’t sure if he should smack Riveran for forgetting she was married and bonded to someone else or smack Enla for prioritizing tradition instead of Riveran.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” While there was warmth in her voice, her eyes held the same vacancy they had in the soldier’s memories, lending a coldness that made Gaeren shiver.
“I’m so glad you show your joy over my presence by welcoming me with a clean room and some sort of dinner affair,” Gaeren teased.
A faint smile crossed her lips, but it was an echo of her usual mirth.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing yet,” she said. “Mother and Father might not welcome you, so I was hesitant to alert them to your presence. I figured this way you could be here without it being known you’re here. For now.”
Riveran hummed his understanding, accepting the explanation without question, but Gaeren frowned. “You’re lucky I didn’t come through the front gates.”
“It’s never about luck. I foresaw what you’d do.” The words held a lightness, like their usual banter, but something made her teasing fall flat.
“What else is wrong?” he asked.
She sighed and looked away. “The others think I’ve become less reliable.” The words fell off her lips like they tasted bitter.
“What others?” Gaeren asked.
“Mother and Father. Croft.”
“Croft?” Riveran tensed.
Gaeren shot him a look. Just because Riveran didn’t like the other man didn’t mean they should jump to conclusions.
“A few of my visions have been wrong.” She hesitated on the last word, like it wasn’t accurate.
On a whim, he flipped over her hands, running his fingers along her pale skin in case he could feel through an illusion hiding a brand.