Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
The Veil protects us, they say. But what they don’t say is that it also traps us. Forever stuck in this kingdom.
— From the journal of Violet Andrever
There may have been a slight skip in my step as I left the castle doors and saw Griff waiting for me, leaning against a stone wall.
Except for my first night here when we went to the woods, I had been kept sheltered inside the ramparts.
Back home, I had always been in nature, and I had definitely started feeling twitchy here, staring at stone walls all day, every day.
One side of his mouth curved up, a crinkle in his eyes, a private smile just for me that deepened as I fully skipped the rest of the way to him.
He captured my hand with his and tucked it under his arm, making that now-familiar jolt run through me.
As we headed out of the castle gates, he asked, “Anywhere in particular you’d like to see before we go there? ”
“I’d like to see one of the other provinces. But since I haven’t been anywhere, I leave it up to you as to where to start.”
We stood arm in arm as he thought for a moment, before releasing me, only to wrap his arms around me. I barely had time to tuck my head under his chin before we were spinning through the ether.
We landed in another forest. Just as the last time I was in a forest here, the colors were particularly vibrant.
The path stretching in front of us was carpeted with fallen leaves of yellow, gold, red, and orange.
Branches arched over the path, the remaining foliage creating a tunnel of amber and crimson, filtering the sunlight into dappled patches of gold on the forest floor.
As we started down the path, the leaves crunching under our feet, the distant call of birds echoed the peace settling through my body—a peace I hadn’t felt since coming to Serentyn.
A gentle breeze stirred the canopy above us, a few leaves spiraling down.
Through gaps in the branches, I could see the bright-blue sky, but sheltered here, surrounded by nature, the crisp fall air made me feel more like myself than I had in a long time.
Beyond my joy of being in nature again, it was comfortable walking next to Griff.
His sheer size and the controlled way he carried himself—always aware, always ready—exuded protection, but there was more to it than that.
Things felt right as I walked under the fall leaves.
Like I was where I was supposed to be. As though before coming here, there had been an absence in my life.
Only now—in the presence of someone who was still a near-stranger—did I realize there had been something missing.
Must be insight from that soul channel Finn kept talking about.
“Which province are we in?” I kept my voice soft, not wanting to disturb the peace of our surroundings.
“Sylvaneth.” His voice was equally hushed.
I brought up the mental map I was trying to memorize from what Finn had shown me. We were on the eastern side of the realm, south of the Mistrael Mountains, if I remembered correctly.
“Tell me something about yourself.” I stumbled over a tree root, trying to keep up with his long stride. Reflexively, his hand reached out and caught my arm before I could trip further, and he adjusted his pace.
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. What was your favorite thing to do as a child? Or your favorite color? Or how you got so good with the sword. Anything, really.”
He silently raised an eyebrow, so I continued.
“Finn likes to talk”—the corner of his mouth twitched up at my understatement—“so I feel like I know him. At least a bit. Everyone knows my history, better than I know it myself, but you’re still a mystery.
I know almost nothing about you, other than you come and go like the wind and are apparently dedicated to keeping me safe. ”
He ran a hand over his stubbled chin. “I got so good with the sword because I trained.”
“Thanks, Griff. Very helpful,” I muttered, and was surprised when he let out a low chuckle.
“My favorite color is the ocean back home,” he replied softly, not looking at me.
“It’s a light turquoise, and when the sun shines on it, through it, it is the most beautiful thing in the world.
And to answer your other question, my favorite thing to do as a child was swim.
” He was silent for a moment, before he surprised me again by continuing, “My village, Maraleth, is near the ocean—on top of the ocean, really—and when I was young, I loved to swim out to this beach isle. My father would sometimes join me. We would leave early in the morning, while it was still dark. The weather is more mild than here, and the ocean is always warm. We would swim to that isle and sit there and watch the sunrise.”
As he talked, the image formed in my mind.
The colorful painted houses and canals, bridges stretching between them.
The turquoise and cerulean blues of the water.
The vibrant colors of the sun as it woke up, painting the world in shades of pinks and oranges, the faint purple of dawn breaking through.
“That sounds peaceful,” I said softly.
“It is. There’s nothing quite like it. I’ll take you there someday.”
“Promise?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Promise.”
I hid my grin as something else occurred to me. “You mentioned your father. Finn talks about your mother, but never him. Where is he?”
“Gone.”
And just like that, the gentle energy between us was gone, turning into a stony wall. I reached out and took his hand, warmth spreading through our touch, trying to regain the playful spirit from before, but it had fled with his single word.
Threading my fingers through his, I squeezed gently, my hand dwarfed in his. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
He glanced sharply at our hands. Confused, I quickly dropped his, slowing my pace and letting him go on ahead.
I followed him in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of this forest. The path was starting to turn uphill, and we began climbing.
I wasn’t sure how long we walked, but my thighs were starting to burn.
But I wasn’t going to complain. Not while I was out here, breathing in nature, even if that breathing was starting to be a bit labored.
Griff waited at the top of a rise, and held his hand out to me.
I took it, feeling that jolt of power that was starting to become expected.
One of these days, I was going to ask him what that was.
But after the way our previous conversation ended, I didn’t want to risk it right now.
And it was soon forgotten, for as he helped me up the last few feet, what spread before me took my breath away.
Below was a clearing, surrounded by trees shining golden in the sunlight, the autumn colors reflecting on the surface of a clear pond at the far end.
The pond fed a gently rolling river, but what caught my attention was the waterfall, stretching up toward the sky.
Even standing on the higher elevation, like we were now, I had to look up, and up, and up, to glimpse where it began.
It cascaded in three tiers, each one broader and more magnificent than the one above, stair-stepping down the cliff face.
The spray of mist shimmered in the morning light.
From this distance, all I could hear was a gentle murmur, a symphony of falling water, but I imagined it must be thunderous up close.
Two ancient wooden bridges stretched across at different elevations, the weathered planks becoming one with the cliff itself.
“Do you want to go up there?” he asked softly, as if he was worried he might disturb the peace of the area.
I nodded, shocked into silence by the beauty of this place.
He put his arms around me, and in a moment, we arrived on the lowest bridge.
Droplets from the spray above hit me in the face, cool in the dim light, startling a laugh out of me.
Throwing my hands to the heavens, I tilted my head back and twirled in the mist, dancing to the sound of the rushing water.
I spun and skipped, examining the view from every angle before turning back to him, my clothes damp from the spray.
What I saw in his face made my breath catch.
Gone was the mask he typically wore. His eyes crinkled and a small smile was on his lips.
My hair had loosened from its braid, parts of it damp and sticking to my cheek.
He reached out and tucked it behind my ears as his eyes roved over my face.
My cheeks grew warm as I turned to look out at the view.
Shifting away from him slightly, I lifted my arms over my head, stretching my back from the hike. Feeling his gaze on me again, I glanced over, only for his eyes to dart away. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.
I raised my brows at him.
“Ready for the next level?” was his only reply.
I stepped up to him, and he put his arms around me, his chest solidly pressed against mine. “Yes, please.”
I took one more look around as he spun us into the ether and to the upper bridge.
The waterfall up here was much thinner and the spray less intense.
I leaned on the railing and looked out. The river that was fed by the waterfall wound its way south.
I had to squint, but I could just make out a small town, rooftops barely visible, like pebbles in the distance.
And spread out before us, as far as I could see, were all of those glorious fall colors.
Griff stood so close to me, I could feel the heat radiating off of him.
I fought the desire to lean into that warmth.
“Afraid I’m going to fall off the cliff?” I commented.
He exhaled heavily through his nose. “It is a long way down.”
“So tell me, Champion, do you hover like this over everyone? Or is it just me who gets the special treatment?”
“Just you, Princess.”
“I thought Finn said you had some magical way to always find me. Shouldn’t that make you less, I don’t know, hovery?”