41. Lora
Lora
Murky water sloshed around the boat as I guided it between half-submerged trees and twisting roots rising above the surface.
Once we’d left the lush greens of the Moon Queendom behind, the sky had clouded over.
It always did in Blightlands, as though the heavens themselves were afraid to show their face to this cursed land.
We weren’t far from the Sun Kingdom now. With any luck, the border guards would focus more on keeping monsters at bay than on watching for trespassers.
A chill ghosted over my skin as memories of that dreadful day five years ago crawled through my mind. I’d crossed the border not far from here, and the sun guards had discovered me instantly.
Not this time.
Today, I wouldn’t be fleeing in panic.
My pulse quickened as the foggy swamp gave way to firmer ground and a more defined riverbank. No signs or fences marked where Blightlands ended and the Sun Kingdom began, but we’d no doubt entered territory where sun guards might patrol.
I scanned between the trunks. The muddy banks stretched empty, broken only by skeletal trees and creeping vines. Exactly as I’d hoped. Even the Sun Kingdom couldn’t patrol every stretch of the border.
My jaw clenched. I must’ve had the worst luck five years ago to stumble straight into that patrol. What were the odds?
The hull scraped against the riverbank with a muted thud. This was as far as I dared to take it. Wielding a boat upstream through the Sun Kingdom would’ve been far too noticeable. We stepped onto solid ground, hauling the boat into a cluster of reeds and tucking it out of sight.
Dirt crunched beneath our boots as we passed a footbridge spanning the river. The path leading across it was packed hard from years of border patrols.
Angling away from their patrol route, I led Erion along a narrow trail beside the river. Every rustle of leaves set my nerves on edge. I kept my palm angled toward the water, fingers itching to pull it toward me.
When the trail met a road wide enough for a cart, I paused, staring one way, then the other.
“Which way?” Erion said, voicing my own thoughts.
Before I could answer, footsteps echoed down the road. I yanked Erion back the way we’d come, pulling us down to crouch behind a cluster of trees. His breath hitched, too loud in the stillness. My hand clamped over his mouth, pulling him tight against me.
His eyes widened, but I kept my gaze on the road. Black and red uniforms flashed between the trees. Sun guards. Four of them.
My pulse thrummed as they marched past, voices low and indistinct. One laughed at something another said.
When the sound of their boots faded, I released Erion. He gulped air like he’d been drowning.
“Control your breathing next time,” I muttered.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face. “Sorry.”
Sighing, I set off, deciding to follow the road in the direction the guards had come from. We skirted it when possible and ducked behind trees and rocks whenever footsteps approached.
Eventually, a few stray houses appeared along the road, small and weather-beaten. Smoke curled from one chimney. Outside another, laundry hung on a line in the afternoon breeze.
Perfect.
I ordered Erion to stay behind as I crept toward the clothesline, scanning for movement.
No one stirred. My fingers closed around a tunic dyed brownish orange, a pair of baggy brown trousers, and a rust-red dress with yellow trim.
The colors screamed Sun Kingdom in a way our blues and purples never would.
Guilt pricked at me as I stuffed the bundle under one arm. Someone would miss these. But we needed them more.
Back in the cover of trees, I dropped the stolen clothes at Erion’s feet. “Put these on.”
Without pausing, I stripped off my tunic and trousers down to my undergarments. Erion stiffened, his face flushing crimson. He spun away so fast he nearly tripped over a root.
Stars and sea, he needed to get a grip. It wasn’t like I was naked.
While he changed, I slipped into the short-sleeved dress, then tucked our old garments beneath the dense branches of a spruce.
My fingers brushed the soft fabric of Caldera’s gray scarf before stuffing it into my backpack. After everything she’d done for us, I couldn’t stand parting with it.
Erion turned back, tugging at the sleeves of his orange tunic. “How do I look?”
“Uncomfortable.” I smirked, adjusting the deep neckline of my rust-red dress. “Just keep your head down and act like you belong.”
His brow furrowed. “How am I supposed to do that when I never feel like I belong anywhere?” He glanced away, as if instantly regretting the words.
My heart squeezed at his vulnerability. He had no home to return to. No family waiting for him.
I gave him a reassuring smile, brushing his shoulder. “You belong in the Moon Queendom. And you can live in Rootmere, if you want. When all this is over, I mean.”
His gaze found mine, swirling with intense emotions. “Really?”
“Of course!” I tugged him along. “Come on, let’s find the Forbidden Archives and get this over with. And if we run into any trouble, just relax and let me do the talking.”
Drawing a deep breath, he nodded.
We stepped back onto the road, and when footsteps approached, we didn’t dive for cover. I straightened and slipped my hand into Erion’s, gripping tight.
“Just relax,” I whispered. “Act like you belong.”
Two guards rounded the bend, expressions bored. My heart slammed against my ribs as I forced a casual nod. They nodded back.
Erion’s hand trembled in mine as we kept walking.
When they vanished out of sight, I shot him a broad smile. “See? Worked perfectly.”
A shaky laugh escaped him. “Moon’s mercy. It really did.”
I snickered. “We’re practically sunfolk now.”
As I released his hand, his grip lingered a beat too long before letting go.
Awkward discomfort crawled through me.
By the deep, what was I supposed to make of him? Half the time I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and tell him to pull himself together. Then he’d turn those earnest hazel eyes on me, stirring something soft beneath my ribs.
But it was nothing like the feverish heat that sparked through me when I’d fought the prince. This was something gentler, a sense of protectiveness. Erion was like a lost baby raspkin. I just wanted to scoop him up and comfort him.
Scratching my arm, I glanced away. “This road will hopefully lead us to a village where we can ask for directions to their capital.”
He cleared his throat. “Right. Then we just need to figure out how to get into the Forbidden Archives.”
I gave him a playful shove. “One thing at a time.”
Despite the dangers ahead, Father’s encouraging words echoed in my mind, steadying me.
The world was saved by those who fought for it. And I was ready to fight.
We hadn’t walked far before a large guard camp sprawled ahead. Its weathered structures were ringed by a fence, reinforced with drake scales.
Erion’s steps faltered, eyes widening. I grabbed his sleeve and tugged him forward, steering us along the road curving past the outer fence.
“We’re in disguise,” I hissed. “We’ll be fine.”
We trailed around the camp, stealing glances into the compound swarming with guards—some practicing fire wielding, others polishing armor, sparring, or hauling supplies.
Just before we reached the safety of the trees ahead, shouts erupted behind us.
We spun around, peering through the scaled bars.
A group of guards marched up the road we’d just come from, dragging a man through the gates. He stumbled and struggled, ropes biting into his wrists.
My heart lurched as I recognized him.
“Corin,” I breathed.
I yanked Erion behind a large bush, dropping low.
A tall man stepped into the center of the camp, his uniform more elaborate than the others, trimmed with gold. His high cheekbones and sunken cheeks gave him a severe look, with deep shadows accentuating every hollow.
The ground tilted beneath me. I knew that man.
Those dark-brown eyes had flickered with glee as he set my mother’s skin on fire. A deep scar carved through his brow and down his cheek—courtesy of our first meeting.
My body quivered, muscles coiling like springs. I surged to my feet, hands lifting as I reached out with my senses. A water tank sat at the camp’s edge. I set my stance and shifted my hands to pull from it.
Erion’s fingers locked around my wrist, pulling me back down. “It’s a camp full of guards,” he hissed.
My gaze swept the open space where at least fifty guards gathered around the newly arrived group.
This couldn’t be happening. The man who murdered my mother was still here, still a border guard. But he’d advanced in ranks. Back then, he’d led the group who found me. Now he commanded the entire camp.
The sergeant stepped forward, facing the commander. “We caught this moon scum crossing into sun domain.”
“I was overrun by monsters!” Corin protested. “A rift tore open right beside me.” He struggled against his bonds. “I was just trying to get away.”
The commander huffed, unimpressed. “Burn him to ash.”
My stomach plunged.
“Right away?” The sergeant’s voice wavered. “Shouldn’t we take him to the interrogators first?”
The commander’s lip curled. “Normally, yes. But those blazing rifts are causing all sorts of disruptions, and we’ve had too many trespassers lately. The interrogators have their hands full with intruders, and most of them aren’t even spies. Just kill this one.”
“Yes, Commander.” The sergeant barked orders to his group of guards.
Corin struggled against his bindings. “You brine-hearted rot of the deep! May you choke on silt and drown in a flood of sludge!”
The commander’s lips curved into a cruel smile as he drank in Corin’s despair like fine wine.
“A feisty one,” he crooned, elbowing another officer beside him. “Their queen must be so eager to send her people to their death.”
They chuckled.
Rage flooded me and magic surged toward my fingertips. But Erion’s hand clamped around my arm, pulling me back against him.
“Don’t,” he whispered against my ear. “There’s too many of them.”
“He killed my Mother,” I hissed.
Erion stilled. “What? Who?”
“The commander,” I snarled, pulling free of his grip.
Ten guards formed a loose circle around Corin. Heat shimmered in the air. No fire, no light—just raw heat radiating from their palms. Corin’s face contorted in pain as his skin reddened.
Around them, the gathered crowd watched in silence. Some grinned, others shifted, glancing away. But no one moved. No one objected.
Bile burned in the back of my throat. How could they just stand there and do nothing while a man was tortured to death?
A raw scream tore from Corin’s throat as the invisible furnace closed in around him. His skin blistered and split, peeling away in ragged patches.
Searing fury ignited beneath my ribs. I couldn’t just stand by and let this happen.
Magic rushed toward my fingertips. Staying low behind the dense bush, I reached for the water in the tank and yanked the entire body of it upward, sending it surging and billowing across the yard. If I could just catch Corin in an ice sphere, I could whisk him away while the guards were distracted.
Chaos erupted as a dozen guards were swept away and the rest scrambled for safety, shouting to one another.
“He’s wielding!”
“How? His hands are tied!”
The wave closed around Corin. But before I could solidify it into a protective bubble, a sizzling metal spear drove through the water barrier, straight into Corin’s throat.
“No,” I hissed.
The commander stood a dozen paces away, arms outstretched in a forward thrust.
My mind shattered. This wasn’t happening. Corin would be fine. It wasn’t as bad as it looked. If I just got him out and healed him, everything would be all right.
But before I could thread cold into the water surrounding him, Erion’s arms locked around my waist, pulling me back against him.
“You can’t,” he whispered. “They’ll know it’s not him.”
The water slipped from my grasp and splashed to the ground around Corin just as he dropped to his knees. The spear remained lodged in his throat. Blood trickled from his blistered mouth. He blinked once, then crumpled forward onto the soaked earth.
Bile burned in the back of my throat as I elbowed Erion in the stomach. His hold only tightened as he pulled me back through the underbrush into the forest, away from the fading shouts and clatter.
A red blur tainted my vision as I thrashed in his grip. How could he do this? How could he stop me from getting Corin out?
“Let me go,” I hissed.
“You can’t save him, Lora.” His voice was low but resolute. “You’ll die trying. I can’t let you do that.”
Part of me wanted to keep fighting, but deep down, I knew Erion was right. Corin was already dead.
Vela’s face swam across my vision—her happy smile as she waved goodbye to him, giggling at his request for dinner. She’d be waiting up all night. The thought crashed through me like a drowning flood.
My knees gave way. Erion caught me and turned me toward him. I pressed my face into his shoulder, my fingers digging into his back.
Agony and despair carved through my insides.
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. My mind refused to accept what my shattered heart knew to be true.
Corin had been killed by the same man who murdered my mother.