Chapter 20
GOODBYE AGAIN
Maintaining an outward appearance of calm proved difficult as Jasher and I followed the guards outside to the royal stables, a towering cathedral of crystal, its walls catching the morning light and scattering it across the grass in shimmering rainbows.
Marble bridges arched over waterfalls of liquid light, turning the entire pasture into a dream.
Inside was even more unreal. Ethereal pegacorns peeked from their stalls.
Their coats ranged from cloud-white to sunset pink, twilight blue, amethyst-purple and void-black.
Silken manes shimmered as if brushed with stardust. Some horns glowed faintly.
Others had wings that made the air sing whenever they stirred.
Chickens pecked at seeds scattered about.
I gave a little squeak. “Cluck Cluck!” My scraggly beauty looked up at me, gave me the middle finger with her eyes, and continued eating. How very Cluck Cluck. “I’m glad you made it to safety, sweetie,” I told her, grinning.
Ten soldiers rushed to cage Jasher inside a protective circle.
“He may not near the queen,” Rourke barked at me.
The royals were here? I cast my gaze, finding the couple across the aisle. Aw. They stood in a world all their own, her face tilted up to his, her eyes bright with a love so fierce it made my chest constrict. And when she removed the necklace from her throat and looped it around his neck…
Longtime ideals crashed and burned. I knew she had loved—or would love—Daniel Shaker.
But she had never looked at him like this, as if he were the axis her world spun upon.
And while Daniel had loved her, deeply, truly, it had never been like this.
Ahav laid his devotion bare every second he looked at her.
Light glinted from the charm she fastened around his neck, and my lungs flared wide. The compass. The one Iris had given me. Then I’d given to Jasher and my mother. I might have changed some things in this loop, but I had not changed this. Her farewell gift to the man she adored.
“Find your way back to me,” she whispered, cupping the king’s cheek.
“Always,” he answered, kissing her with a certainty that left no room for doubt.
She turned away, arms tightening around her middle. With her face toward me now, I saw what he didn’t. The tears streaking down her cheeks.
Love leaked from all my inner cracks, spurring me onward.
I rushed to her, drawn like a magnet, and hugged her close.
She clung to me, really clung, as if she needed an anchor as her world collapsed.
When she drew back, her watery smile threatened to ruin me.
So soft and brave. Absolutely shattering.
A thousand emotions slammed into me at once, creating a mess too confusing to wade through. Maybe I would get to see her again in this timeline. Maybe I wouldn’t. Right now, in this fragile, fleeting moment, I already missed her with an ache that radiated from deep in my bones.
“You are a wonderful wife and mother,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
“Not quite a mother yet, but I hope you’re right.”
I clasped her hands, letting her feel my certainty. “I am right. I’ve seen it. You are forever loved. Forever adored. By your husband and by your daughter.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Remember your promise to bring Ahav back to me.”
“I’ll never forget,” I vowed, slowly releasing her. Then ten armored figures materialized from the shadows, surrounding her in a protective ring and leading her out.
I stood rooted, watching her until the last possible second. And though I could have—wanted to—wallow in loss, I forced myself to rally. This wasn’t the end. I wasn’t out of the game. I had a mission, and I would not fail.
A stablemaster approached with two pegacorns.
The winged ponies fueled the fire of my determination. I recognized them instantly. “Skyprancer and Starflight!”
“Yes,” the stablemaster said, surprised by my knowledge. “They are my most tolerant lasses.”
They had helped me during my other visit. Majestic black and white beauties, each with a single horn rising from between their eyes. The black one had white wings, and the white one had black wings.
A smile broke free. “Hello, my darlings,” I cooed, petting the snout of one, then the other.
They weren’t as welcoming as before and actually stepped back to sever contact.
I took no offense. To them, this was our first meeting.
“One day, you’re going to help me. But today, I just want to bask in your majesty. ”
They seemed to bloom under my praise. Then Jasher joined us and reached out to gently trace his clawtips over the flank of Starflight, the white one. A caress she allowed with a mild show of unease.
“Such a pretty girl,” he muttered, still so gentle.
“You once pretended to fear falling from a pegacorn while mid-flight.” An absurd possibility I realized now. He could have easily morphed into a monstra and flown himself to safety.
“I didn’t fear falling itself but revealing my true form to you,” he said, taking my backpack and securing it to Skyprancer’s saddle. A surprisingly gentlemanly gesture. “I would have let myself hit the ground before I shifted and watched horror fill your eyes.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. He wasn’t wrong. I would’ve been horrified.
“Let’s ride,” the king called.
Silent now, Jasher helped me mount Skyprancer, then mounted Starflight. We followed the king and his men out of the stable, trading crystal walls and liquid rainbows for bright sunshine and cobblestone paths.
I noticed my mother right away. She had raced inside and now stood upon a palace balcony, gripping the iron railing as she watched us, her dark hair whipping about in a clipped breeze.
How I hated leaving her behind. I kept reuniting with her, only to lose her again. But I could not say I minded spending more time with Ahav, getting to learn more about him while we worked to right the past, present, and future wrongs.
Soldiers stood along every parapet, guarded every balcony, window, and door, all standing at attention, on the lookout for any sign of an enemy’s approach. The market remained empty, a sad caricature of the thriving social extravaganza it must have been.
Once we made it to the bridge, the pegacorns broke into a run, leaping into the air. Wind hit my face, and I laughed. We didn’t stay airborne long, but I loved every second. The winged, horned ponies landed near a wall of trees so tall and thick the limbs wove together, forming a wall.
We slowed to a trot before slipping through a break in the branches.
One moment we were outside a forest untouched by monstra fire, the next we were enveloped by thin, eerie shadows.
Unlike before, I detected a low thud of an otherworldly heartbeat.
Lush vines pulsed with a faint glow, brightening, then ebbing.
A rich, earthy aroma of damp moss and wildflowers filled the air, mingling with the sweet scent of ripe berries that must be hiding in the undergrowth.
The cool breeze carried the sound of whispering leaves and distant, melodic bird songs.
Hooves squished against the mossy ground, broken by the occasional crunch of twigs. Fireflies flitted from colorful flower petals to speckled mushrooms. And of course, Kevin offered commentary.
As we moved deeper into the woodland, the taste of crisp, dewy air lingered on my lips, tinged with a subtle hint of honey. I ignored the protests of my empty stomach and reached out to brush my fingertips over the delicate brush of silken ferns. We didn’t grow enchanted forests in Kansas.
A trickling stream wound ahead of us, its crystalline waters bubbling over smooth, colorful stones. A stream I’d braved before.
“This is still Lawless Forest?” I hadn’t forgotten the curse of the dreadful place. Entering ensured that you would one day die a tragic death. Well, I’d entered, anyway, desperate to return home.
“This will be,” he corrected.
The king slowed and his men parted, allowing him to wait for me to catch up with him. He kept pace beside me, with Jasher behind us.
“Oracle,” King Ahav said, his voice deep and steady. “Tell me what you know of any upcoming conflict.”
“Well, I’m new to all this prediction stuff,” I admitted, rubbing my temple. “I can’t just turn it on and—”
The world blinked out, fire replacing everything, becoming a nightscape alive with carnage. Flames raged, each burst devouring the last. Smoke filled my lungs, turning every breath into a punishment. Agonized screams punctured the crackle of burning wood.
Soldiers and monstra clashed, steel against claw, flesh against fire. The air smelled of blood, ash, and fear.
I’d seen this before, but never so clearly, as if the images attempted to rip free of my mind and insert themselves into reality.
I wobbled atop my mount, a painful knot pulling tight beneath my ribs. “We’re in a village filled with people. Monstra attack from the sky.”
Blink. The vision vanished, taking the echoes of destruction with it. My devastation lingered.
“How I hate the monstra,” Ahav said and sighed. I heard the slightest thrum of defeat in his tone. “We will avoid all villages, but we will still set up traps, just in case. And the Ember?” he pressed. “What do you see?”
Closing my eyes, I searched inward. Come on. Show me.
Nothing. Blankness. Frustration coiled tight against my sternum. “All I can tell you is that the Ember is a woman.” I didn’t mention Andrea’s name—yet.
“A woman,” he echoed.
“Ian both fears and admires her,” I said, digging until my mind felt scraped raw. “I promise I’m trying my best to see more about her.”
“Try harder,” Ahav urged. “We cannot defeat the monstra without it. Her.”
As if I needed the reminder. Digging, digging. Pain bloomed behind my eyes, and a hot trickle dripped from my nose. “We’ll find her on this journey,” I rasped, suddenly confident of this one thing. “I give you my word, we will find her.”
“That’s enough,” Jasher barked, guiding Starflight between us, my own personal shield. “She’s tired. Don’t push her again.”
The king’s next smile was humorless. “Protector now, not a threat? An interesting transformation.”
Jasher’s shoulders went taut, but he said nothing else.
Hand shaking, I wiped my bloody nose. Jasher stripped off his shirt and tossed it my way.
I caught the material and wiped my face, inhaling the faint scent of sandalwood and man. My pulse stuttered, and I dragged my gaze over him. Bare skin, inked muscles, the shifting display of faces etched into every hollow and plane. Faces I still didn’t recognize.
“You’re staring, princess,” he muttered.
“And I’m enjoying every second, thank you.” As heavy as life had become, I should savor delights as they came.
He tsked, but he couldn’t mask the flush of pleasure on his cheeks.
Ahav watched our interplay, silent as I squirmed. “Careful, Oracle. If he’s anything like his maker, betrayal lurks beneath every smile.”
I was so not discussing my love life with him. “How far is Mount Emerald?”
“Three days’ ride. If we survive.” Ahav spurred his mount forward.
His words lingered long after he joined his men. Jasher and I rode side-by-side in silence after that, our pegacorns moving in sync. Occasionally, his leg brushed mine, and I forgot everything else.
When he reached out to hook a lock of hair behind my ear, a new vision devoured me at the moment of contact, so vivid I was there.
Inside a cavern. A storm raged outside. Lightning lit his face in flashes of gold as he hovered over me, making him an angelic menace, wholly devastating to my good sense. His breath mingled with mine.
His lips parted, a whisper of heat and hunger. “Desire follows us across timelines like a scar, but is it proof of survival, or a warning we keep ignoring?”
Only a second later, the image shattered. I drew in a breath that burned.
Here, in the present, he was peering at me, eyes dark, a smile tugging slow and dangerous. “You don’t have to tell me what you saw. I can guess.”
Cheeks heating, I forced my gaze ahead. Did I just have a preview of tonight? I intended to release him when we made camp. The soldiers would be ready for any kind of attack, if he decided to mount one, and we’d be far enough away from the queen for the king’s peace of mind.
In no way did I believe Jasher would return to harm her or the baby, the only reason I even contemplated this. Even though I understood Ahav’s caution.
But who knows? I rubbed mental hands together. Maybe Jasher would stay…