Chapter 22 #2
By the time we stumble out of the tavern a few hours later, we’ve finished off four decanters of wine. The first two glasses tasted bitter, but by the third glass I hardly even noticed the taste at all.
Hearing them each talk about their experiences after the day of the bombings makes me feel like I was there with them. All of us have been through so much these past months that now it feels like we can finally start putting the pieces of our lives back together.
“Whoa!” I was so captivated by everything below when we first got here, I failed to notice the starry sky overhead.
“Neat, huh?” Akari says, following my gaze. “It’s my favorite thing about this place. It changes just like the real sky.”
“Sure makes living underground a lot more bearable,” Emeric adds.
“They’ve really thought of everything, haven’t they?”
“Pretty much. There’re no lakes down here, but they do have a couple of pools to make up for it.” Akari turns to me. “You should check them out sometime.”
“I definitely will!”
“Oh, Mother! Amaya, are you okay?” Emeric rushes over to the bed of flowers Amaya has just face planted into.
Em and Akari can hardly stop laughing long enough to help her back up while I’m a useless mess just trying not to pee myself.
“How’d those get there?” Amaya says as Emeric picks a petal out of her braids.
Tears stream down my face, looking at my disheveled best friend. I’m fully on the ground, praying to The Mother I don’t pee my pants right here in the middle of the Heart.
“They just came out of nowhere!” Em plays along.
“I knew the peonies had it out for me.”
“Stop!” I beg as I fight to compose myself. “I can’t take anymore.”
Amaya turns back to the bush that has been slightly flattened by her body. “You hear that, peonies? My best friend, who just came back from the dead, is gonna kick your ass if you try something like that again.”
Her threat to the blush-colored flowers has Emeric throwing her over his shoulder. “Let’s get her out of here before she starts a war with the tulips next.”
“Stay the night?” I ask Amaya when we finally reach our rooms.
“I was hoping you’d ask!” she squeals, tossing her arm over my shoulder.
I’ll enjoy having my own space tomorrow night. For now, I just want to hang out with my favorite person.
“Night, you two.” Emeric and Akari give us each a hug before continuing down the hall.
“Wow!” Amaya gawks as she stumbles into my room. “Looks just like mine only a lot more gold!”
“The plum color really suits you, though.”
She twirls around and falls back onto my bed. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“Can you believe we get our own rooms?” I let her have the majority of the bed and sit on the top with the feather-filled pillows.
“Honestly? No. I mean all of this is so crazy. We’re supposed to be at the Sector right now training.
Instead, we’re in this unknown underworld preparing for war.
” She rolls over onto her stomach and sits up on her elbows to look at me.
“It’s like I know how we got to this point and somehow my mind still can’t wrap itself around it. ”
“You’re telling me,” I sigh.
“Shit. Yeah, what am I saying? You’ve gone through more than any of us. You know… we haven’t really talked about you being a phoenix.”
I reach for a pillow and hug it, searching for any kind of comfort I can. “I know. There’s just so much going on right now. You know, today I found out my father is dead.”
Amaya shoots up from her elbows and positions herself next to me up against the headboard. “I’m so sorry! How did you find out?”
“Well, that’s a whole other story.”
I lean my head back and tell her everything Ryder had told me about my father’s death and the promise he had made to him.
“Okay, that’s… a lot.” She turns to me, searching my face. “How do you feel about it?”
“How do you think I feel? Betrayed! He lied to me the whole time we’ve known each other. He had every opportunity to tell me the truth, and he kept it from me. It’s like we were playing a game and I didn’t know the rules.”
“Yeah. I understand all of that. I’d be mad too if I were you. But please don’t hate me for what I’m about to say.”
I glance at her sideways already annoyed with her tone. It’s the one that is usually followed by rational thinking.
“Just say it.”
“All I’m saying is if you really think about it, what choice did Ryder really have?
” I’m about to interject but she holds up her hand.
“Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel some type of way about it, but if roles were reversed, would you risk the king finding out about the rebellion?
I think not. If Ryder had told you the truth, you would’ve told all of us, including Damien.
Word would’ve gotten back to the king that his son was in cahoots with someone who had been sent to the Shadow Lands as a traitor and who knows what kind of action he would’ve taken.
The rebellion would’ve been crushed before even getting on its feet because let’s face it, without Ryder leading the cause, the rebellion would be nothing more than a whisper like it had been before he came here.
Despite what you may think about Ryder, he did save you from being poisoned and being tortured.
I mean, now we know you’re immortal but at the time we didn’t.
That has to count for something, right?”
I throw the pillow I had been holding at her head. “I hate when you’re right.”
“And here I thought you’d be used to it by now.” She sticks her tongue out at me and tosses the pillow back in my face.
I’ve missed this. I’ve missed her.
When we’ve finally talked our heads off, she wraps her arms around me, and the tears begin to fall once more.
Though I’ve somewhat mourned the loss of my father for years, there’s an agonizing pit forming in my chest, knowing he’s truly gone from this world.
I close my eyes and hold on to the thought of him reuniting with my mother.
It’s the only sentiment that seems to comfort me now.