32. Chapter 32
Idon't know how much time passed. We became a blur of limbs, skin on skin that never wanted to leave one another.
The rest of the day was filled with whispers of clothes over skin, of gasps filling the air as he moved within me, bringing me to the edge of my limits, following me over the edge, just to begin again.
Over and over again he did this, not giving me a moment's reprieve, until finally we collapsed, me spent beneath him, clutching onto him as if he were my only anchor to the earth.
He held me just the same, and together, we lay there, tangled up in one another, nothing but the sound of our breaths and the crackle of the fire between us.
At some point, I looked up to find the sun painting the sky in a deep orange through the opening of the temple, the only indication that dusk was now upon us.
"We can't just hide here forever, can we?" I asked as I lifted my head to look him in the eye.
We wasted a whole day inside that temple, a day we could have spent traveling down to Rida, yet I found that I did not mind the delay this time.
I basked in that rare moment of rest, forgetting about the world and all the strife that lay outside for the first time in years.
A part of me did not want to return to reality, instead staying nestled in this little alcove of peace we had found.
"We can do whatever we want," Malik said, threading his hand through my hair and cradling the back of my head. "We could let the world burn, and I would be content because I would be with you."
It was tempting to forgo everything, to bask in this newfound selfishness and let the Divine do what they willed, but I knew we couldn't hide from what awaited us at Rida, that it would find us one way or another.
"We should probably continue south," I whispered, not wanting to hear the words myself.
"Whatever you want," he said softly, tucking my hair behind my ears. "But whatever it is, I'm never leaving your side."
I leaned my head on his chest, savoring one last moment before we faced what had to be done.
When we finally rose, we dressed in our lightest layers, the snow continuing to melt on the ground as the world warmed, yet as we stepped outside, I couldn't help but wonder how safe we were out in the open.
The Dures’ army could only be closer on our trail now.
Our only hope was that they completely bypassed us and were currently further south than we were—us now behind them.
We had been too caught up in one another to listen to goings-on outside, so we treaded carefully, keeping to the thicker parts of the forest.
Between the avalanche and fleeing from Malik's men, we had lost too much time.
There was one last small village before Hythe, this one full of people who knew of the Mother Blessed and our struggles, and when we told them of where we were headed, and what we were to do, we were loaned two horses to complete our journey, cutting our time to Rida in half.
We rode for miles, faster and harder than I had ever ridden before, the landscape whisking away underneath us as we continued south. I had never felt more free as we rode. I felt as if I could breathe for the first time in ten years, the weight of it all finally lifted from my shoulders.
The true south of Wellea was beautiful, and so vastly different than what I was used to in the north.
Here the mountains met the river in a dance easily coordinated, the nimid trees becoming less spindly and more lush, their roots and limbs multiplying in the warmer climate.
New foliage emerged from the river here, growing until it met the forest, no separation between land and water needed.
It felt like I was on a whole other continent, a world away from what I had always known.
Part of me wanted to worry about the strife we would meet if we ever decided to go back to Sorrel, what Therian would think, what my father would do.
But another part of me knew I was never going back to Sorrel.
I don't know when the revelation hit me, only that a sudden mourning for the only life I had known came over me without warning.
I shoved it aside, feeling the shift in the air as we got closer to Rida, a gut feeling that this was the last time I would ride over these lands taking over.
That something new, bigger and unknown, lay ahead.
The thought scared and excited me all at once. All I had ever known was Sorrel and Wellea—the prospect of leaving and possibly never coming back, never living on this island again, was almost too much to wrap my mind around.
Yet as I looked over at Malik, that fear vanished, because I knew I could do anything with him by my side.
Where I couldn't stand on my own, he would prop me up.
Where I was afraid to walk, he would guide me, encouraging me, knowing that I could always do it, even if I didn't believe it myself.
Even if he wasn't there. But it was all made easier because he was.
My best friend, my other half, the person whom I would save Rida next to.