Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
N eve and Eleksi rode late into the night, the memory of his brief, intense kiss warm on her lips.
A glittering starry sky guided the way north. The vegetation became starker and taller, and the temperature dropped. Snow capped the mountains in the northern regions of Zermes in the wintertime. Neve hoped she wouldn’t still be a fugitive at the turn of the season.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” said Eleksi out of nowhere. Their horses ambled side by side on the starlit forest path. “I was . . . overcome.”
Neve’s shoulders tightened in surprise and disappointment. She didn’t consider the kiss a mistake. She considered it wonderful, and she was dismayed that he seemed to think otherwise.
“Overcome by what?” she asked, trying to understand.
“My desire for you,” he replied in his low, deep voice, as if the answer was obvious. “I had no right to take advantage of you in a vulnerable moment. You’d just fought for your life.”
“You didn’t take advantage of me.” She paused, fiddling with the supple leather of her reins. “I liked the kiss.”
“So did I. I liked it so much that it disquieted me.”
“How so?”
He exhaled a measured breath. “The only strong feelings I’ve ever had have been bad ones.”
“Perhaps it’s time for a change.”
“Perhaps.” He gave her a sidelong look. “You don’t regret it?”
“I don’t regret it,” she replied emphatically. “You are the one gambling with your life by putting your flesh on mine. You know what happened the last time I kissed someone.”
The assassin chuckled. “Like I said, you just hadn’t met me.”
“Besides, we have more urgent concerns than a kiss. Our very survival.”
“Aye.”
“If we can’t defeat Meliohr, I’ll have to leave Zermes,” she said. “It’d be too risky to stay here. But where would I go?”
“You mean, where would we go?” replied Eleksi, his silvery eyes like stars in the velvety dark of the forest. “I wouldn’t leave you to your own devices. Nor would I want to.”
Pleased, Neve suppressed a smile. “Morktland isn’t an option, for obvious reasons. We’d be walking right into Garstang territory.”
“Although, hiding under their noses mightn’t be the worst idea.”
Neve shuddered. “Even if I’m not identified as Leonid’s child, if I’m captured for sorcery, a foul fate would await me.”
“Not Morktland, then.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit Velandia.”
“They are the closest kingdom, though,” said Eleksi. “People travel between here and there all the time. Your likelihood of discovery is high enough that you may as well stay here, in your own land.”
Neve sighed. “If only I had mountains of gold, we could hire every single Spider King to do our bidding, not Meliohr’s.” An owl hooted softly in the trees. “How much would it cost, anyway? To hire all of the Spider Kings, to ensure they can’t come after us?”
“There are hundreds of us. And new recruits are trained every day. Only the very wealthiest families have enough gold to command the entire company, and this is by design. Nobles can’t allow common people an avenue to overthrow them.”
Neve’s shoulders sagged. “That’s unfair. Meliohr already has the royal guard. And knights. And soldiers.”
“It’s unfair, yes. But you know, she probably says the same thing about mages. You have something that all the gold in the world can’t attain. In her eyes, a mage’s mere existence is a threat, let alone one with a potential claim to the throne.”
“I don’t wish to take the throne,” Neve said with a huff. “If only I could convince her I’m not a threat.”
“It wouldn’t matter. As long as you breathe, she’ll consider you her adversary. You may as well fight for yourself.”
“That I will. I only hope we succeed.”
“Shall we stop to rest? It’ll be light in a few hours and we ought to sleep, in case we have another day as eventful as the last.” He patted the braided leather saddlebags on his horse, which were identical to the ones on Neve’s mount. “There’ll be basic food and supplies in here.”
They made camp in a small, grassy clearing. Eleksi lit a fire while Neve tended to the horses, and then she huddled by the flames next to him. Inside the saddlebags, they found cured meat, flatbread, and dried apricots.
“I didn’t get the chance to give this to you,” said Eleksi, unslinging the scabbard from his shoulder and handing it to her. “I procured it from the metallurgist in the village. Crafted from pure silver.”
The hilt warmed against her hand the moment she touched the short sword, light enough for her to wield with ease. “It’s lovely.”
“What kind of enchantment would you impart onto it?” he asked curiously.
“That would depend on my intent.” She removed the weapon from the scabbard, moonlight sliding along the blade. “And whatever the sword wishes to do. All objects have predispositions of their own.”
Neve allowed her essence to flow through her palm and into the weapon. The blade glowed red and became weightless, departing her hand and levitating above her head. Her eyes slid unfocused and she asked the silver sword to become her familiar.
The hilt fell into her palm and the glow subsided. It looked much the same as before—sleek and metallic and deadly. The feel of it had changed, though. The handle very faintly hummed under her grasp.
“I want to test it,” she said, standing and turning away from the horses and Eleksi to face the dark forest.
“Test it how?”
She heaved the sword into the depths of the forest with all her strength. It spun through the air and promptly disappeared into the trees. It made no thud.
“Uh—” said Eleksi, squinting after the sword. “Why did you?—”
His words were interrupted by the weapon flying back toward them, flashing orange and silver in the firelight. She caught it, the hilt returning snugly to Neve’s grip.
Smiling, she flexed her fingers. “I believe the sword will return to me, and only me, no matter what.”
“What would happen if someone else tried to catch it?”
“I don’t know.” Neve returned the weapon to the scabbard. “Nothing good, we can presume.”
“It won’t be me who tries. I’ve learned my lesson, as far as your abilities are concerned.” He removed his cloak and lay it on the ground near the fire. “Try to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”
“Are you not tired?”
She settled onto the thick fabric, which carried Eleksi’s faint leathery scent, wishing to lie against the man himself rather than his cloak.
“No, I’m not tired.”
Knowing he had to be lying for her benefit, but also that he wouldn’t be swayed, she reluctantly acquiesced. “Alright. I’ll sleep for an hour and then we’ll swap.”
He circled the clearing, his eyes surveying the black forest. “Agreed.”
The fire warmed her. Despite feeling wide awake minutes ago, she curled her legs under her own cloak and soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, the sun had risen.
The fire still blazed, keeping Neve dry from dew. Eleksi stood watch, tall and as dark as a shadow, facing the trees. He must’ve sensed that she was awake, because he turned to look at her.
“You didn’t wake me,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
He snorted softly and walked to her. “Of course I didn’t. What kind of man would I be if I slumbered while you stood sentinel?”
“A well-rested one?” Neve shook out his cloak and returned it to him.
“We ought to keep moving. We’re still two days from reaching the coast.”
Eleksi stamped out the fire with his boot before covering the charcoal remains with soil.
While he mounted his horse, Neve stretched surreptitiously. Her muscles ached from sleeping on the ground. But given that Eleksi didn’t sleep at all, she was loathe to complain.
He smirked from atop his horse, catching her. “By sundown, we’ll be in a remote enough region of the kingdom to have less fear of Spiders and royal guards. The people in the north keep to themselves and tend not to ask questions. As long as we’re discreet, we should be able to sleep in a proper bed tonight.”
Her face warm, knowing he hadn’t slept a wink, she mounted her horse and they continued their journey north.
Birds sang in the trees and thick gray clouds drifted across the sky, covering the sun intermittently.
“May I ask you something?” asked Eleksi.
“Of course.”
“Now that you’ve heard your mother’s story and have had time to consider your situation, do you hope for anything from him? From Leonid?”
She gave him a quizzical look. “How do you mean?”
Eleksi shrugged, absentmindedly touching his spider ring. “Once we infiltrate the palace, do you wish to reconcile with him?”
Neve stared straight ahead, unseeing. “You know, I’ve spent my entire life wondering who my father was and what I might say to him if I ever got the chance. But now, I can’t imagine the answer. My blood is half his and yet we are strangers to each other.”
“There’s only one way to change that. If we get the chance, mind you. We might not. But I thought I should ask your wishes now, so that if the chance presents itself, we can take it. Whatever you prefer.”
Neve was going to fall silent, because she was used to keeping her feelings to herself. But then she reminded herself that Eleksi had confided in her. So, she found the courage to verbalize her own inner turmoil.
“I think I’m afraid that speaking to him would reveal I don’t in fact matter to him at all,” she said. “Before I knew my father’s identity, I could go on believing any number of realities might be true. In a way, I miss not knowing.”
“Would you return to not knowing, if you could?”
“I wouldn’t. Not knowing was maddening, and seeped into every part of my existence. But a small, childish part of me does miss it.”
“Aye. I understand.”
“I’ve always wondered about the little things more than the big things. I wondered if we have a similar laugh, or what his favorite food is, or his most vivid memories from childhood.”
“That makes sense. You can’t know a person without knowing the little things.”
“Perhaps it’s enough that I know who he is. The biggest mystery of my life has been solved. I ought to be grateful for that.”
“But you’re allowed to want more.”
“So are you.”
That seemed to cause conflict within Eleksi. He averted his gaze to the dense forest, deep in thought. Neve took his cue and lapsed into silence as well.
She’d wanted to say more. She wanted to say that he deserved kinship and sweetness and some semblance of peace in his heart. But she didn’t know if she was ready for such a conversation, because she also thought that perhaps she would’ve quite liked to be the one to give him those things.