Chapter 22 Faolan
TWENTY-TWO
FAOLAN
It had been a long couple of weeks, especially as it was spent traveling away from the First Kingdom.
It made sense as the surest way to go undetected, but it felt so wrong.
I just wanted to get back there and deliver our wards, so then I could finally get away.
At last, the time to disembark was nearly here.
Land would be on the horizon when the sun rose, and everyone was more than ready. We were all a little stir crazy.
The thought of being among other fae again, where we could not control our environment or C—their safety, had me on edge.
I mentally kicked myself for the near slip.
I was here to guard the entire party, not just one.
And then I was leaving. I’d made my peace with it.
It would hurt her, I knew. Especially now that she knew she was my ryder, but our bond hadn’t fully revealed itself to her, and that was for the best.
Without physical touch and face-to-face proximity, hopefully what was there already would never fully develop, and we would never get the chance to meld.
Then life apart should be tolerable. When I’d voiced that aloud to Nyx, he’d looked at me like I had the innocence of a hatchling.
But I meant it. I would do whatever it took to stop it from happening.
Kol emerge from below. “I came to take over for you.”
“I’m good. I’m too awake to go down,” I told him. “Stretch your wings if you like. I’ll keep watch.”
We’d gained the trust of the captain early, and we’d been volunteering to take night watch at the helm for them for most of the trip.
Which allowed us all to fly when we needed to and had provided Nyx with opportunities to check for other vessels in the dark of night, using whatever Night Dragon cloaking the Goddess blessed them with to hide in the sky.
There was no one on our trail, which was reassuring, but making landfall tomorrow would bring new risks of being recognized and word spreading.
“No flying for me tonight. Just air.” Kol drew in a breath appreciatively.
“I will not miss the smell down there,” I scoffed.
“No one will. I don’t think I’ll ever fully be rid of it. I might need to get the healers to work on extracting it from my nose along with the poison in my veins when I get back.”
I looked at his chest, the faint tattoo visible in the open neck of his tunic.
“Don’t do that,” he warned.
“Do what?”
“Pity me.”
“I do not pity you.”
“You do. It’s in your eyes. Everyone does. Poor Kol, the broken twin.”
“I don’t think anyone thi—” A mock laugh cut me off.
“They all think that. Do you know how hard it is to be broken when the perfect vision of what you should be is always beside you night and day for all to see? It’s like I’m permanently carrying around an example of just how much I’m lacking, just in case anyone I meet is under the false impression I’m okay.
Nope, look, this is what I should be like. See how broken I am now?”
Goddess, I hadn’t seen him like this in a while.
“You’re in a mood tonight,” I noted. He didn’t get away with shit with me.
I would not coddle him, and I knew, mood or not, he appreciated it.
We’d formed just the kind of friendship I imagined we could while being stuck on this boat.
I knew he talked to Alaric, too, and then there was Nova, who went out of her way to talk to him.
But I didn’t think he got the same indifferent treatment from them.
Kol sighed. “I heard Nyx telling Zaria he was worried about how I’d react to all the fae at the River Kingdom port. It’s like he doesn’t see me at all. I make progress, and he still doubts me. I make no progress, and he mourns me. Why bother? I should have just stayed dead.”
Oh, Nyx. When would he learn?
I had tried with little success to make him see that a lot of their problems came from how he treated Kol, but he was just so set on giving him space to heal that he didn’t see that normality was probably the best treatment he could get.
“Nah, then you wouldn’t have met me,” I said jovially. Completely the wrong tone for his current mood, which was exactly what he needed.
He gave me his signature bored look. “And you think knowing you has helped me in some way?”
“Of course. How could it not?”
“I suppose your problems are currently bigger than mine. So things could be worse. I could be you. You’re right, that does help. Thank you.”
I shook my head, chuckling. “Arse.”
“I have a great arse.”
I took an exaggerated look. “Had, perhaps. It’s looking on the deflated side now. I’ll check out Nyx’s in the morning. You know, to see what it should look like.”
Kol barked a laugh for real this time. “You’re the arse, not me.”
“I’ll own it.” I smirked. “Seriously, you really need to find a way to talk to him.”
“I know.”
None of us spoke as we emerged from the dock’s storehouse and surveyed the River Kingdom’s busiest port.
I think we were all just happy to be out of the ship’s hold, out of the damn crates, and enjoying the fresh air.
Even the idea of a few feet of space away from each other as we walked through the crowded docks sounded like walking on the Shores of Avalon.
Just before dawn was a busy time for ports, and that gave us the perfect cover.
Plenty of fae at work and few watching faces and movements.
We’d unloaded our crates from the dock into one of the large storehouses in the port.
It gave us the privacy to unload our secret cargo and store the wine we’d brought with us.
I was to try and sell it to a trader today for some extra gold to fund our return.
The King's coin would only stretch so far on a journey we were never meant to take.
We made our way deeper into town as the market stalls were beginning to set up for the day, and the stable hands were feeding their charges.
It would be a good time to procure rooms at an inn and figure out our next step.
We had some time to breathe, since we were far enough upstream, beyond the estuary and away from the sea and potential attack.
It would be harder to sneak up on us this deep into the River Kingdom.
“What first?” Zaria broke the silence.
A couple of us exchanged glances.
“I don’t know about any of you, but I need to breathe something other than that stale hold for a bit.
” Or frankly, any air away from her, even if it was as bad as that ship’s hold.
I just needed a break. It was getting worse, and my head spun any time I was around her.
Which was all the time, so keeping away from her had been impossible.
“I’m going to stretch my legs, see if I can offload that wine in the market, and listen out for any gossip.
” And maybe a strong drink or two to dull my senses and help me get through another couple of days. Too bad I needed to sell that wine.
“Fine. We will get a couple of rooms and meet you later,” Nyx said, looking about, trying to decide which inn looked like it would suit us best.
We were incognito but had to be conscious that we did have a prince among us. Slumming it would be the best disguise, but we couldn’t ask that of His Highness. Nor could we cater to his station, or we would draw eyes. Not for the first time, I was just happy not to be Nyx.
“I’ll find you,” I told him.
“Don’t enjoy yourself too much,” he cautioned with a smirk.
“Sure, Daddy, I’ll be good. Just let me enjoy this tiny bit of freedom, please?
“Don’t get used to it.” Nyx laughed, which felt good. His mood seemed lighter, despite he and Kol still not getting along. Maybe Zaria had given him something more than a tonic to sleep last night.
Within two blissfully free hours, I was making my way into an inn with fresh-baked pastries and a pouch of gold.
Nyx stood out like a sore thumb among the wiry River Kingdom fae.
But it was not spotting him through the windows that told me where they would be.
It was her. I’d be able to find her hidden among a million fae.
Nova’s eyes lit at the bundle in my arms, even they could smell the sweet, buttery goodness with their regular fae senses. I handed them the parcel without a word as I took a seat at their table, and they eagerly unwrapped it, sharing the bounty around.
“Did you have any success?” Nyx asked, barely looking my way as he took the piece of pastry Zaria offered him with his teeth and a wink at his mate. Yeah, they definitely had more than tonic last night. Bastards.
I tossed him the pouch of coins, and he weighed it in his hand.
“Good work. This will keep us going until we can get home.” He tipped the coins into his palm under the table so as not to advertise it to the inn’s patrons, then retrieved what he had in his own pouch and began counting quietly.
We all watched, not sure what he was calculating until he lifted his head and then held out a stack of gold coins to Kol and another to me.
I frowned, exchanging a glance with Kol.
“What is this for?” Kol asked.
“In case we are separated or someone tries to pickpocket me. It doesn’t make sense for everything we have to be in one purse.” I didn’t miss that he said if someone ‘tries’ to pickpocket him. As if they would stand no chance of succeeding.
I nodded slowly in agreement. That was smarter than one of us carrying it.
“Wait, why you three? If there is trouble and we get separated, you three will dragon out on us and bye bye clothes!” Zaria stated, folding her arms. She stared Nyx down, ready and waiting for any argument he could come up with.
Nyx glanced at Kol, Kol glanced at me, and with heavy sighs, we all relinquished our coin to the three females of the group, who would—hopefully—retain their clothing at all times.