Chapter 23 White Lies
White Lies
Three days separated the group from their final destination. Time went by faster than Alissa could have dreamed of, and for that, she was deeply grateful. Being on the road for so long made her life in Bryniard seem like a distant dream, and the absence of her daughter hurt badly.
The inexorable passage of time was a heavy, unwavering presence that reminded her she had no time to waste.
The proximity to the city she had hoped would give her the answers she sought brought Alissa an estate of untamed anxiety.
She wished she could get it all done and run back to Dhalia, but the truth was, they didn’t even know where to start from there.
They had yet to come up with a plan to enter the library without being recognized by the hundreds of guards that surveilled the town or its people.
The number of people crossing their paths had already increased considerably in the last few days, as had the level of caution to avoid being recognized.
Most people only bowed to them, a greeting of respect to the Guardians of Faith, but they couldn’t let their guard down for a second from this point forward.
“Is the capital as lovely a city as Nyfrel is?” Freyah asked when they decided to set up camp to rest until dawn.
“No. In fact, the closer we get to the capital, the less like villages the cities will look. The cottages will become bigger constructions, and the kind people will be replaced by arrogant bastards who will take any chance they get to take advantage of others,” Eldric snarled bitterly.
Everyone stared at him, taken aback by his sudden burst.
“Please make sure we don’t cross paths with whoever made you hate that place so much,” Alissa said.
“It’s not a specific person. It’s everyone.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. You’ll see when we get there.”
Desi couldn’t disagree more with Eldric’s opinion. Golheim was her home, the place she grew up in and built a family. It was the place she never should have left to begin with.
“Have you girls never been to the capital?” Desi asked curiously.
There were several small villages and towns spread throughout Heldraine, but she had never met anyone who hadn’t been to the capital before.
Alissa and Freyah shook their heads.
“Where are you two from?”
Before Alissa could answer, Eldric stepped in. “They’re from Pravin.”
Alissa and Freyah stared at him, surprised at how easy the lie came out of his lips. Still, the silence hanging in the air worked as a mutual agreement not to correct the man.
Desi frowned. “I have never heard of that place before.”
“It’s a very small island.”
“Oh, that’s why you two have such a distinguished accent,” Desi noted.
“No one ever comes to Pravin. It’s not odd not to have heard of it before.” An awkward laughter escaped Alissa’s lips. She couldn’t be sure if Eldric had made that name up or if the place actually existed.
“Right. Maybe someday I’ll get to visit your hometown.”
“Yes, and you are welcome to stay with us when you’re in Pravin, Desi,” Freyah gently offered, a weird attempt to make their lie seem more believable.
The only thing she got instead was scolding, disbelieving glances from Eldric and Alissa. She shrugged back.
“Why are you heading to the capital?”
“We want to visit the library,” Alissa explained.
“Oh, I know that place like the back of my hand. My mother is a curator there. I’m sure you will love it!”
“What did you just say?” Eldric’s eyes widened.
A line appeared between Desi’s brows. “My mother. She restores the books that need work in the Library of All Things. I used to spend whole afternoons there reading.”
The trio exchanged glances and smiled in unison. They had been struggling to come up with a plan that could get them inside the most visited attraction in Heldraine without being spotted. They might have found the breakthrough they were looking for.
While conversation flowed among the others, Ronin was the only one who hadn’t spoken since being held captive in their carriage three days before.
All he did on the way was grunt. He grunted when Freyah recited weird poetry and when Eldric counted their provisions.
He grunted as Desi and Alissa shared fun stories about their children, their voices carrying raw maternal emotion.
Still, every now and then, Ronin’s eyes remained on Desi, the expression in his face more revealing of what went through his mind than the power of reading minds would be.
He made no effort to hide that there was something bothering him.
It was not even the fact that he was being held hostage by an unconventional group of people, who also happened to be criminals.
What really bothered him was that Desi had joined them willingly.
Ronin couldn’t grasp how the woman he came to know and admire over the years would risk everything—including her life—to join them on this journey toward the place they would be most targeted and most at risk of being caught.
Hours later, when the night met its darkest hour, Alissa and Freyah were sound asleep, lying on their sleeping mats.
Desi lay across from them, her eyes staring blankly at the dim sky.
Ronin rested his head against the trunk of the tree Eldric had tied him up to, while Eldric stood guard a few feet ahead.
Desi surveyed her surroundings, making sure no one would hear or see her as she moved.
She crawled on the leafy floor. The sound of twigs breaking under her knees made her freeze; she did not want to catch the attention of her travel companions.
The healer silently reached Ronin. His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn’t sleeping; she had come to recognize the sound of his breathing when he was asleep.
“Desi,” he whispered, opening his eyes as she touched his shoulder.
“Hi,” she murmured, her voice low. “I’m sorry I got you into this much trouble. I never meant to.”
“Desi. What are you doing?” he interrupted her impatiently.
“I just... I needed to see my children again, Ron.”
The man’s anger soon morphed into sympathy. “Desi, you can’t. We already discussed this. If anyone finds out you have left, you’ll be sentenced to death. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know.”
He sighed. “Untie me. We’ll get back to Nyfrel together. No one will ever know you left.” Ronin stared at her, his eyes were passionate. “I promise you, Desi.”
“What about them?” She gestured toward the rest of the group with a nod of her head.
“We can pretend we never saw them and leave while they’re sleeping. I won’t kill them if they are somehow important to you.”
Ronin’s offer was tempting, but if she fled back to Nyfrel with him, she would never see her family again. He was a very patriotic, loyal man. It was a miracle he was willing to overlook her friends’ crimes, but he would never support her decision to leave against the kingdom’s orders.
Ronin closed his eyes, his breathing heavy as he angled his head to where her hands traced his cheek. “Please, Desi.”
She didn’t answer his plea, but her eyes welled up with tears. When Desi backed away, Ronin pushed himself forward, completely ignoring the strong knots keeping him tied to the trunk. He groaned in pain, and she noticed the lump on his head and several bruises covering his arms.
“Were you injured in your fight with Eldric?”
He nodded.
She thinned her lips. “Are you in pain?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Desi.”
The healer pulled a small vial out of her pocket, the liquid moving within the glass as she shook it between her fingers.
“Here, take this. It will help you with the pain.” Desi administered the potion she had prepared, her hands on his chin, helping him access the vial while his hands were still tied.
He drank it down, hoping it would ease some of the soreness from his bruises. She had always taken such good care of him…
“What’s going on here?” Eldric’s firm voice interrupted them.
Desi was startled by his presence and awkwardly dropped the small recipient onto the floor. Her hands trembled as she retrieved the vial and stammered out an excuse.
“He had a fever, and I needed to tend to it.” She forced a smile, taking long strides back to her sleeping mat, acting as a child caught red-handed by their parents.
Eldric narrowed his eyes with suspicion, fearing that it might have been an attempt to set Ronin free. However, when he noticed the injuries on Ronin’s arms, his tension lessened. The woman was a healer; she would never ignore someone in pain without feeling compelled to help.
Convinced everything was in order, Eldric went back to his guarding spot.
116 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
Ronin felt drowsy for the entirety of the following day; his vision was blurring, and he vomited a few times as they got back on the road.
No one paid too much mind to it, not even the man himself, as he confirmed he tended to feel sick on occasions such as this, whether through land or sea.
No one paid much attention until night came and Ronin’s heart gave in.
He fell from the carriage, hitting the ground heavy as a rock, already lifeless, his skin pale.
Eldric abruptly stopped the vehicle to help him, all three women suddenly thrown back against their seats by inertia. For minutes, Desi tried to revive him, but not even the expertise of an experienced healer could bring the strong man back to life.
Ronin died with his hands and ankles tied up and rope marks bruising his skin. Marks that would have been a reminder of what he had been through, had he survived. They stood beside Ronin’s body in shock.
How did he go from a completely healthy, strong man to a corpse in a day?