Chapter 25
Alora
The early morning light stung my aching eyes as I walked through the courtyard leaving The Hidden’s fortress, my captive in tow.
King Euron would be surprised to find out we had more soldiers in his circle than he anticipated, and Kassiel would be a flagstone to the whole coup.
Our tentative plan was to send Jessamine and I, with the help of Leeson, under the ruse of Lady Orlah and her servants to visit the court.
Perhaps then we could end the eternal tie,kill the bastard and free Kassiel in the same swoop.
The Hidden had received information that the king had been planning a masquerade in honor of the upcoming Blood Moons offerings.
King Euron, Kassiel had revealed to us later, had no longer been paranoid about his life with the binding of The Nightmare.
Orlin’s proclivity to cause suffering made it so that no one wanted to be under that vicious gaze.
The masquerade, in King Euron’s words, was a time when the sun god and moon goddess were in equality, which was important in his plans for an heir.
With the blessing of both primordial gods, perhaps they would allow him to conjure up the successor of Noxia. While he prayed and beseeched the gods, we’d be making our own attempt at rewriting fate.
“It’s strange,” Kassiel began, “to be walking freely with you. Here of all places. It’s almost as if I’m dreaming and I dare not wake.”
I turn slightly to watch his expression as we get closer to the edge of the markets. Golden light trickles down from the gaping hole above us, causing his ebony hair to shine.
I watch the way it dances over his sharp features. Wonderment coats his gaze as he looks around the arched cavern, the coves’ shimmering pools with steam filling the space, and the expansive flora that leaves one feeling like they’re lost in the jungles of a warmer climate.
The crunch of the gravel beneath our feet is the only sound in this early hour, most residents of River’s End still slumbering.
“It is unexpected, and yes, strange.” That’s all I can manage to say. Exhaustion masks my whole body in a fog that makes me feel like I’m floating. I can’t wait to get back to my lodging, the small two room house that has become my escape and biggest comfort.
“You’re weary, aren’t you?” He shifts his wandering eyes to me and studies.
“Terribly so. I’m sorry, it’s been a long few weeks.”
“Why are you sorry, little warrior?” His brows hitch, the v closing in tight where they meet.
He’s too awake after everything he experienced last night and part of me wishes he was as tired as I am.
“My brain is foggy and slow. I just need some sleep.” I blink away the tiredness and hope that’s the end of his questions.
We walk a few more paces before his warm hand grasps mine, pulling me to a stop.
“Alora, if you’re that tired, then we must get you in bed.
You’ve mentioned it enough times by now I assume your fatigue was almost a living thing.
All this planning to unravel King Euron can wait until you’re rested.
” He raises his damned brow at me again, sending ripples of annoyance down my spine.
The air feels too heavy and my clothes almost too tight, like a serpent squeezing.
Maybe it’s the demand from such a long day paired with an even lengthier journey, but I feel suddenly too trapped. I know he’s just making a suggestion, but it feels awfully like he’s telling me what to do.
I try to level out my breathing. To shove the building turmoil in my heart away. But it’s almost useless when venom begins to lace my words.
“Such a gentleman. I didn’t realize you cared so much for my well—being.”
My words sting by the way he loosens his grasp on my hand. His mouth flattens and lips pull tight.
“You don’t have to close me out. I see what you’re doing, Alora.”
The audacity of this man to try and have this conversation here.
“And what exactly is that? As far as I’m concerned, Kassiel, I’m exhausted and I can’t continue to play these mind games with you.”
He drops my hand completely and steps back. I watch as the hue of his eyes ignite and brighten into the piercing green.
He watches me and speaks lowly, “You had to be vulnerable for the first time in ages and you’re taking it out on me, I’m not mad at you for it.
I just want you to rest before any of the hard conversations happen between us, which is where this conversation is leading us—there is more that needs to be said. ”
Damnit, maybe I’m more transparent than I thought. But in this moment my heart skips a beat at his concern, and I’m more grateful that he can understand my temperament comes from my past, not because of him directly.
Begrudgingly I answer. “Thank you, Kassiel, for seeing me. I do apologize, truly.”
I grab his hand again and interlace our fingers. He stares down at where they’re locked and squeezes.
“We aren’t much different, you and I.” He doesn’t meet my gaze. “I’ve hurt more than most, grieved a different kind of love, and became hollow to my own existence. So I can understand how the vulnerable parts make those wounds feel raw and opened.”
Truthfully that’s how I feel. Exposed. I had to account for more of The Devourer’s sins last night than I cared to ask, but was urged on by the council to do so. Opening up his past made mine feel much greater than it had in turns.
Swallowing, I pull his hand and start walking in the direction of my home.
He’s right, there are more conversations that need to be had between us and ones that will change the trajectory of whatever this is. It’s slightly exhilarating.
“I haven’t brought anyone into my space before, in my home I mean.”
I hope he can’t read the nervousness that’s creeping up on me. “My raven, Oak, will be happy to see me, so prepare for her squawking now. She’s timid but very smart. Her coloring is much different than Kina and other ravens from here, she’s an alabaster color.”
He follows along diligently. “A white raven is rare, where did you find one?”
Of all the things he could ask, I’m surprised he settled on my raven. Oak usually isn’t of interest to most people, which I’m generally glad for.
“I didn’t find her actually, she found me. She was just a fledgling and I assume she had gotten lost. I fed her myself until she molted from her baby down.”
I remember the snow—white ball landing in my lap as I sat upon a rock in the Siltar Woods long ago. Those woods gave and took often enough, so I tried to leave the wicked thing where it had landed, but Oak had already imprinted on me in the time it took to get her back to the nest she fell from.
He looks to me and says, “White ravens were once said to be messengers of the veil, connected to the goddess and sent to her most loyal believers.”
I had heard this before, long ago by an old merchant. He tried buying Oak from me and promptly looked disappointed when I said no.
Straying from the path, I follow a less worn trail that leads through two tall arbor trees, their needles woven so thick among their branches, they easily appear as two sentinels at the beginning of my home’s walkway.
We reach the pathway of cracked stones and moss. The springy lichen is one of my favorite things about this place, the way it seems to mend the broken slabs of rock.
Calm rushes over me as I see my familiar threshold, the heavy door painted with little flowers where the brass knocker is located.
Kassiel abruptly comes to a stop, his body turning statuesque. My hand twists as I continue, not noticing his stillness until I’m literally tugging on him.
Facing him I ask, “Everything okay?”
I follow his gaze to see what he’s staring at and notice he’s transfixed on the flowers I’ve planted along my stoop. The white bell lilies that mean so much to me.
Looking back at him, I study the emotion that settles over his face. When he notices me, he quickly shakes his head and fixes his expression into something unreadable.
He clears his throat and a whisper comes out. “How did those come to be here?”
It feels so trivial, like he’s enamored by a simple detail that is meaningless.
I laugh shakily. “Uh, well, I planted them here. The Lily Bells are my favorite.”
With the uneasy smile plastered to my face, I begin to speak again. “They remind me of my family, of my past. They’re perhaps the most beautiful thing left of that time.”
His face blanches and he’s noticeably paler. My smile quickly falls and I take a step closer to him.
“What’s wrong, Kassiel?”
He makes the smallest step toward me but abruptly stops with his hand extended to me. His eyes widen, as if he’s seeing me for the first time. I feel helpless as he stands there, in whatever horror that’s taken hold.
His green orbs bounce back and forth between mine. I watch myself in the mirror of his gaze, standing hopelessly.
His jaw slacks open, lingering for a moment before he promptly snaps it shut. Mist begins to form along his lashline. Witnessing the devastating portrait in front of me is enough to force me into his arms, to catch him while he breaks.
“Kassiel, I’m here.”
I wrap my arms around him as it’s the only thing I can think of to do. I’ve watched people break apart before. Though this time it’s like witnessing the earth shatter.
The air around us feels heavy and charged. His body sags against me and his muscular arms reach around to cling to me. The weight of his body has me straining, and I raise my chin up to glance at him. I feel his tears land on my face before I see them sliding down his skin.
He begins to tremble and his hold tightens, as if I’d slip through if he let go.
Inky locks lick my face in the cavern breeze that’s picked up, likely due to a storm on the sea. I feel his hands shift and he moves them up my spine, almost reassuring himself I’m very much real.