“Your brother mentioned you were well read, but not that you were also skilled with a blade.”
I look down at my hands; the tips are still stained with dirt.“He doesn’t approve.”
“That’s a shame.I find it admirable.”
He has a lovely smile.Warm, where I expected him to be cold.Interested, where I expected indifference.
He walks behind my desk, beckons me over.I’m curious.
“I brought you something.”
He passes me a scroll.It’s large, half the length of me at least, and I lay it over the desk to roll it out.Lucky holds the opposite end, and what I find steals my breath.
“It’s a map.”
There’s a similar one on the wall behind us, drawn before the world was split.I’ve studied it long and hard over the years, tried to imagine where the breaks were, swallowed down the pain of a wound we’d never be able to repair.
Before me is the new world, and it’s … beautiful.I didn’t think it would be.I’ve never seen the sea before, only ever heard of the horrors the sorcerer enacted with it, but this is …
Gosh, it’s so very blue.
A familiar, striking blue.
Lucky sets a candleholder down, holding the map flat.“We’ll leave from here,” he says, pointing to our only port, far in the north.He has nice hands.Large, sun-kissed, with strong veins.“My crew is still there, looking after the ship and no doubt getting into trouble.”He turns his head toward me.“You’ll fit right in.”
I duck my head, hiding my blush.Chance sits to the east, the city spilling out from the summit of a cliff, where the land has been carved away.But they didn’t give up; they embraced their scars and celebrate them.It’s beautiful.
“The port must be filled with yellow blossoms by now.”
“You’ve done your research,” he says, pleased.
I have, but that’s not how I learned of it.“My guard, Sterling, has said many good things about Chance.I must admit, I’m curious to see it for myself.”
He’s close enough that I hear his breath catch.Curious.
“Do you know him?”
It’s not a thought I’ve had before, but perhaps I should have.Where else would Sterling have trained?
The prince considers the map, his features held still.Too still.“The name is familiar, but I cannot recall more than that.”
He’s lying.I want to poke and prod, tease out the details that Sterling has so long denied me, but the look on Lucky’s face stops me.I’ve seen it before.
It’s heartbreak.
Rocked, I turn and walk to the window, with the pretense of admiring the view.It makes sense.Sterling has never dated since he arrived, and he’s always careful to keep my advances at a distance.I thought he was protecting me by letting me down gently.Now I know there’s so much more to it.
“It’s beautiful,” he says.“What will you miss most?”
Not,Will you miss it?No, there’s no question I will.I’m glad he understands that; it will make things easier.The real, honest answer is not a what, but a who—not that I’ll reveal it.
Instead, I point into the distance, deep into the neighboring forest.
Ferntree is largely flat, far as the eye can see, with rich soil and good seasons.We’ve been fortunate to live off what we grow, and we are careful never to ask for more than that.
Beyond the orchard to the east, the horizon is flush with greenery.Oaks, taller than any home I’ve seen, flourish there, and all of my childhood summers were spent hiding from Louis in the undergrowth.
“Not many know of it, but there’s a cottage one day’s walk from here, where the woodsmen camp.Otherwise, it’s left empty.All my life, it’s served as a secret refuge whenever I was scared.I’d wait until the moon was high and the house was still and sneak out.No one else could find me there, not even my brother.I’ll miss having it nearby.”
