We cannot outrun them. And yet we must.
Zephyrus shudders then, though the ground itself lies still. One hand fists atop his thigh, long fingers contained by the clasp of his hand. “Pierus calls for me.”
“You’ve ignored the call before, right?” I remind him. “When you visited Boreas.”
I called for you three months ago,the Orchid King had said, his voice the only evidence of the insidious ritual awaiting Zephyrus in that chambered field of roses.
“Yes.” Zephyrus nods with a vague blankness. “Distance eases the strain. If we can reach Notus’ realm, I’ll be safe.”
I’m on my feet, gathering supplies and shoving them into my knapsack. Pivoting, the roselight held high, I take in the cave moutha stone’s throw ahead, tall and narrow, chilled air wafting from the mountain’s depths.
“If we keep pace,” I say, turning to face Zephyrus, “we should reach your brother in a few hours.” That is, after all, what he told me yesterday.
“It won’t be a few hours, Brielle.”
I understand the journey’s difficulties, but I grow weary of his skepticism and negativity. “I know things haven’t gone smoothly—”
“I can’t move my legs.”
It is as though I hear these words from a great distance. They cannot touch me where I stand. “Are you sure?”
“I think I know when I can’t move my legs,” Zephyrus snaps.
My hands shake, but I shove them under my arms for additional warmth, smothering the panic before it overwhelms. It will do no good to fall apart. “We knew this was going to happen,” I say, my gaze steady on the West Wind. “We still have time.”
He continues to stare at his unresponsive legs. “Time?” One hand drags through his curls, yanking strands of hair free. “We are out of time. We cannot reach my brother if I cannot walk.”
“Then I will carry you.”
He shakes his head, and oh, what bitterness that smile has wrought. “You cannot carry me, Brielle.”
Normally, I would not take offense, but I am weary, hungry, and short on patience. My reply snaps out. “And why not?”
A momentary brightness revives his gaze. It is nearly as shrewd as I remember. “Perhaps on a sunny day, across flat ground, after we had rested and filled our bellies. But fleeing the Orchid King’s hounds in the dark? While Under shakes itself to pieces?” He attempts to push himself upright on quavering arms, then wilts, cursing beneath his breath when he fails to gather the required strength. “These obstacles would be trying for a god,” he adds, “much less a mortal woman.”
Zephyrus isn’t the heaviest thing I have carried, but he has walled himself into an early defeat. He sees how high the walls rise and will remain confined within them until the light is gone, his world naught but damp and cold.
“All I want is to try. We owe it to ourselves to do so.”
He shakes his head. “I will not ask you to carry me.”
“You do not have to ask.” Only now do I rest a hand on his. “I’m offering.”
“It’s too far,” he grinds out.
“Says who?”
A gust snaps through camp. “What will you do, drag me the remaining ten miles? Will you break your spine to ensure I reach Notus before my demise?” Breath by scalding breath, the air crackles around him. “I will not subject you to that burden.”
“You are not a burden,” I argue. “Not to me.”
He slumps lower to the ground. “Return to Carterhaugh and forget about me.”
I watch him calmly, hoping to draw his attention back to me, but Zephyrus, Bringer of Spring, is defeated. He is both a god and a boy, beloved and abandoned. His hurt reflects my own.
“Have my actions misguided you?” I whisper, curling my fingers around my trinity knot pendant.
“Your actions have only demonstrated your kindness and compassion, but this is not about me,” he growls, a sound more animal than man. “This is about you, the life you must live. There’s still time to make this right. You can return to Miles Cross and rejoin your people. You will live a long, happy, healthy life. Afreelife.”
