“Why did you run this time?”
“I never ran. That’s not my fate. But one day I will. It will be towards my end, Selene.” He blinks. The red in his eyes remains.“I needed time to think. To see all the outcomes.” He shrugs.
“Outcomes of what?” I sink beside him. A coolness envelops my body. The sand welcomes me with open arms. Reaching out, I rub his back. My fingertips glide over bones, and I frown.“You haven’t eaten.” My hands freeze on his protruding ribs. Father will notice and force him to train harder.
“Seeing endless deaths makes food taste like ash.”
“Everett… please. I need you.” I rub harder, forcing heat into his numb body.
Everett’s cursed with two magics. Time-weaving and foresight. And I’ll let you in on a terrible secret: I am the only person who knows he has the latter.
It’s a shared burden. If my father knew, he’d weaponize his son.
Everett’s magic of time-weaving developed first. Father never thought he would gain a second power. Thankfully, foresight is not something others can see, only Everett.
“I see endless ends, Selene. Only one has the prospect of a beginning when all is done.” His hand moves robotically, tracing lines in the sand.
I study his face; the circles under his eyes are too sunken and dark. The fae of Solaria have sun-kissed skin, but Everett has turned into a shadow; he resembles the fae of Lunestra, pale as the moon, but he does not glow.
“I have tried so many times to prevent a certain ending. I realize I have to let it happen. I have to allow many things to happen,” he murmurs in defeat.
I run my hand through his hair. It helps Everett talk about what he sees, which is why he wrapped us in a bubble so no one else could hear.
It’s hard to keep my voice tender when I ask,“You see your death?” I hate the gods for cursing him with this terrible fate.
“It’s not my death I wish to stop. It’s others.”
Vines wrap around my heart, one of outrage and the other of compassion. They intertwine and root deep, never separating. Everett always puts others before himself. I abhor that, but it’s what will make him an admirable king.
“It’s best not to meddle,” I propose.
“I have no choice. If the gods didn’t want me to impose, they wouldn’t have gifted me this ability.”
It’s not a gift. It’s eating you alive.
“Our family stopped caring about the gods long ago. Perhaps it is time you did.”
“It is our lack of caring that put me on this path.”
I drop my hand into the sand, burying my fingers beneath it. I indulge him as I ask,“What outcome are you referring to?”
He tries to lick his lips. They’re so chapped that his tongue gets stuck.
Has he not drunk in the three days he’s been gone?
“I have tried to stop someone from finding something.”
“Who?”
He shakes his head.“I can’t tell you. It would alter the path.”
“What do you want to stay hidden?”
He shakes his head again.
I bite my inner cheek.“Okay,” I let out a breath.“What’s the reason you’re trying to prevent this individual from finding this item?”
“In their hands, it will destroy everything we know. Everything,” Everett declares. His hand trembles with the weight of reality.“I have to let them find the object. Only then can it be healed and awakened again.” His fist curls into a tight ball.“I have to let so many horrid things pass in order to fix what was done. I have to lose so many people so we can win.”
