“Why were you all waiting for us?” The question blurts from my lips before I can think.
Naaveen clears his throat but Jessamine cuts him off. She hurriedly answers, “All we knew from Leeson was that you all had escaped and had taken The Devourer as prisoner. Reports came in from other members across the kingdom that King Orlin had sent The Nightmare to the outskirts of Astoria and neighboring villages looking for you all.”
Her gaze drops as we pass a cobblestone fence that’s used to keep the animals from wandering to the warm pools.
Naaveen lifts his hand to her shoulder and squeezes and my concern begins to build.
Sternly, I ask, “What’s happened?”
The air seems to cool with the notice that The Nightmare is roaming the countryside.
Naaveen answers for her, his smoky voice breaking the chilled silence, “He’s burned villages and murdered far more than that. We thought it was bad before when we were searching for the culling bands, but this is a new level of vitriol.”
“Fuck,” Kassiel whispers behind me and Naaveen glances at him, his expression unreadable.
Caym pipes in, “Perhaps he was kept in check before, is that possible, Devourer?”
Before he can answer, Jessamine asks what I assume is on everyone’s mind, “How can we trust him? He’s been working with the king this whole time.”
She’s right to question this. Coming to River’s End means my whole home is at risk if Kassiel betrays us. If I were in her shoes, I would wonder the same thing.
Leeson replies this time, and I’m grateful it’s her instead of me, “He’s had optimal time to betray us before now. He saved us when it didn’t make sense for him to. We’ve seen things that don’t make sense with him in our company. Alora trusts him and that’s good enough for me.”
My heart swells with her words. She’s always had my back and I’m more thankful for our sisterly bond now more than ever.
“Very well,” Naaveen states, “if that is what you’ve found to be true, then there’s more discussion to be had. But we must do it before the council as a whole. I don’t want any untrusting feelings to form or any possibility that someone thinks we’re being deceitful.”
We pass a garden, ripe with fresh vegetables and berries and my stomach grumbles loudly, enough so that Jessamine gives me a bewildered look.
“We’ll add that to the list of things to do,” Naaveen’s tone is laced with amusement.
Coming to a small building with brightly stained glass depicting the lover moons and numerous constellations, I guide Dahla to the nearby water trough.
I slide off her easily and curse my numb backside.
Caym hops off his horse as well and unbridles his mare, releasing her next to mine.
Kassiel still sits atop Dahla and I watch him curiously. He looks as if he’s a fish out of water, stunned by this totally new environment. His eyes study the cavern, which is more so asinkhole. His nostrils flare as he breathes in the salty sea breeze that mingles with the lush growth of vegetation.
“It’s rather freeing isn’t it?” Leeson surprises me when she walks beside him and asks him this.
I watch their interaction quietly as she continues, “It’s a wild smell—raw, natural. It’s grounding while also making you feel alive again.”
Kassiel trains his eyes on her, listening intently.
“Many come here, or find The Hidden, when they’ve thought there’s nothing else. They come here to heal. To be. To just exist. Maybe you’ll heal here too.”
She quickly turns, leaving him speechless. He watches her walk through the open door to the building before slowly returning his gaze to me.
The rest of our party has already gone inside. Kassiel and I linger. I offer my hand to him and pull my lips up into a smile, as if I could coax him down off Dahla.
Reassuringly I say,“Let’s get on with it then.”
The lighting in the chamber dims as the candles melt down to stubs. We’ve been discussing Kassiel and what his presence means for us. For the cause.
The deliverance of The Devourer feels rather like divine intervention. Could the fates, the goddess, or another force feel sympathy for the horror that is happening in Noxia?
Back when my family was alive, I was more of a believer, the first one to set the morning offerings. After they were murdered by King Euron’s hand, I decided they couldn’t be bothered to take pity on us, we were all but ants to these primordial beings. Perhaps I was wrong.
