“Are you sure, River? We might be able to walk a little further before the sun goesdown.”
“We probably could; however, we do not know if there has been rain. If there has been rain, the ground will be damp. The further north we go, the more of a chance for rain. This is dry here, and I think it would be wise of us to call it a day and makecamp.”
She did not argue with me, and we set our satchels down next to a log. I gathered some sticks and brush to start a small fire for warmth. After all, I was traveling with aQueen.
“I have never been camping,” sheannounced.
“No? Somehow that does not surpriseme.”
“Why? What is that supposed to mean?” she asked in a pissed offtone.
“It just means that I am not surprised. You grew up in acastle.”
“My father probably would have had a stroke if I had told him that I wanted to sleep outside in thewoods.”
I smiled and added that I thought he was a good man who cared about his daughter and wanted the very best for her. Our conversation shifted a bit, and as she was eating some fruit, she commented about how much she missed him. Guilt still sat in the pit of my stomach over what my father had done. I thought that if Octavia knew that I had been there that night and tried to help, that she would see that I always had good thoughts and intentions withher.
“I was there that night,” I began. Octavia’s gaze was on me, and she arched one of her eyebrows at me. “The night of the massacre. I was there. But, it is not what youthink.”
“Explain yourself, River,” she urged with wideeyes.
“My goal from early on had been to undo some of the damage from the hands of my father. I began hiding out in Stonewald, gaining info and hearsay about where the Carpe Noctem were heading or what their plans were. I would use this info to try and undo, if you will, some of the damage they caused. I would find the people they would hurt and leave for dead. If I found them before they died, I offered to save their lives. If they wanted to be saved and turned into a vampire, I obliged. If they did not want to be saved, I offered to absorb their sins so that their souls would be clean and that they could pass onto heaven,” Iexplained.
“Okay, and?” she prodded as I ate mybread.
“When I learned what my father wasplanning—”
“What had he planned?” sheinterrupted.
“He wanted the molds and materials to make Royal Darick coins. He planned to use whatever means were necessary to obtain them,” I saidgently.
“I see,” shemumbled.
“By the time I got there, I tried finding anyone that was alive still. I found your father,” I carefullysaid.
“Father? You found my father?” Octavia wrapped her hand around myforearm.
“Yes,” Inodded.
“Was he dead? What about my mother? Did you seeher?”
“Your mother was dead. But your father was still alive. Barely though. I offered him life, but he waved it off. I offered to take his sins, but again, he had no interest in that. He told me to find his daughter and save her. He gestured over his shoulder to your portrait on thewall.”
Octavia covered her mouth with one of her hands. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer so she could lean onme.
“He wanted you to findme?”
“Yes. I tried staying in the area after the Carpe Noctem left, but I could not find you. Then you showed up in Brookhaven at the bathhouse that I worked at. It took me a few centuries, but I foundyou.”
“You were at thebathhouse?”
“I was. I saw you, but I had not put it together right away. I knew you were familiar, but in the centuries that I had lived, I could not place it. Then your other friends appeared and mentionedDrishane.”
Octavia put the rest of it together as we finished up eating. As she leaned on me, I stroked her shoulder, and she draped her arm across my mid-section.
“I knew you were different, though, I had not imagined any of this. But, you still are one of mygentlemen.”
I kissed the top of her head as she snuggled closer. As I closed my eyes to rest, I thought of our journey towards Wester Lea tomorrow. Liam, Michan, Ethan, and Sean wandered into my thoughts yet again. I hoped the boys were doing okay and would not have any difficulties meeting us in Wester Lea. But overwhelmingly, I felt a connection to them unlike ever before. While we have walked today, I found myself thinking about them even more. As if they were part mine or part of me. I had turned them, and that connection was a powerful and deep bond. I made them what they arenow.
“Goodnight, Octavia. I love you,” Iwhispered.
