“Stop,” the Commander growled. He grasped my chin with his thumb and pointer finger, roughly tilting my face towards his.
The questions had poured from melike a flood through broken gates. I needed to know. If he was going to refuse to let me die, I needed to know what I was living for.
“You want answers, Little Drownling?” he mused, fingers squeezing harder. “Earn them. Every time you obey me, I’ll indulge you in a truth.”
The Commander of Deathknewwhat I was. He knew why the Iron Guard wanted me dead. Why I could drown men and sing them to their knees. He knew about my connection to the Soul Relics. AndIknew nothing. What choice did I have?
“Fine,” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“Good girl, now go back to the clearing and get on my horse.” His hand dropped from my face, and I pushed past him towards the clearing. His low chuckle followed me, dark and amused. My arms wrapped tighter around my body, as if I could hold the pieces of myself together.
Twenty-Three
The Storm
Istomped over the wildflowers, leaving a path of destruction to the damn horse. I gripped the saddle and hauled myself up the side of the enormous beast. It reared beneath me, but I clung on and pulled myself onto its back.
“Good girl,” the Commander praised, mounting the horse behind me. I hated the small thrill that coiled in my stomach from his praise. His powerful thighs gripped the horse with commanding strength, pressing in tightly against me. Cerilla and Solas were already on their horses, locked in a heated discussion that had stopped the moment I had entered the clearing. The Commander kicked the beast’s side as he took off. Every surge of the animal beneath us rocked my sore hips forward, forcing my body to move in time with his. The saddle bit into tender muscles already aching, and I could feel every breath he took, every shift of muscle, as if I were an extension of him. I was trapped between the beast’s pounding stride and the iron heat of his body. The forest blurred around us in a rush of green and gold. Sunlight filtered through the trees, scattering patternsacross wildflowers and moss below, as if nature itself refused to stay still. But the growing clouds looked like they would drown out the sun’s heat any moment.
“You get one question,” he said suddenly, his voice low and close. But I had a thousand questions. I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking what to ask. I felt like he wouldn’t tell me what I was even if I asked.
“Why do you need me?” I asked, but the underlying question bled through.Why not just let me die?
“What a waste of a question,” he scoffed, hand clenching around the reins until his knuckles turned white.
“Your power imbued into weapons can kill my enemy,” he answered.
I hadn’t expected him to tell me the truth, and it only fuelled my fire for answers.
“What does it mean to imbue a weapon? And who is your enemy?”
A soft, mocking sound escaped him, almost a chuckle. “Greedy little thing,” he murmured, leaning close enough for his breath to tickle the shell of my ear. “You are reaching for answers you haven’t earned.”
I ground my teeth together. Of course he wouldn’t keep answering my questions.
We rode in silence for hours, my muscles straining from trying to keep from pressing against his body.
The sky was dimming, not from nightfall but from storm clouds. Thick, heavy clouds churned above us, laced with veins of silver lightning that flickered like a warning from the estranged Gods.
“Gods, what is that?” The clouds above rumbled, a sound so deep I felt it in my bones.
“It’s strange thatyousay, ‘Gods’ all of the time.” Another question shut down.
Solas cantered up beside us on his speckled horse. “What is your plan?” Solas gestured up to the swirling clouds that reminded me of Riven.
“Scout ahead for coverage,” the Commander ordered.
Solas gave a curt nod, squeezing his heels against the horse and flicking the reins. He sped off through the trees, towards the mountain ranges at our side. The Commander pulled back on the horse’s reins, Winston. In my hours of boredom on his back, I had decided that was his name. Winston slowed to keep pace next to Cerilla, who stared at the sky with wild eyes.
“It’s going to be alright, Ceri,” The Commander grumbled towards his sister.
She gave him a tight-lipped smile, but the fear didn’t budge from her eyes. The sky lit up with a white blinding light followed by a loud crack that echoed through the trees. I gasped in shock, our horses rearing beneath us.
Solas galloped towards us. “Follow me!” he yelled over the rumbling. We launched forwards, the gallop of the horses’ hooves not loud enough to drown out the rumbling above us. A drop of water landed on my hand, and I glanced up at the clouds. Another bright flash of lightning flared, branching off in several directions before a deafening boom made me jump. The sky opened, heavy drops of water pelting down over us. My clothes were instantly drenched. I gripped the saddle, squeezing my legs for extra grip. We raced through the forest, towards the mountains. Solas slowed as we got closer, leading us to a gap in the rockface.
The Commander swung out of the saddle behind me, gathering the reins of the horses to lead them out of the storm.
I wiped a hand down my face to clear the water from my eyes while the Commander helped Cerilla from herhorse. She didn’t just look frightened anymore; she looked almost sick.
