“I’m going to leave.” I met his gaze squarely. “Tell my staff that Farris and I will be away for as long as it takes.”
“As long aswhattakes?” His hands lifted as he stalked toward me.
Huffing, I backed into the wall. “Don’t try to follow me.”
He bellowed as I flitted from the room.
4
Reyla
As expected, the cooks had left the kitchen for the evening, and I’d been here enough I more or less knew my way around. I found a relatively clean pouch in the enormous pantry, then stuffed it with dried meat and fruit, grabbing two loaves of bread from the counter, plus a packet of butter from the cold box, and a few water flasks I filled.
Another flit—thankfully, my magic was working for now—sent me to my sitting area. I packed a few more items in the bag I’d brought from the fortress, ignoring Lorant’s snarls and bangs on the outer door.
With Farris in my arms, I flitted again, this time to the road below the castle. Farris trotted beside me as I slunk into the woods on one side. I kept going, following a spindly trail that bled out before returning, only to disappear altogether. Only then did I feelI was far enough away from Evergorne Court and all its twisty secrets to think. How could I do that while Lorant, and then Merrick, worked as one to wear me down?
Standing in Lorant’s room, seeing the sadness and touch of fear in his eyes, let alone watching him smack onto the floor when he tried to tell me too much, would soon gut me. I’d drop to my knees and tell him that of course I’d stay. Give in just because my heart was breaking for them both.
If I’d stayed, I would’ve soon forgiven them whether they groveled or not. Placidly helped them solve the riddle of this curse and break it.
I still wanted to flit back and say I would do everything I could. Just please don’t die.
But pain kept stabbing through my heart. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.
And if nothing else, I was anything but placid.
Finally, I came across a pretty meadow with moonlight spiking down, sparkling on the dew-kissed grass, a stream trickling along one side with a pool deep enough to bathe in if I chose, and even an ancient fire ring constructed beneath the broad, low-swaying branches of a woretar tree. Smoke from the fire would curl up through the needly mesh, dissipating and hiding my location.
Perfect.
Farris settled on the grass, staring up at me, his tail flopping around.
“You enjoy camping, don’t you?” I asked, feeling suddenly free. I wouldn’t stay away long, but I needed this time, and I was going to take it.
It didn’t take long to set up a place to sleep, collect a huge pile of downed wood, and start a fire. I snuggled beneath the blankets on my cozy, improvised bed, doing my best to forget that Lorant had crafted them for me. With Farris curled up along my belly, hisintent gaze scanning the woods, my eyes closed, and I dropped off to sleep.
I only woke up a few times during the night, first when Lorant roared my name from far enough away, I suspected he must be stomping along the road. He didn’t enter the woods or magic his way to me, and his roar was not repeated. Or, if it was, he’d moved past where I could hear him. The only other times I woke, I fed the fire.
When dawn gouged open the sky, bruising it in dusty pink, gold, and brittle gray etched with thick clouds, I stretched and rose onto my elbow only enough to toss more wood onto the fire. Flopped back on my blankets, I stared up at the branches overhead, letting my mind swim from one thought to another.
I still couldn’t reconcile all I’d learned from Lorant in my mind. Threading it all together into a satisfying answer seemed beyond me, but after my decent night’s sleep, I should be able to put this into some kind of order.
Lounging in bed felt great, but after a while, I needed to get up. I tossed the blankets back and rose, slinking into the woods where I took care of business while Farris did the same not far away. I splashed my face at the stream and used a wet cloth to wash a few select areas, shivering as gooseflesh pricked my skin in the cool morning air. Settling on my improvised bed beside the fire again, I combed and re-braided my hair, making sure it was neat and smooth. I may be roughing it, but there was no need for me to look equally rough.
Soon, I was munching on bread slathered with creamy butter and nibbling on dried meat and fruit, feeding Farris as well. If I knew my now-tame nyxin, he’d catch mice or a rabbit or two or three, gobbling them down with a few bites, but I’d brought enough to share.
I’d set no time limit on how long I’d be away, but I was aware that the clock’s hands kept spinning.
After putting the food away, hanging my pack from a branch of a nearby tree to keep pesky creatures from stealing, I lay back on my bed, watching the thick clouds slide by. Rain might chase me out of the woods soon.
I kept thinking. Not coming to any conclusions, but how could I?
When my ass started to ache from lying on it for so long, I got up and started pacing, striding from one end of the meadow to the other. Back and forth while my mind whirred. I was beginning to piece things together. Making the patches, one of my fortress friends might say, the one who loved making quilts in her spare time. I had a few squares ready, but no clue how I’d stitch them together.
After lunch found me flinging my blades at a dead tree that hadn’t gone punky enough to fall apart from the blows.
Two men sharing one body.
