Knowing I’d have to face this sooner than later, I sat up in earnest and wished I didn’t as my vision cleared. “Oh, Artton,” I breathed, shifting forward I focused on the seared handprints marring his perfect golden-tanned skin. They were small handprints, with long, delicate fingers—my fingers. Hand hovering above the bare skin, I looked into his deep sapphire eyes. “May I?” I whispered, and he nodded.
I traced the line around the wound, which was shiny with some sort of salve, and as I did, flashes of what happened bombarded me. I couldn’t remember exactly how I’d gotten here, but I did remember everything before Artton grabbed me. Anything after that was still lost on me. Swallowing hard, I said, “Will they heal?”
He nodded. “Once we’re out of the human realm, yes, within a few hours.”
“Good,” I breathed, sitting back on my heels, hands on my lap. “Is everyone else okay? Physically, I mean?” I clarified, knowing there was no salve, or fae healing, for emotional wounds.
“Kaelun and Tarrin are fine. Sidrick will be too, but it took a lot out of him to use his unara in that way. He headed back to the Summer Court to heal and report back to Caius. He’ll ride to catch up to us, which should be by dusk at the latest.”
“Wait, what happened to Sidrick?”
“Nothing of consequence, Spark. What’s important is that everyone is okay.”
I sat there, reconciling everything with a calmer head before I spoke again. “I know I hurt you, Artton, and we can discuss how I lost control later. But I’m so angry at you for what you did—for how you went about it. I know you despise Tarrin, and I get it, but it wasn’t him who took the brunt of your confrontation—it was me.”
His shoulders drooped, but he had the decency to hold my gaze as he said, “I like it better when you try to slice me, Spark. I know how to handle your anger, not your sadness or disappointment…” He shook his head. “It guts me. And just like these burns, I deserve it. More importantly, Iamsorry for what I did, and ever sorrier for how it hurt you.”
“Did you get it out of your system?” I asked, not ready to let him off the hook just yet.
“I mean, it’s not like I’m going to be best friends with the guy, but yeah, I’ve said my piece. If I have an issue eating me up inside, I’ll bring it up with him when we’re alone and with a level head. What I’m saying is that I can’t promise I won’t make jokes at his expense, but I won’t ever do that again.”
“Okay, then,” I breathed. “I forgive you.”
“Just like that?” he asked, and I sensed he’d wished I wouldn’t, as if believing he deserved more.
“Look,” I started, “while I don’t condone how you went about it, your point was valid. You we just a fucken ass about. And I get it. I do. But it wasn’t your bone to pick in the first place, it was between Tarrin and me.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“I know you are.”
“Do you think you’ll forgive him?” Artton asked.
“Didn’t Ijustsay it’s between him and me?”
“You did. And it is. I just want to understand whereyou’recoming from in all of this.”
I breathed in deep and let it out in a slow, long sigh before answering him. “There’s a human fable about an intelligent four-legged animal that weighs as much as thirty horses and is taller than a home. The story goes on to explain that the wild beast could not be tamed by man; no matter how many ropes they tried to capture it with or how many spears they tried to fell it with. So instead, they stole a baby that had wandered too far from its mother and tied it to a post. The baby tugged day in and day out until finally, it realized it would never be free, and it stopped tugging. From that day forward, he no longer tried to free himself, and even as he grew to his full, mighty height and strength, all it took was for the noose around histhick neck to be bound to a stick no larger than you or I could hold in one hand.
“Tarrin pulled at that rope for over fifty years, Artton. Can I really fault him for not trying to pull after that, until he did—to save me? I’m a prisoner in my own life, he was a prisoner in his own body. So, while it hurts like hell that a man who’d become a friend and confidantmighthave been able to save me from the lies sooner, deep down I know I can’t condemn him for that. It’s what he does moving forward that’s important.”
“I’ve never met someone with so much empathy,” Artton said in a quiet voice. “I’m afraid it’s going to get you hurt—like really hurt.”
“Maybe it will,” I shrugged, “but I choose to believe that it’s one of the reasons the fates picked me to be the spark. It’s a part of myself I’ve accepted. I know it’s hard—and that you don’t understand it—but I need you on my side for this, Artton.”
Holding my gaze with a pained expression I didn’t fully understand, he swallowed audibly before saying, “I’ll always be on your side, Spark. I promise.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Well,” he said as he stood up grabbing a shirt from the hard ground and throwing it on over the burn marks, “we’re almost at the entry point and there’s enough sunlight left for us to make it there. Let’s break camp and head north.”
“We’re that close?” I asked, surprised.
He nodded as I stood. “We couldn’t afford being on human lands longer than planned, so we took turns carrying you yesterday.” He flung a flap of the tent to the side and exited.
Although shocked they’d still traveled while I was down, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the image of them trudging through the snow, my small frame over their shoulders, cursing their own stupidity—though I did feel bad for Kaelun, who got caught in our friendly fire.
“Is that why my head hurt so bad, because your sorry ass dropped me?” I said as I followed him out.
