Sixty-One
- LYRA -
One month later
I found it.
I don’t know what it means, but as I crouch down near the river’s bend, I trace my fingers across the grass.
It’s just as I’ve seen it countless times before.
Birds chirp and flit through the canopy of leaves above me, pulling my attention off the ground and up to the trees. A soft breeze sways the branches, leaking in patches of sunlight. The sun is warm on my cheeks, and for a moment, I anticipate what I’ve seen in my visions as I close my eyes. Of something creeping within the forest hunting me. And then that haunting voice lifting out from the trees.“You cannot run from me.”
I open my eyes and glance over my shoulder. Sweeping my attention across the trees surrounding me, and the gurgling riverbank, I find nothing but serenity.
The two crosses posted near the water’s edge are missing. And that creeping feeling of being watched, of the pulsing draw of magic to the beast, is gone.
Marcella had told me months ago visions were vague and open to interpretation. Perhaps all along my visions were trying to lead me here, and that if I didn’t follow it, those two crosses could have been Marcella and I.
Or…
I check over my shoulder, straining to listen to silence beyond the forest sounds. But I’m utterly alone.
Or Devin and I.
He’s been kind to me. Always has. Over the last month, we’ve managed to travel south on horseback from Vitalis through Dragon’s Back Ridge and into the kingdom of Arterias. Devin assured me that we’d be safe here.Though, he never specified how. The both of us assumed that the beast wouldn’t follow me into enemy territory. But at the same time, neither of us could speak of the possibility that the beast is dead. ThatCyrusis dead. Or what could have happened to Marcella.
Sometimes the truth was better left undiscovered. Or, at least that’s what I told myself. I had to trust that the Gods showed them both mercy. That somehow, the two of them survived and found happiness.
A branch snaps in the distance, and I whirl to the sound. Heart slamming against my chest as I rise off the ground, ready to run. Ready for what happens every time I’m near the river in my visions.
“There you are,” Devin says, walking through the forest with a smile. The same smile that got me to fall for him all those years ago, and each time I see it, it thaws what ice is still left in my heart. “I was wondering where you ran off to.”
My shoulders relax as I exhale. Nodding toward the river, I say, “Sorry, I hadn’t meant to leave without saying anything.”
He stops a few steps away from me. “You don’t need my permission, Lyra. I just worry about you is all.” He holds my gaze for a moment with a smile before motioning out behind him. “This is nearly a midpoint between the Vitalis and Arterias castles. And there’s a few abandoned houses close by. They would need some work, but I’d be happy to fix up whichever one calls to you.”
I knew that my life in the Vitalan kingdom was over the minute we stepped over the border. But I still can’t stop my hesitation.
He must see it on my face, because he takes the last few steps between us and grabs my hands, pulling them to his chest. “We can start all over. Just you and me, how it’s always meant to be.”
“My family…” I whisper.
“I know.” He brushes a strand of my hair off my cheek, tucking it behind my ear. “That’s why I have a proposition for you.”
He leads me away from the river. Through the forest to where the treeline thins, and our horse is tied to a tree trunk. It’s black tail floats in the breeze as it nibbles on the grass, head perking up as we approach and its dark eyes lock immediately on me.
We’ve gotten to the point of tolerance—me and the horse, Benedict. Not that I don’t like horses, but for some odd reason, this one is skittisharound me. Any time I approach, Benedict freezes, until Devin coos him into submission.
We ride as we have over the last few weeks. Me sitting between Devin’s legs, his arms wrapped loosely around me to hold the reins as we trot through the lands. Devin is usually quiet, allowing me to take my own pace around conversations. As I began to remember more and more about our history, the tension between us seemed to ease. His body pressed against mine became familiar again. And as we laid on the same bedroll, night after night underneath the stars, close enough but not touching, I couldn’t help but stare at him as he slept.
I was in love with him. I know that. The depth of it, the warmth, still lingers in my heart.
I might not have completely forgiven him for the trials he allowed me and the other women to go through, but knowing that I had prior knowledge and agreed to it in addition to the whole scheme of marrying Cyrus…
Perhaps I haven’t entirely forgiven myself, either.
What if we’re both bad people? Or, what if what we had was beyond redemption that we’d do anything for each other?
