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I look down at my feet, at the blood where the stones cut me, at the mud clinging to my skin, at the path that brought me here, and toward the carriage waiting somewhere behind the trees.
“Now I believe surviving means remembering what it once was . . .” My eyes move to the broken trees from the storms that have ravaged this place. The wind picks up, and the scent of mud and debris fills my senses. I can taste it.
Kylian’s hand finds mine. This time, I let him take it as I close my eyes, trying to remember this place, remember the thick trees that shielded this place, their branches reaching for the sky, Sable’s laughter rings in my ears, and I can smell the wildflowers again that she plucked on our way home, feel the sun warming my skin.
Kylian gasps, and the warmth doesn’t leave as my eyes flutter open. “It’s time I remember whose daughter I am.”
Peering around, the place is covered in wildflowers, and the tree limbs that were snapped and bent now hold new branches full of leaves. The clouds have parted, allowing the sun to shine down on us.
Then I walk back to the waiting carriage, barefoot, listening to everything the earth has to say.
CHAPTER 70
• Alessia •
EAGAN IS HALFWAY through loading the cart when I find him outside.
He has one boot braced on the wheel, and one hand holding a folded list that is already creased from how many times he must have checked it. His expression tells me before he opens his mouth that he knows exactly why I am there.
“You are not coming,” he says, tucking Claudia’s list into his coat.
“I am,” I reply, pulling my cloak tighter around my shoulders as the wind cuts through the yard surrounding the castle and sends loose straw skittering across the lawn.
Eagan looks toward the castle, then back to me, his mouth flattening.
“You asked me to check on them, I did that. I am not about to drag the queen through town like she is still a servant tending to her old master.”
“You are going to the markets for supplies, and Marian’s cottage is close enough that I can check on Angie while you collect whatever Claudia needed,” I say, stepping around him and climbing onto the cart.
His eyes narrow.
“Does the king know you are leaving?”
“The king is not my keeper.”
Eagan huffs, placing his hands on his hips. “I think he might argue otherwise.”
“And you are arguing with your queen?” I retort, and he purses his lips.
“You used to be so much sweeter. Now you’re just bossy.”
I smile at that as he shakes his head.
“He’ll come looking for you.”
“And he’ll find me right here if we don’t get going.”
That earns me the smallest twitch at the corner of his mouth, though he hides it quickly as he moves around the cart and climbs into the driver’s seat.
“If he asks why I allowed this,” he says, gathering the reins, “I am telling him you threatened me.”
“I am terrifying, so he will believe you.”
“You are many things, Alessia, and unfortunately terrifying has recently joined the list.”
The words should feel like a joke, but something beneath them catches, and I turn my gaze toward the road.
The ride into town is quieter than I expect, with the cart wheels cutting through wet ruts and the old horse moving slowly enough that the island has time to show me every mark the storms left behind.
