Page 23 of From the Myths of Kings

“Look alive, princeling!’ came Aurelia’s voice.

Following Sune and Aurelia’s lead at the front of the caravan, Rook urged his pegasus to descend into the lush jungles below. It felt odd to be on the back of a winged horse when he was fully capable of flying himself, but he needed to save his strength for what was to come. And as much as it pained him to admit, he was growing weaker by the second.

The beach loomed closer as his pegasus dove for the stretch of land. Blinding white sand swallowed up his vision, dotted with slabs of driftwood, tufts of marram grass, and knots of seaweed. Rook braced for impact as his mount’s hooves met the beach with a spray of sand. His horse galloped along for a few seconds before she extended her wings like a parachute and slowed to a trot. Rook caught up to Sune and Aurelia, glancing sideways at the two captains. Sune’s austere countenance and Aurelia’s casual confidence made for an odd pair, but he admitted they complimented each other well.

“Keep your eyes open,” Sune ordered, noticing Rook’s stare, “but not on me.” His green eyes scanned the thick tree line. “Watch for any tracks in the sand. Listen for any voices on the wind.”

A brackish breeze blew in from the ocean and combed through Rook’s hair as he surveyed the jungle island. He hadn’t been to Kronis for several years, but it was just as he remembered. Tightly packed trees sprouted from fertile soil, interlacing their branches to form thick canopies of green overhead. Driftwood flecked with moss and slick seagrass poked out from the blanket of white sand. Songs of tropical birds mingled with the sound of the tide lapping up the shore.

Deep within the jungle, swamps overtook the land, making it difficult to travel in large groups. He imagined that many Mer refugees might hide out in the swamps, taking shelter in the great roots that tangled together above the water like latticed roofs.

Their party traveled up the beach for an hour without any sightings of Mer. The cry of gulls overhead broke the silence as Rook rode next to Aurelia and Sune.

“Saoirse decided that she wasn’t going to follow through with the bargain the morning of the Tournament, you know.”

Rook tore his eyes from the treeline and turned to Aurelia. Her turquoise eyes flashed in the sun, pinning him in place.

“Yes, she told me,” Rook answered. He shifted uncomfortably in his saddle.

“Did she also tell you that I offered to fulfill the Sea Witch’s bargain in her stead? I knew she couldn’t go through with it, so I offered to kill you.”

Rook frowned, tightening his grip on the reins. No, Saoirse hadn’t disclosed that detail.

“She didn’t tell you then,” Aurelia stated. “It’s true. If she didn’t fulfill the bargain, Selussa promised to take Saoirse’s life in place of yours. A death was required, so it was either you or her. I offered to kill you and be done with it. That way, Saoirse wouldn’t have your death on her hands but would still fulfill her oath. She refused my offer, naturally.”

Rook suddenly felt lightheaded. Saoirse had been given a way out of the bargain, a solution that would’ve placed the blame on Aurelia and freed her from any guilt. It was one thing to be cornered by her promises and still refuse to go through with it. It was another to be offered a way out yet choose to risk her own life in his place.

“Selussa wouldn’t have taken her life instead of mine,” Rook countered. “She only gave Saoirse the illusion of control. I was the one Selussa was after. She needed the dagger. Even though Saoirse refused to carry out the bargain, Selussa came after me anyway. I was going to die no matter what. There was no real choice to be had.”

“True as that may be, Saoirse’s choice still mattered in the end. She looked me in the eyes and made her decision even knowing Selussa would come after her. Saoirse vowed to stay on the run until the end of her days if it meant you would survive. By breaking her oath, she forfeited a life in the Maeral Sea with her people. That was before Saoirse knew that Selussa was going to resurrect the Titans and end the world as we know it, but in that moment, her choice mattered.”

Rook was silent for a long beat. His eyes shifted back to Aurelia, who he was surprised to find had tears glimmering in her eyes. Fierce love blazed on her face, bright as the constellations he could see from Coarinth.

“I don’t know why she fell for you, Rook,” she said flatly. “And even though I’ll never understand what happened between you two, I don’t need to. I will always support my friend’s decisions. She needn’t explain to me. When she decided to break the bargain and go on the run after the Tournament, I promised to stay by her side. I would follow her to the edge of the earth and back. Hel, I’m following her to the Northern Wastes and Titans know we’ll probably die out there. You need to understand that Saoirse is the kind of person who will do anything for the ones she loves. So what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t return that loyalty?”

“You’re right,” Rook replied. That now-familiar chill of anxiety stirred in his heart despite the tropical humid heat. His fists clenched against the reins and the leather bit into his skin. “I know that when Saoirse makes decisions, she makes them with her whole heart. But therein lies my hesitation, Aurelia. I cannot put my whole heart in harm’s way again. Everyone I have ever loved has either been taken from me or betrayed me.”

He closed his eyes as the ocean wind skimmed across his face. He could see the lifeless eyes of his parents as they stared blankly at the night sky, crimson pooling beneath them. He could see Raven’s blatant disappointment in him as she ordered Eros and Veila to murder the woman he’d come to love in cold blood. He could see Saoirse’s face gilded in the moonlight as she turned him away from her tent.

You don’t understand, she had said. I don’t want to hurt you. Oh, but she had hurt him. The deeper he allowed himself to love others, the deeper the wounds would be when they inevitably left.

“I do believe Saoirse’s intentions are pure,” Rook continued. His wound throbbed, as though ruminating on his loved ones had seared away the scabbed flesh and made it bleed afresh. “But even if I open my heart to Saoirse again, I couldn’t bear to lose her a second time. You said it yourself. We could all be dead by the end of this. I don’t think I can be shattered anymore. There is nothing left to break. Why would Saoirse want to love me in pieces?”

Something like sympathy?or pity?flashed across Aurelia’s face. “Have you ever considered that allowing yourself to love again might bring the most healing? Do you think you’re the only one who’s lost loved ones? Do you think you’re the only one who’s broken? We’re all broken, Rook. And we’ll be even moreso after this war. You’re being selfish. To withhold yourself from Saoirse after she gave up everything for you is cruel. Your heart is your own, of course. You do not owe it to anyone to be vulnerable if you do not wish to be. But if we are to die, why not give ourselves the chance to revel in what little life we have left?”

Aurelia’s candid words battered like pelting rain on the defenses he’d built up around his heart. He wanted to rail against her, to vehemently deny the truth in what she’d said. But a small part of him realized she was right. The words Hasana had shared in the hanging gardens rose to his mind: If you want to weather this storm, you need to let others help you.

Thankfully, he was spared from admitting there was any truth to Aurelia’s accusations.

“Over there!”

Sune leaped off his pegasus and sprinted over to the treeline. Rook and Aurelia dismounted and followed him. Fresh footprints were scored in the damp sand. Some of the footprints were accompanied by drag marks as though whoever had made them had been carrying someone on their shoulders or hauling a heavy chest through the sand. Ice flowed through Rook’s veins when he noticed the blood. He followed the trail of crimson down the shoreline where it disappeared into the foaming tide.

“Titans,” Aurelia cursed, kneeling in the sand next to Sune. “We need Healers!”

A few Tellusun Healers dismounted and hurried over, satchels of medical supplies slung over their shoulders.

“These are fresh. They were probably left in the last few hours. We still have time.”

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