Page 51 of A Rising Hope

“Get into the saddle, Priya, or stay behind,” I told Priya off. She opened her mouth to say something vile, but I turned to meet Zora.

“If this creature drops me, I will fry every single Destroyer’s brain,” Priya shouted in my wake.

“It’ll be hard to do that if your own brain is mashed against the earth when the creature drops you,” I shouted back, not granting a look at Priya as she swore a few more times.

“Sneaking out in the middle of the night? How very on par for you.” Zora met me, pausing far away from Priya’s ears.

“Patience is not my strongest quality.” I gave her a strenuous smile. “Besides, why wait?” I tried to laugh, but the sound fell flat.

“You don’t know how to disable the shields, nor how to kill the Queen without killing the world,” she stated. It was not a question, but rather a statement. I didn’t reply. “I counseled Gideon and now I feel the need to bring some reason to you too.” She didn’t beat around the bush. Her tone direct and yet also kind.

“Stay. Get some rest. Help us win the war. Afterward we will spend every moment finding a solution. There is no point in both of you dying,” she offered, and I knew, logically, she was right. But a heart lost to love knew no reason. She recognized that, too. “I wish to never know the rage, the pure fury that must be boiling within you at the thought of him being gone. The pain that you must feel must have no bounds . . . But think on it for a moment, Finn.” Zora paused mid breath. “Even if we’d never find a solution or answer, time is on our side. The Queen is old. She didn’t get immortality. She’ll still die in a few years. It mightnot be next year, lest Gideon helps, but soon enough time will pass and even the worst of the monsters will wither away. And he will be free. So stay, your people need you, Finn.”

Zora’s words were true, but I didn’t reply. Her eyes darted between mine. She saw the somber truth within.

I knew the risks, and I knew my chances, and I had made the reckless choice despite it all. The gods themselves could’ve appeared in front of me at this very moment and even they wouldn’t have the power to persuade me to not go after him.

“I’ve already lost him. Don’t make me lose you too, Finn,” Zora whispered, swallowing hard. My heart ached for Zora. Gideon was my husband, but he was her family, too.

A sad smile stretched on my lips, and I fought the lump in my throat at the realization that this was goodbye. Zora knew that too.

“Free my people, Commander,” I uttered, hugging her. She awkwardly squeezed me back, her brows furrowed, and lips turned downward in a thin line.

“Bring him home safe,” she murmured, a command to me. Zora straightened, masking her anxious heart with a menacing expression.

I adjusted the collar of my armored leathers and strode back into the night leaving Zora behind.

37

OREST

Ileaned against a tree, using a knife to slice an apple into small pieces, observing every single word exchanged between Finn and Zora. Here, swallowed by the shadows, they couldn’t see me and yet I saw them vividly even in the dark, their emotions glowing like the different colors of dim candlelight in the night.

With a light prance, Finn jumped into the saddle on the back of the flying creature. Ignoring the complaining Truth Teller in her back seat.

That Truth Teller will have to be dealt with. I knew that. She knew my secret, but I knew hers, too. And I just hoped that would be enough to keep us both alive.

In some twisted way, Priya did care for Finn, tying her humanity to her. And perhaps even in a more twisted way, Finn cared for Priya.

Zora was already marching back, her worry, masked as anger, lining her every feature. Sparks flew with her every step. I immediately followed her.

“You need to stop spying on me,” Zora snarled without looking at me.

“I am a spy, Zora. That’s what spies do.” I trailed her a step behind.

She abruptly stopped, turning to me. The silver stars above me sparkled in her black eyes, particularly beautiful today as she glowered at me.

“You are a damned fool, Orest, that’s what you are,” she hissed.

“Why?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“You know why.” She backed down a step. She was so afraid to say it. To admit it.

Her eyes raked over my body, nostrils flared. She was addicted to me, the same way I was to her.

“Because I care for you?” I finally uttered the words I had told her so many times before. I took a step closer; she raised her chin to meet my gaze. My words didn’t faze her, not after I had confessed them to her on so many occasions.

“Exactly,” she snapped, eyes darkening. Her emotions flayed like threads on an unfinished cloth. The depth, the color of them, drew me like a moth to a fire. Her anxious heart raced so fast it was no longer traceable. “We can never be together, Orest. You are young. And I am old . . . I am used up.” I didn’t interrupt her, letting her horrid words pour out. “Gideon can play his games of giving me a commanding title, and pretending I belong amid his armies, but we all know the truth. I ampowerless.” She snapped her fingers and where the usual fire should’ve been, there were only sparks. The hurt she couldn’t hide flashed across her face.

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