Page 18 of Monster's Secret Baby

He hesitates, studying me with a mixture of pity and bewilderment. "I truly don't know. She didn't give notice. You're the first to see she is gone."

"She wouldn't just leave," I insist, but a terrible dread is building in my chest. "Not without telling me."

"Are you sure?" Arkan says carefully. "Did she want you in the way you thought?"

The implication in his tone makes me look up sharply. "What are you talking about?"

Arkan shrugs, uncomfortable now. "I'm just saying she's a human. Maybe you don't really understand her like you thought you did."

I dig my fist into my pocket, clutching the geode so tightly it draws blood. "I have to find her."

I storm out of the cottage.

9

HARMONY

The zarryn's hooves beat a frantic rhythm beneath me as I urge her faster. The silver mare snorts, tossing her shaggy mane as we crest another hill. My hands are raw against the reins, knuckles white, but I can't slow down. Not yet.

"Just a little farther," I whisper, leaning close to her ear. "Please."

The beast senses my desperation. She's a good animal, better than I deserve after stealing her from Lord Arkan's stable. Another betrayal to add to my growing list.

I didn't plan it—hadn't planned any of this. But when the sun crept toward the horizon and I still hadn't closed my eyes, the walls of my quarters felt like they were crushing inward. The memory of Adellum's lips against that xaphan woman's played on endless repeat behind my eyelids.

It only took three minutes to decide. Five to gather my meager possessions. Another ten to saddle the zarryn while the stable boy snored in the corner.

I glance over my shoulder. New Solas still shimmers in the distance, a glittering jewel against the dawn sky. Golden spires catch the first rays of sunlight, making the xaphan city look even more divine than usual. My chest tightens. Each mile I put between us makes breathing harder, not easier.

"This is the right choice," I tell myself, though the words sound hollow even to my ears.

The zarryn's pace slows as we reach a crossroads. South leads deeper into human territories. North back to everything I'm running from. For a moment, I hesitate. My practical side—the one that survived an orphaned childhood, that clawed out a respectable position in a noble household—screams to turn around. To find Adellum and demand explanations.

But the raw, bleeding part of me, the part that watched him with another woman, yanks the reins south.

The roads grow narrower as morning stretches into afternoon. The grand paved roads of New Solas give way to packed dirt tracks winding between fields golden with harvest. My shoulders ache. My heart feels like a stone in my chest.

"You're smart," I mutter to myself, brushing sweat-dampened curls from my face. "You're practical." The mantra doesn't help. Nothing helps.

I'm not sure how long I travel. I keep going, farther south, until I'm nearly out of supplies. And then, one morning, a beautiful village emerges from between gently rolling hills, the sun hangs low in the west. The zarryn's silver coat is dark with sweat, her two tails drooping with exhaustion. My own body feels hollowed out, scraped raw.

The village spreads before me like something from a storybook, nestled between fields and a lazy, wide river. Stone cottages with thatched roofs line cobbled streets worn smooth by generations of feet. Lanterns flicker to life as twilight approaches, their warm glow spilling from windows.

I dismount stiffly at the village square, leading the tired zarryn to a trough. My legs nearly buckle beneath me. How many hours in the saddle? I've lost count.

"You look like you've been riding since before the gods woke up," a voice calls.

An older woman approaches, her face lined with sun and laughter. She carries a basket of wildflowers, their scent sweet and heady in the evening air.

"I have," I admit, suddenly conscious of my disheveled appearance—hair escaping its scarf, dirt smudging my cheeks.

"Runaway bride?" she asks, eyes twinkling.

The question hits too close. I look away. "Just... running."

She nods, seeming to understand more than I've said. "Got a place to stay?"

I shake my head.

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