Page 93 of When the Moon Met the Sun

“I’m here if you need anything at all, my queen.”

“Thank you, Laurence.”

Byn and Chess broke apart, and Chess walked over, looking ready to examine me.

“I can give you a salve for that, you know,” Chess said, examining the strip of fabric around my throat.

Without thinking, I reached up and lightly touched the fabric.

“I’ll think about it,” I responded.

Truthfully, I wanted a reminder of the events that transpired today. I never wanted to forget; todayhad shaped me.

Once Chess saw the deep cut on my arm, he insisted on going full trokav mode on me, sprouting some fancy plant and crushing its leaves to mix with water and rub on the wound. It sealed over quickly after, leaving nothing more than a thin, small scab. He said the wound on my neck wasn’t deep, but due to the location, would likely leave a faint scar.

I decided I was alright with that.

Just as I saw Byn looking towards the battlefield, probably wondering why Quinn hadn’t checked in yet, the general herself came barreling through the forest, straight towards us.

She stopped running once she got close enough, panting lightly. It wasn’t until she stood closer that I saw the panic in her eyes, and the troubled expression covering her face.

“Ezra’s gone,” she declared, and I could tell even she was confused by it.

The group was quiet a moment, before Byn simply said, “Show me.”

Laurence, Eden, and I took to the skies, flying directly over Byn, Quinn, and Chess as they sprinted in the direction of where we all last saw Ezra’s body.

As we neared the area at the edge of the forest, I could see from the sky that Quinn was, in fact, right.

Ezra wasn’t there.

We landed nearby, wings tucking in, as I walked to the edge of the plants we had sprouted earlier, reuniting with the group.

Now, each flower and plant had been trampled. It looked almost like a crime scene—semi-fresh blood had spilled on the greenery, then it looked like something, maybe Ezra himself, was dragged away.

At seeing the blood and ruined plants up close, Quinn fell to her knees, her breathing heavy as tears welled in her eyes.

“I lost him once, and now I’ve lost him again,” she said quietly, eyes glued to the deep red blood before her.

“Maybe one of the carriages saw him and picked him up. For all we know, his body is already headed back to Cairnyl,” Byn suggested, but I could feel his uncertainty.

Quinn shook her head, her shoulders drooping.

Before I could think better of it, I crouched down next to Quinn.

“Earlier, the random pain you felt. You and Ezra used the royal inks, didn’t you? You weren’t in pain yourself, you were feeling Ezra, right?” I said, somewhat quietly, as though divulging a secret.

Quinn stilled, then whispered, “Yes. I think so.”

I could tell the entire group was stunned, troubled, and confused as I glanced to them. I felt it in Byn, and saw it in the firm set of Laurence’s eyebrows, in the down-turned lips of Chess.

“Tell me about it,” I said to Quinn, gently grabbing hold of her hand.

Quinn finally tore her eyes away from the bloody mess before us, looking to where our hands met. Then she looked up, searching my face, and the pure grief in her gaze made me want to look away.

“I felt the connection between us fade to almost nothing when he closed his eyes for the last time. But then when I was feeling his pain, it felt like… like being torn apart from the inside. As though my heart and lungs were on fire, or being lit up somehow. I didn’t know what it was, but I realized it must have been coming from him when I saw he was missing. That’s when I finally slowed down long enough to figure it out,” she said, still peering into my eyes, looking frantic.

“Figured what out?” I asked.

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