Page 23 of When the Moon Met the Sun

My right eye, which for my entire life had been as blue as the water in Cynth Bay, and more importantlymatched my left, now shone as green as fresh moss on the side of a tree.

My breathing started coming faster, and I wrapped my wings around myself, beginning to panic.

Think. Think. Think.

In the distance, I heard the door to the room being knocked on, the handle being rattled. The chair must have held firm, though, because nobody came to stop me as I walked out of the washroom, scanning the chambers.

Aurora had warned me about the elixirs. I never knew exactly what was in them. I only knew they helped balance me after the accident when I was but a small girl. Father always said they helped, that they were good for me. But then why did Aurora say the exact opposite? Why did I listen to her, if at least part of me didn’t believe her? Hadn’t I always believed something wasn’t right?

Retracing my actions, I realized one of the last things I had ingested was one of my elixirs. That was also when I realized I hadn’t eaten a complete meal in what waslikely days.

I had abruptly stopped taking my elixirs a couple days ago, when I left the North. Since then, I’d felt sick most of the time, in one way or another. Are these the side effects from not taking them?

Or were the elixirs blocking parts of me even I didn’t know about?

My ears were ringing so loud, I could barely hear Robyn on the other side of the door, begging and bargaining to be let in as I searched the room. Things had been moved since I had last been in here, but I knew I hadn’t seen it in Robyn’s room.

Sliding to my knees, I lifted up the blanket that hung off the side of the bed and peered underneath.

There you are.

Reaching out, I grabbed the box and tugged until it sat in front of me. Opening the lid, I scanned the contents.

Inside sat more vials of elixirs than I could count in the moment.

I stood, picking the box of elixirs up and walking back to the washroom with determination set in my bones, even though my hands shook. Sweat still gleamed against my forehead, and my head still throbbed. But hiding under all of that was something else.

Something new.

Something…powerful.

I took one final look in the mirror, as if to reassure myself once again that I wasn’t seeing things, then used all the strength in my body to hurl the box and all of its contents at the mirror.

The sound of glass and bottles shattering snapped me back to the present moment, and tears sprouted to my eyes instantly as I watched the remains fall, chest heaving.

In a moment where it felt like time slowed, I caught my own reflection one last time before all the shards fell to the ground.

I looked… hollow. My skin was even more icy than usual, and dark bags hung under my eyes. My hair was horribly unkempt, and mycheeks appeared sunken in ever so slightly. Even the color of my white hair, which usually shone in the moonlight, looked dull.

I watched as every piece fell and broke, listening to the chaos. The sound had drawn me back to reality, and once all the pieces settled into a heap on the washroom floor, I finally heard Robyn’s warning.

“Stand clear of the door!” he yelled, and the second I looked up at the door, it burst into flames.

The doorframe didn’t catch fire, but the wood of the door quickly crumbled, until Robyn seemed to get impatient and threw himself through the remains of it, embers sticking to his clothes. He snapped, and they were put out, then our eyes locked. I wanted to hide from his gaze, but it was like the pull of a magnet, and I couldn’t look away.

His eyes widened with the realization of what had changed as our eyes met, and once again I felt like I could feel the swirl of his emotions in my chest. Fear, panic, confusion. I wondered for a moment if he could feel mine, too.

Suddenly, I didn’t have it in me to fight anymore. I was frustrated, and sick, and so,sotired. A sob clawed its way up my throat—a broken, strangled sob, which led to another, until I was sinking to the floor, chest heaving with cries. Robyn was there in an instant, catching me before I hit the floor.

I didn’t have the strength to push him away, even though I knew I should have. He was supposed to be the enemy. But if that were true, then why didn’t he feel like it anymore?

I folded myself into his chest, clutching onto his shirt like my life depended on it. He murmured sweet, calm nothings as I wrapped my wings around the both of us instinctually—my safe place.

He was the only thing grounding me as my chest wracked with sobs, so much so that it felt like my heart was going to split down the middle. In an attempt to calm myself, I shifted closer and leaned my ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Seeming to understand what I was doing, he began stroking my hair and, to my surprise, humming. It was a sweet melody, almost sad in a way, but beautiful. His husky voice carried it well as he continued to hum the tune and run his hand through my tangled hair until the sobs slowly ceased, and just a few tears were rolling down my face instead of gushing like a broken dam.

After I caught my breath, I slowly retracted my wings, tucking them in against my back. I couldn’t meet his eyes as I said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

---