Page 10 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
When the Moon attempted to swing her fist at my jaw, Damon grabbed her around the waist, lifting her slightly and pulling her away from me. I would have taken it, though I think Damon knew that and did not want to put more strain on Ranbir than he had already suffered through this last week.
Too bad, I had really been looking forward to the pain.
“What she means,” Henry interjected, lifting his hands up in surrender, “is that we deserve to go with you. We have no idea how dangerous this will be. You, Damon, and Lian cannot goalone. Cyprus, Noe, Ranbir, and I want to come too. Let us be there at your side.”
“Our family has been so scattered this last year,” Lian added. “We are meant to stick together. It should be all of us or none of us.”
“Well you all know damn well that it cannot be none of us.” I reached out a hand, waiting with a scowl for them to come to me. When the six of them finally shuffled forward and huddled around me, I called to the poison in my veins and willed it to take us to my ship.
The second we landed I stormed away from them, clinging to what little sanity remained within me. I wanted so desperately to be alone. To wallow and beg the stars for a different ending to this gods forsaken story.
Yet, I also knew that if it were not for my family I would have already ended it all.
Because of that, I tried my hardest not to scream in outrage. We did not actually all need to be here. None of us knew what Nicola had in store, but I doubted that she was about to put us in danger when she likely knew what I meant to Asher. If only I could have convinced them that.
Furious footsteps stomped towards me, the sound of scuffing shoes a sign that it was Noe who was coming to finish me off. She had done that since she was five. Forever, really.
“You are our prince, our general, our leader, and our brother. What you are not is a dictator.” I scoffed at her words, turning to face her. Her long golden brown hair caught the wind as we set sail, her light brown skin practically glowing in the light of midday. Despite how pristine she was from the neck up, her training leathers were still worn and ragged from the last battle. We would not have Pino around to fix them now. He had drastically improved them after that day at Reader River, andnow it felt wrong to consider having anyone else modify them again. “I need you to understand how different this all is now.”
“I do understand. You all want to find her. I do too.”
“It is not just that. Ash…she is our queen now. Perhaps not by right or by law, but in our hearts she is. Maybe fate was always dragging us towards her. Venturae could be up in the Above, wielding fate and forcing us to follow Asher as we are meant to.” Noe shrugged, picking at her nails as she leaned over the ledge beside me.
I sighed, turning to face the open sea as she did. Grabbing her hand, the two of us relaxed and summoned our shadows. I willed mine to coat the ship, and then I thought of the coordinates, the map I had been using tucked away in my pocket for now. But Noe and I knew where we were going, even if she was not supposed to come. Breathing heavily, I shoved the shadows further around us, widening the circle so that it covered the entirety of the wood beneath our feet. Noe’s shadows moved at double the speed, her strength an incredible thing to witness. When we had adequately coated the ship, the two of us closed our eyes and willed our shadows to take us where we wanted to go.
We landed somewhere west of Eoforhild, deep in the Ibidem Sea. The cold here bit into my skin like death itself, burrowing into my bones. Behind Noe and I, Damon and Lian began arguing.
“Lian, for once, can you just listen to what you are told?” Damon seethed, the tone of his voice telling me that Lian was doing what she did best: disobeying direct orders.
“You are telling me to do stupid things, so no, I cannot,” she paused, letting out a quiet cough before deepening her voice in a mock version of his, “do what I am told and be a boring little twat with no brains. So sorry old boy, cannot comply.”
A small laugh escaped my lips, enough for Noe to look over to me. Her form was radiant from my periphery, even with the daunting gray skies and matching seas as a backdrop. Despite how beautiful she looked, as she always did, I knew that Noe was hurting just as I was. I had known her almost my entire life, neither of us could hide sorrow from one another.
“I have been thinking about the dress.”
“What dress?” Turning fully towards her, I caught her gaze just in time to see a mischievous sparkle light her hazel eyes. Oh gods. When she did not immediately answer, my nerves lit into a fiery inferno. I would not like what she had to say, clearly. “Noe, tell me.”
“Well, before he…passed, Pino and I had been working on a dress for Asher. A wedding dress.” There it was. I knew it would be heartbreaking, but I had not realized how deeply it would tear me apart. I had seen glimpses of the dress that day at Reader River. Small white buttons had trailed up her spine, the train dragging behind her in a sea of silk. From the small view of her backside, I had realized she did not wear a veil, finally free of her need to hide.
Somehow, I had stolen my own future from myself. The best one I could have ever asked for, gone in the blink of an eye.
Noe let out an odd sound, almost like a hum. I blinked, staring at her in confusion. She only furrowed her brow, looking at me as if I were making the noise. The truth of what was happening hit us both at the same time, but it was too late.
Somewhere in the distance, a siren began to sing.
“Henry, do not listen!” I screamed, running towards his place at the helm. But Henry’s eyes were glazing over, the green dulling as he stared off to our right. I portaled to him, appearing on his left just as he violently turned the ship to the right. My feet flew out from beneath me, and then my face was smashing into the wood below, my nose letting out a loud crunch that had medizzy. I thought of Asher, her fist connecting with my face and the fire returning to her eyes.
We could not get sucked in by a siren. We could not die. We needed to follow through with Nicola’s plans.
But all I could do was wince and listen as words began to form from the eerie voice.
“Come to me, heed my song.
Raise your sails, follow along.
Lay your heads, upon my chest.
Come to me, seek your rest.
