Page 65 of Deadwood
“Paxon, there’s not much farther we can go,” I warned hesitantly as he descended.
“Come now, Auria,” was all he said, not bothering to look back.
I ran my fingers together, my palms slightly damp. I wasn’t sure if it was from the coat or the nerves that ran through my body. I should’ve demanded he talk to me in town, and now here I was, alone with a man who had to be nothing short of mad at me for not only speaking out of turn when we arrived in town, but also being the reason Lander was placed in a separate house from me.
I slowly followed him down the hill to the edge, approaching him from behind like a sheep might a sleeping lion. He stopped near the edge of the cliff.
“The ledges aren’t safe,” I stated. He hadn’t grown up in Amosite, so I wasn’t sure if he was at all knowledgeable on the state of such natural phenomenons.
“We’ll be fine,” he said, almost as if he was bored.
The fissure stood before us like a predator. Its black depths had to go on forever, and I was sure it had claimed many souls in the past. Though it was inanimate, it looked almost hungry. Ready to take its next victim at any moment. With the wind, sand brushed off the sides, falling in small wisps of clouds to be swallowed whole by the midnight mouth. At least the sky had stars and the rings to brighten itself in the dark. The split was an infinite black void.
“You don’t love Lander,” Paxon said matter-of-factly.
My eyes locked on the side of his face. “It was a forced engagement. Surely that much is obvious.”
“What I mean is that it seems certain he won’t grow on you,” he clarified. “One does not request to be placed in an entirely different home than her fiancé if she wishes to make things work.”
“I’m not sure what I want out of this yet.” I didn’t mention that Lander and I had agreed to be friends through all of this or that these had been the sleeping arrangements for the entirety of the trip. The only difference was that I’d had a hand in that this time. I wasn’t sure if Lander had brought it up or if he’d kept quiet, with the fear that Paxon wouldn’t be happy hearing about it. I also didn’t mention the fact that he was likely correct—I would never love Lander. He seemed to be a great man, aside from his flaws, but already, he was like many other people I’d met.
Under the grips of my father.
“It seems you’re not sure about a lot of things, Auria.”
“I’m confused?—”
He spun, a hand grabbing my arm, another my shoulder, and instantly, I was thrust forward and flying through the air. Before a scream could manage to pass my lips, my chest ricocheted off a rocky wall, my body dangling off the cliff solely by my arm held in a tight grip.
Paxon loomed above me, staring down at me with thick locks of hair blowing across his forehead.
My free hand tried to grab for purchase on the cliff, but each edge only cut into my hand. It was as if tiny teeth sprouted from the rock itself, hungry for blood and craving a soul. “Paxon,please. Please bring me up.” I could barely speak through the short breaths rushing in and out of my lungs. “Whatever it is, we can talk about it.”
“You’ve had a lot of decisions to make recently, haven’t you?” he asked, his tone flat, as if he wasn’t dangling me over certain doom and holding my life in his hands.
“I’ll love Lander. I can.” I swallowed hard, glancing below me at the infinite black. My gaze flew back up to him. “I will. Please, just pull me up,” I begged, my voice desperate and trembling. The wind howled, thunder cracking in the sky. The sound echoed down into the ground like a growl, the void threatening to swallow me whole.
“It’s not a matter of love, Auria. Love is not what leads kingdoms.”
I tried to find purchase on the ledge once more, but it was no use as he stood there, staring down at me like I was wasting his time.
Sand flew into my eyes, causing me to blink rapidly to attempt to clear it from my vision. I tried to reach up with my other hand to grab his arm in case his grip slipped, but my body was weak from the last few days, protesting the movement. It was no use.
“I can get you out of this marriage.”
My blinking immediately ceased as I focused on him with stinging, watery eyes. “What?”
“If you agree to come with me back to Torbernite, I’ll get you out of the engagement.”
“W-why would you do that?” If I could, I’d shake my head, but I feared to move any further. If he lost his grip, I’d fall to my death.
“Not only kings can make plans, Auria.”
Plans? What plans did Paxon think he had that needed to involve me? No one knew of my power, so surely it couldn’t involve that. If he wanted to marry me, it wouldn’t be any better than being with Lander. At least Lander and I were similar in some ways and were able to come to an agreement with all of this. If I knew Paxon at all, I was certain he wouldn’t be as easygoing as Lander.
In a flash, Paxon hauled me back up to land, leaving me lying on the ground by his feet. I coughed, tears springing to my eyes as he wiped his palms on his pants like I’d dirtied them.
“You have until we are able to travel to give me your answer,” he said, not sparing me a glance. “Don’t make a choice you’ll regret. The ground isn’t the only thing that might accidentally claim you.”
