Page 96 of Path of the Dark
Ryana let out a soft sigh. “That’s what happens when you stop fighting,” she murmured. “You take a deep breath, finally realize where you are … and then it hits you.”
He huffed. “Like a club to the head.”
“I feel the same way,” Ryana replied. “I wish I could slow down time … hold back tomorrow.”
“Abouttomorrow,” he said finally, his tone sobering. “I want you to be careful. Don’t take any unnecessary risks with Gael.”
Ryana tensed. She didn’t want to talk about what lay ahead, but she knew she couldn’t ignore it any longer. Dawn was creeping inexorably toward them.
“I will be careful,” she promised, before she propped herself up on an elbow and peered down at him. “But what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“There’s no point in saying that … you know I will.” Ryana frowned then. “Don’t you go falling on your sword. I don’t care what your father said to you … try to survive the battle.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And if Rithmar wins?”
“All the better.”
“You think Nathan will welcome me … after everything that’s happened?”
Ryana held his gaze. “We’ll deal with Nathan when the time comes. He’s proud, but not unreasonable. When he hears you were sincere in your talk of peace, he may decide it’s worth keeping you alive.”
Elias raised a dark eyebrow. “Let’s hope so.”
“Ihope so,” she said huskily.
Elias stared up at her, and she watched his handsome features tighten. “You deserve better than this,” he said softly. “Better than a few stolen moments.”
Ryana favored him with a small smile. “I’m glad you sought me out earlier. If either of us falls tomorrow, I don’t want there to be things left unsaid.” Her vision swam then.
Sweeping up her hand from his chest, Elias brought it to his lips. “This can’t be the end,” he said, his voice suddenly urgent and rough. “I won’t let it be.”
The sun was just peeking over the rooftops to the east when Elias slipped out of The House of Light and Darkness. It was a humid morning. The air was charged, almost as if another thunderstorm was on its way.
Elias stepped over a puddle of urine and walked up the street. He didn’t look back at the House, instead he kept his gaze firmly forward. If he glanced back, even once, he’d be lost.
Leaving Ryana was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
After their conversation earlier, they’d slept fitfully in each other’s arms for a while. And then, as the first streams of light filtered in through the shutters, he’d forced himself to rise. They’d said little then while he dressed. Everything that needed to be said had been. However, before leaving, Elias had knelt by the bed and pulled Ryana into his arms one last time. She’d wept, silently, and it had nearly torn his heart from his chest.
He’d kissed her then, a soft, lingering touch, before leaving the chamber.
Elias made it to the end of the street and then turned left. Immediately, he started to feel better, although the ache in the center of his chest still hadn’t eased. He hadn’t made things easy for himself by going to Ryana, and yet he was glad he had.
He’d sensed that beneath her anger she’d cared about him. He was relieved she’d not let pride sour everything for them both.
He had a memory now that would sustain him during what was to come.
The streets of Veldoras had a gloomy air this morning. There were few folk about save patrols of Anthor soldiers and people who slept rough. There were quite a few vagrants these days, more than he remembered: men, women, and children bundled up in blankets on the hard cobbles. Most likely, they’d been turfed out of their homes by soldiers.
The occupation of Veldoras was starting to take its toll.
His father ruled the city with an iron fist, taking the best food for himself and his huge army. He’d forced locals to billet his men as the barracks weren’t big enough to house them all. Elias passed an older couple as he walked through the slums. Both thin and dressed in threadbare tunics and leggings, the husband and wife had bare, filthy feet. They avoided meeting Elias’s eye.
Elias thinned his lips and lengthened his stride.
It’s time to give Veldoras back to its people.
