Page 136 of Of Serpents and Ruins
"Yes." I drew in a deep breath and forced myself to smile. "Yes, of course."
With that, we all bid one another farewell. Then silently as they arrived, they slipped away.
I released a long sigh, my gaze falling back to Brandt. Adira's visit had reminded me of how we already had managed the impossible. Both she and I had died to save this world and been dragged back to memories of old lives with great challenges before us. Returning should have been impossible, but we had. Each of us. Brandt and I could do the impossible as well.
Arjax placed his hand on my shoulder. "Let's finish packing the camp and then get your beloved to the ship. We'll be ready for the Keening Pass in plenty of time."
STELLA
We packed and prepared for our departure, Arjax and Lorna indicating what needed to be tied down or secured so that their camp would be undisturbed during their absence. Most of the supplies and tools, including the ropes and dry racks, were placed in the cellar. Working over the fire at one of the small workstations, Lorna labored over some sort of concoction, the pungent scent of horseradish, lemon, and peppermint covering up almost every other scent except smoke.
Brandt groaned, his eyelids lifting. He rocked for a moment before realizing he was chained. Then his gaze met mine. He released a pained breath and dropped his head back, going limp. "You’re all right."
I knelt beside him, smoothing the dust from his brow. Tears knotted my throat and burned the backs of my eyes. "I am. You?"
"A little…off." His voice cracked.
I fetched one of the waterskins and set it against his lips. He drank slowly, his gaze averted as if he couldn’t bear to look at me.
"Did the Gola Resh bring you here?" I asked softly.
"Yes." He closed his eyes. "And—"
Lorna knelt behind him and started to unfasten the chains as Arjax sat beside me.
"No, don’t unchain me!" Brandt bared his teeth, his voice dropping to a snarl. "I can’t take this anymore. I don’t know what is changing the timeline. If I lose—"
Lorna placed her hand on his shoulder, cutting him off. "Little cousin, listen. We can’t free you from the curse, but this curse is similar to something else we have fought."
She and Arjax then explained to him what had happened with Elias and the charm and the curse. Brandt offered his own interjections and explanations, including that the Gola Resh had thrown him through with the intent to kill me.
Not that he was saying everything. He shifted uncomfortably and still did not look at me even as he massaged his wrists and ankles.
Kine remained silent through most of it, asking a couple questions.
"Well, all that to say, little cousin, I don't think you'll be sliding into the cursed state again without that necklace or something like it present." Arjax jerked his head in Lorna’s direction as she removed the small silver pot from the fire.
"I don't want to risk it. You should keep me chained. The Gola Resh has proved too unpredictable." He kept his face turned from me, shame defining his posture. "She wants us to suffer, and she will make sure I am the reason Stella dies if she has her way. And I just… I cannot."
"Answer me this, Brandt." Lorna gestured over the pot as if to better smell it. "You’re quite strong, aren’t you?"
His eyebrow arched. "You might say that."
"And you know how to kill quickly, do you not?"
He nodded slowly.
I frowned at this question. Where was she going with this?
"In fact," Lorna continued, "I seem to recall one of the last times you visited before the curse fell upon you. You snapped a terror bird’s neck with your bare hands. Not an easy feat." She tilted her head, her red-black eyes fierce but contemplative. "It’s actually one of your skills. It took me a while to put this together, but I see it now." She gestured between us. "You tried to drown Stella and choke her with one hand. The other time, it was with both hands, but you didn’t succeed. If I had to guess, I’d say that in each of the attempts to kill Stella, you have made critical errors in your responses."
It hadn’t felt like they were errors at the time. At the time, they had been terrifying. I folded my arms.
Kine cleared his throat. "His strangulation stance was off the first time," he offered, holding up his hands to demonstrate the spacing.
My own hand went to my throat as I thought back. Strangulation wasn’t one of my skills, and I wasn’t sure…but there was something being implied here.
A little spark of hope burned inside me. "The second time, he flung me onto the ledge from the flooding river, and in the throne room, he could have attacked faster. He took things slower."
