Page 52 of The Curse of Ophelia

When my sister, Tolek, and Santorina reclined in the shade, Cypherion crouched beside the river. I watched his large hands gently apply oil over each of his blades, cleaning them as if they were precious treasures. Ironic given the blood I’d seen them draw.

Not wanting to interrupt his process, I pulled an apple from my bag and bit into it. My teeth sank past the crisp skin and an explosion of tart juice flooded my tongue. It was refreshing. The moment peaceful. He polished each dagger in silence.

When my apple was nothing but a core, I tossed it into the tall trees. A scurrying told me that an animal had snatched it up quickly, and I whipped my ahead around.

“You want to know what I think about them.” Cyph jerked his head toward the trees as the sounds of the creature faded. I smiled softly at his quick intelligence, his strategic and insightful mind.

“They shouldn’t be acting like this.”

“They’re as upset as the warriors.” Cypherion slid each dagger home, one by one, taking care to ensure they were strapped properly in their sheaths before moving to the next. When he was done, I removed the twin daggers he’d gifted me for my birthday. Since the Engrossian attack, I’d taken to wearing them strapped to my thighs, always within reach.

Cyph helped me polish each. How he treated every weapon like it was its own entity and needed individual care was admirable. My inquiry hung over us all the while, and I appreciated his contemplation before answering.

“Have I ever told you of the fonder memories of my childhood?” he pondered, handing me a paste he used as polish.

The question surprised me, but I shook my head. We never pushed him to speak about his childhood before moving to Palerman, knowing only the few facts he had shared over the years.

“My mother wasn’t always distant.” He swallowed, not looking up. “There were early years when I remember her laughing. Caring for me. It’s all blurry, but she was there. Not the vacant shell she became.”

“What happened?” I swiped a bit of the paste over the blade, mimicking his movements.

“She never told me. I never asked, and she rarely speaks anymore. She simply exists.” He spoke matter-of-factly.

“It wasn’t your fault, Cyph. Whatever happened, it was to her. But it’s comforting that you have those memories.” There was nothing else I could say, but sadness—cold and hollow—sprouted in my heart. I folded my hands in my lap to stop their nervous twitches.

“Maybe.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care but didn’t give me a chance to argue. “But my point is that something did happen to her. Something sent her into a spiral so deep—broke her so thoroughly—she no longer cared for her only child. It’s the same with the warriors. The same with the animals. Something is shifting, and it’s driving them further toward that breaking point. What happens then, I don’t know.”

“Someone once told me that one has to break fully in order to heal.” One hand drifted to the sleeve of my leathers where the Bind lay, then quickly back to my dagger.

His quiet laugh wiped away a bit of my sorrow, but his face turned firm as he said, “You needed to, Ophelia. Curses, you may still need to break—who am I to know? But I told you that because you lived beneath a veil, and it had to be lifted. I mean no offense by that claim.”

Cypherion, always so pragmatic. A stark realist among us, who played by the rules and saw the world not only in a series of rights and wrongs, but also their implications and how each twisted the environment around it.

“There’s no offense.” And I meant it.

He handed my dagger back to me and laid a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “You may need to break, but perhaps we can save the rest of them before that fate strikes.” He looked to the trees, blue eyes narrowed as if inspecting each creature that roamed Gallantia, or perhaps the whole of Ambrisk.

I almost asked what he meant, unsure how it was in our power to do anything when we were not even certain what was occurring, but the shake of his head told me he was as lost as I. He brushed a wet hand through his auburn waves, attempting to tame them. I watched the locks fall stubbornly back where they wanted to be as I puzzled over the possibilities.

We sat in silence, heavy questions buzzing between us, until Santorina called out, “I’m going to see if I can find any ingredients for healing oils before we move again.”

“Be careful!” I shouted back.

Rina waved me off as she disappeared into the dense cypher trees, black ponytail swinging down her back.

Jezebel rose to her feet, stretching her arms above her head and twisting her torso. Her spine cracked with the motion, a satisfied smile spreading across her lips. “Shall we go for a swim? You all reek.” She wasn’t wrong.

Her eyes brightened at a hint of something we hadn’t experienced in a week. Fun. Jezebel had a confidence about her, an uninhibited ease with which she went through the world. It radiated from her as she peeled off her training leathers, baring her skin for all the world to see. All she wore was her golden necklace. There were few shames among adult warriors, and our bodies weren’t one of them.

“Jezzie, at least pretend to be modest,” I mocked.

“Why pretend?” She tsked as she strutted to a small cliff at the river’s edge, stepped to the highest rock, and dove flawlessly, her tan skin a bright streak against the clear blue sky.

Tol and Cyph laughed at her brazenness, the latter standing to strip off his own leathers, though he left on his undershorts, and follow her into the stream. When they both surfaced, they swam to the other bank, Cypherion treading water against the river’s lazy current. Jezebel pulled herself onto a rock, her torso hanging out of the water, and threw her head back so the sunlight hit her face. Unashamed and unabashed.

I smiled at my sister’s freedom, the icy outer shell of my heart cracking with her happiness. I hoped she’d still be this radiant when I was gone.

“You may go join them,” Tolek said, watching me with careful eyes as he scooted to the river’s edge to splash water over his face and neck. “I don’t mind sitting here alone.”

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