Page 23 of A Game of Monsters (Realm of Fey #4)

Sailing upon the endless blue, it was impossible to keep track of the minutes, let alone the hours. The day beyond the cabin’s window had swiftly passed into night, and with it my mind was fixed on Duncan and Erix.

The three of us.

Sleep came and went, if I could call it that. My only constant was lying beside Duncan, who’d not woken since our last encounter.

Unable to sit around, hiding in the cabin, I left Duncan to sleep whilst I obtained the answers waiting on the deck.

I found Rafaela standing at the bow of the ship, staring out across the stretch of ocean, her eyes lost to an unseen spot in the distance. What she saw was beyond me, because all I could see was glittering stars reflected off a blanket of black. The moon hung like a pendulum, acting as our guide as we sailed toward it. My mind drifted to the unseen creatures lurking beneath the hull, tailed serpents or water dragons from the old tales. Regardless of such monsters, it was the person who stood beside Rafaela that made the breath catch in my throat.

Erix was at her side, the wind making his wings dance. I hesitated, looking back to the ship’s helm. Seraphine gripped the gargantuan wheel, lean muscles straining as she kept the ship on its path. Lanterns had been lit across the deck, casting enough of what was around us in a glow. She nodded at me, short and sharp. It was the encouragement I needed to push forwards.

Erix, as he always seemed to do, noticed my presence before I announced it. He turned his head slightly, enough for the silver glow of moonlight to dance across the planes of his face.

I couldn’t tear my eyes off him, and the feeling was clearly mutual.

Rafaela noticed. When her eyes settled on me, I saw regret and pain. The faint whisper of words Rafaela and Erix had shared stopped, making me feel almost awkward for interrupting.

“Duncan is still sleeping,” I said, excusing the lack of his presence. “Sorry I haven’t come out sooner. It’s the first time I’ve been able to share a bed with him since before–”

“There is no need to explain yourself, little bird,” Erix said, laying a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “Never, okay?”

I smiled awkwardly at him, knowing that if Erix had stayed in the cabin with us, we would all likely still be in it.

“What have I missed?” I asked.

In answer, Rafaela offered me an update on Gyah. “Your friend has requested to use a vial of Gardineum that the Nephilim had in stores. Gyah is suffering greatly from her separation from Althea – it is easier for her to rest her mind and give it a reprieve from reality.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine the heartache that poisoned Gyah. If she wanted to sleep, with the aid of the poison, then that was her choice. Not something I had the grounds to make comment on. “Gyah will be going through a lot right now. I know the pain of being parted from the person you love. It eats you up from the inside out.”

I caught Erix’s eyes, hoping he knew that I spoke about him as much as Duncan.

There was so much left unsaid between me and Erix, that I expected him to acknowledge the interaction he’d not long walked away from. But he stayed silent, until a handful of words left his perfectly bowed lips. “I’ll leave you both to get reacquainted.”

With that, Erix made a move to sweep past me. I found my arm snaking out and hand gripping his. “I know I’m in no position to make requests of you, Erix. But can I ask of you one thing?”

“Robin.” I hated when he used my name. There was once a time I’d rather him use it, but now, with everything that had happened between us, it sounded foreign on his tongue. “I could never refuse you; you know that. Ask me of what you need, and I will see it done.”

“Can you sit by Duncan’s side?” I found myself asking the question, proving just how desperate I was. “He is not well, and I would prefer that when he wakes, he isn’t alone.”

Erix leaned in and laid his lips to my cheek. The suddenness of it shocked me to silence, made every hair on my body stand on end. He withdrew enough to be able to whisper in my ear. “It would seem the stars have aligned, because that was exactly where I was going anyway.”

“You were?” My voice lifted in pitch, reflecting the hope that dwelled inside of me.

“I was,” Erix said. “There is a matter I would like to discuss more with him.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what matter he spoke of, but I guessed I already knew the answer.

Erix left me to simmer beneath the tingles his lips left on my cheek. Swiftly departing from the ship’s bow, I was left to Rafaela, who continued studying me. Only when Erix had disappeared into the belly of the ship did she speak.

“I would ask how you are faring, but I worry that I already know the answer,” Rafaela said.

It didn’t matter how I felt, what mattered was fixing all the problems around me. Starting with Duncan. “Duncan needs a healer the moment we reach Irobel.”

“I am aware.” Rafaela looked away from me, making me think she was hiding something still. “Duncan is the first known mortal to host Duwar in all of time. Having Erix guard him is wise. We will be unsure of the damage he has suffered, lasting or not, so it is best not to take any chances with the small band of people we have left.”

My mouth dried, my tongue turning to sand in my throat. “Then you agree that I should be worried about Duncan?”

The signs pointed to his suffering, the clawed marks on his chest as pronounced as they had been when I last saw him.

“I hope not.” Rafaela leaned forwards, facing across the ocean again. I joined her at the rail, glad for the physical support to prop me up.

Stars glittered across the dark oceans, sea-salt breeze tangling my black hair. “How long do we have left of the journey?”

“If the winds are swift, and the oceans our ally, then I hope we will reach land sometime tomorrow,” Rafaela said. “I sense we are close, like a tether is pulling at me, pointing my inner compass toward home.”

“You speak on these isles as if they haven’t harboured monsters all this time.” My accusation caught in the winds, amplifying the disdain in my voice.

“Home is home, whether the memories there are painful or not.”

I took a deep breath, feeling it rattle in my aching lungs. “Why didn’t you warn me? When I came to the Below, you could’ve given me a heads up about Cassial’s plans and prevented this from happening.”

Rafaela released a heavy sigh that carried on the winds and into the dark. “I could not tell you Robin, because if I had, you would have felt like you had no option but to kill Duncan yourself.”

“And was that my only option all along?”

Rafaela spared me a glance, proving to me she already knew I had the answer. “I did what I had to do.”

“Because Zarrel could’ve got your truth out of me with the hammer?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“That was always a risk.” Rafaela didn’t tell me I was wrong. “It was better, this outcome.”

A shiver passed down my spine at her comment. “Althea has been captured because of this game you continue to play against your own people. Elinor is dead,” I seethed, finding the fury coming out of me without warning or control. “I don’t see how this outcome is better than any others. Wychwood is left without its leaders to guide it. We have lost, Rafaela. Surely you can see that?”

“No, we have not lost. Not yet.” Rafaela laid a cold hand on mine. It was then I noticed just how tight I held onto the railing. My knuckles were white, the veins protruding out the back of my hand. I eased my hold slightly beneath her touch.

“I will not lie to you and tell you that we are on the road to victory,” Rafaela said. “Many more innocent lives will be taken from this realm, and more so will feel the pain of that loss. But this was the outcome that had to happen. We – I had to return to Irobel if we had any hope of going against Cassial. Duncan had to return to Irobel.”

“What do you mean return?” I asked, feeling my heart swell in my gut. “He’s never been there–”

The look in Rafaela’s eyes stole the breath from my lungs. “What do you know of Duncan’s parentage?”

It was one story I was confident about. “They were killed by Aldrick who lied and told Duncan the fey murdered them, just to manipulate and use him.”

“Then you see that the Nephilim are not the only creatures capable of lying, Robin Icethorn. You of all people should know that.”

“Thanks for that.” My grip tightened on the railing, knuckles turning white. “Listen, for the sake of our frayed relationship, Rafaela, I strongly suggest you stop speaking between the lines and get to the point.”

She tipped her head in agreement, looking back out of the dark waters. “The prophecy I told you about, the one Gabrial – rest her soul – had many years ago. It is the heart of this conflict, and the key to solving it.”

“The prophecy about the Saviour?”

Rafaela winced at the use of the word. “Before Cassial and his Fallen took over Irobel, we – the Faithful – continued with our life’s work. Duncan is the product of those plans, a child born from angel and man. Someone…”

“Made from both realms,” I answered, repeating the words she had shared with me days ago. My blood hummed through my veins, so loud that my ears rang with it. Duncan, made from angel and man. I couldn’t begin to understand how this was possible, and yet my mind told me it was. “You said that you thought it was me that prophecy spoke of. Half fey, half human. But you lied.”

“I admit there have been so many lies that I have long forgotten which hold truth. But yes, I may have suggested that you were the prophesied Saviour in case Zarrel got the information from you and discovered the truth. Turns out I placed my worries in your mind being invaded, and did not worry about my own.”

I clutched my gut, wondering if the sickness was from the rock of the boat, or the upturn of all these truths. “I no longer care about what you have said before now. I need only to know every detail, no matter how small you may think it is to the matter. I need to know what part Duncan has to play in this game.”

As if the game hadn’t already ruined him.

Rafaela took a deep breath in and held it. She released it only when she was ready to tell me all the secrets she kept. “I was the one who sent Duncan back to Durmain as a child. One of many, who would act as failsafes if we ever required them. For generations we have been cultivating children for the sole purpose of discovering the Saviour. Of course, at the time we did not know what they would save us from. But as time went on, and the prophesied Saviour did not reveal themselves, others upon Irobel began to birth ideas and ideals of their own.”

“If Cassial believes he is the Saviour, then that means he is also born from both realms?”

“Made, not born.”

Made. There was something in her emphasis of the word that had my brain turning. “Who were Duncan’s parents?” I asked, regretting the question as soon as the answer came.

“Cassial was his father.” A devouring silence lay over me, threatening to drag me into its depths.

“Cassial?” I breathed.

“Unfortunately, yes. And his mother was a human woman who had devoted herself for generations to help protect our history.”

I balled my fists so tight that my fingertips ached from lack of blood flow. When my knees wobbled, I knew my sudden weakness had no corelation to the boat’s movement. A sudden and sharp need to turn back and run to Duncan’s side, to share this information with him, overcame me. No matter how horrifying this revelation was.

“Duncan deserves to know this.”

It had once been his life’s mission to discover his parentage until Aldrick’s lies made him believe they were long dead.

“And he will, in time. But it was important we got him back to Irobel, to play into the prophecy and ensure Duncan is the one to save the realms.”

“Duncan is in no state to stand up on his own, let alone save anyone,” I snapped.

Rafaela leaned into my shoulder, her touch exactly what I needed to calm the ice leaking from beneath my hands.

“Which is why he must reach Irobel. Duncan was born, but he must be made – do you understand?”

I shook my head, information tangling in my mind “Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“It will, in Irobel, I promise.”

“What’s so special about Irobel?” I asked. “You made us believe all the Nephilim left. Not that we want their help when it is clear they all share the same vision that Cassial and the Creator have. The eradication of the fey, once and for all.”

“Not all the Nephilim shared in that vision,” Rafaela said. “I don’t. Gabrial didn’t. And there are thousands of others who also did not wish for the downfall of the fey.”

“And yet it is happening,” I said, shivering to the bone. “We are too late.”

“Not late, simply delayed.” Rafaela blinked heavily, her dark skin glowing as sea-salt spray crested over her.

“So where are these thousands of Nephilim who share your beliefs?” I asked, looking out into the endless dark, wondering if our hope of salvation sensed our pending arrival.

Rafaela took a deep breath in and finally released her hand from mine. “There is much I have told you, and much more that I have not. You must first understand that I was chosen as the Creator’s hammer. Protector of his word. But with the spreading of his truth, I understood the importance of lies. How they played a part in, hopefully, saving the world from the inevitable repeat of history. The web of them is iron-clad and tangled, but I want to unravel them, so you understand.”

“Then do that,” I pleaded. “Help me understand.”

Duncan. Cassial. Prophecies. Saviours. So many words, and they all made as little sense as the next.

“It began with our arrival to Durmain. We told you that we came to protect you from Duwar – a demon-god. That was the first lie, and not a singular one. Duwar is no god, nor is Duwar a demon. Duwar is simply a source of the world’s power.”

I am power.

“Duwar told me that,” I admitted, “but I didn’t believe it.”

“Because you were made to believe Duwar was evil. You trusted in a truth you believed, that is not your fault. And with all power, it is not inherently evil or good. It is how power is used which determines that. The same goes for people. Gods. Nothing is simple. Look at the power that is in you, compared to what Doran Oakstorm coveted. You see, it is the wielder of a weapon with bad intentions that is evil, the blame does not fall upon the weapon itself.”

“I understand that,” I said, “but what I don’t understand is why I saw Duwar as the demon… their physical reflection. How can my mind debunk what my own eyes saw?”

“Perspective, Robin Icethorn. You saw what you were made to believe. Just as humans look to Cassial as a hero who saved them from evil fey; it is merely their perspective and not the truth as we know it.” Rafaela turned her back to the view of the sea, leaning against the railing with powerful arms folded over her chest. “Duwar has always been the epicentre of a great divide between the two gods. Altar and the Creator – before their kin gave them names – were simply beings using chaos, or Duwar as you know it, as a means to sculpt the world as we knew it. On Irobel, we have texts on texts about it, describing a time we have named the Game of Monsters. It was those texts that Duncan’s birth mother looked after – until Cassial decided she was not worthy enough to continue her task and gave her a new one.”

There was pain in Rafaela’s voice, suggesting that Duncan’s mother had met her end long before this day.

“Altar and the Creator warred over… chaos?”

Rafaela nodded. “They fought over who could use Duwar, and who could not.”

“A Game of Monsters,” I repeated. “Duwar also mentioned this.”

But again, I didn’t believe it.

“It was given that title by the Nephilim. A time when Altar used Duwar to create his children, the fey, and the Creator believed the harnessing was unjust and unfair. The Creator, no matter how he tried, was unable to make beings to rival the power of the fey. The humans were simpler creatures. It was only by giving of the Creator’s own matter – blood and tears – that he was able to make us. But that was to his own detriment. The Nephilim were the result of the Creator’s demise. But by the time he discovered this, it was too late and Duwar had already been locked away, the gods weakened due to their conflict.”

“You told us that the Nephilim were meant to protect the keys. But you really came to find them before Aldrick, and use them.”

“No, I came to destroy them. That was never a lie. Cassial though, he wanted the very same as Aldrick.” Rafaela sucked her tongue over her teeth, followed by a sigh. “In truth, we didn’t know of the existence of the keys before Aldrick started searching. Likely because even that knowledge was not given to the fey. It wasn’t until Aldrick began his expedition to free Duwar and harness the power to change the world in his desired image. Because Aldrick was half-human, Gabrial was able to read his intentions. It was how we discovered the possibilities of these keys and used that to come over to your realm, under the guise that we were to protect you.”

“Aldrick, was he one of these Saviours you mentioned?”

Rafaela looked into my eyes, straight through my soul. “Yes. Aldrick was a child born from two realms – but not made. This was our biggest mistake. Although Aldrick was one of our many attempts to start the prophecy Gabrial shared, as you can imagine, he was one that was almost successful. Except he was no Saviour because he was born.”

“Not made,” I added, still not knowing what that entailed.

“Exactly.”

The sickness rose its head again. “And the difference is?”

“To be born from two realms is easy, but to be made is something entirely different. It requires a change, a physical alteration. It has nothing to do with realms and races, but gods. Made from two realms. Mortal and divine.”

“So, Duncan is…”

Rafaela shook her head, reading my thoughts. “He is no god. But he is something close, because he has the potential to touch the divine and survive it. Thank the Creator, otherwise he may not have lived through Duwar’s possession for this long.”

I simmered on all the knowledge unloaded upon me, trying not to drown in it.

“This is why the Nephilim punished you for destroying Altar’s keys.” It was beginning to make sense, even if I didn’t want to believe it.

“It is.”

My stomach cramped with the urge to vomit, but I held it at bay. “You and Gabrial both planned to destroy the keys to keep them away from Cassial.”

“You see now that her death, although painful to me, saved her from suffering at the hands of her own people. She is with the Creator now, in his kind embrace.”

Kind. I laughed at the word. There seemed to be nothing kind about him.

“Robin, I should have faced death by Cassial’s hand, but from my understanding, the letters he received from you attempting to reach me planted a seed of interest into your need to discuss our practices. If you had not attempted to reach me, I may have been killed long ago.”

Instead, she suffered. Over and over. Just a glance at her wingless back proved as much.

“And the gate, the one Gabrial showed me in her vision. More lies. More deceptions. You were not protecting it.”

Rafaela bristled, wrapping her arms around herself to fend off the chill of night.

“Some of us were, others wanted to open it. The gate within Irobel has been the attempt of the Nephilim to free Duwar. For years the Fallen have tried. Using old texts, trying to reverse Altar’s ultimate deception to the Creator. But over and over they failed. Until Aldrick showed them the way to success.”

“And what of these thousands of Nephilim that you mentioned, the ones who didn’t believe in this? Why didn’t they – you – stop those who had been corrupted?”

“We were outnumbered, it is as simple as that. Yes, there were thousands of us, but there were more of the Fallen. Poison spreads faster in willing veins, and Cassial ensured those who worshiped him were malleable subjects.”

Another thought came to mind, one which tied me back to something Rafaela had told me before.

“You told me the Nephilim influenced by Duwar were then bound in labradorite as punishment. That was the crux of why I needed you. The plan we made – was that more lies?”

“Yes and no.” Rafaela hunched forwards, losing a breath full of tension. Russet stains had dried across her tunic, mirroring where the stumps of severed wings lay beneath.

“Our practice of binding a person in labradorite was one of our experiments of freeing Duwar, gone wrong. It will be easier for me to show you when we arrive. But you must understand that the Nephilim we bound in labradorite were not those supporting Duwar, but those opposing Cassial’s goals to free the source of power. Hundreds… thousands of my kin have been locked away for generations under the belief that they would never be free. To kill a Nephilim is to return them to the hands of the Creator – death is far too kind for those who wished to stop the Fallen from succeeding in the Creator’s ultimate plan. But the binding, the defiling of a Nephilim in the bones of an opposing god, that was punishment. An eternal prison that was believed to be forever. But it is not.”

“It isn’t?”

Rafaela smiled. She actually smiled so bright that her entire face beamed. “The process, if Cassial was interested in understanding, is reversable. Which is why Duncan’s return to Irobel is important if we hope to stop Cassial. Yes, I believe Duncan is the Saviour. But not only of your realms, the Saviour for the Faithful, those locked in stasis for generations, waiting for him to call them out of stone and to freedom.”

“So this detail is the crux of Gabrial’s prophecy?”

Rafaela nodded, jamming a thumb toward herself. “Duncan is the only one capable of saving us .”

“Duncan has one foot in the land of the dead,” I said, hating myself for speaking the truth aloud. “Unless we find him a healer, he will not survive long enough to help you.”

“Duncan must survive,” Rafaela said, jaw tightening as she gritted her teeth.

“Must and will are two entirely different things, Rafaela.”

Rafaela shot me a sideways look, one that sang of her own desperations. “He is our last hope, just as the prophecy said.”

“And how do we stop an angel imbued with the power source of the very world? What can Duncan do about that!” My hands were shaking; my entire body trembling with unspent energy.

Rafaela didn’t seem to share my nerves as her smile only brightened. “Cassial is the product of the Creator. Unlike the fey, who were made with the use of Duwar’s power, we and the humans were not. So, our incompatibility will only lead to Cassial’s death, just as it weakened Duncan. Cassial is many things, but stupid is unfortunately not one of them. He will refrain from using Duwar for as long as he can – until he is provoked. Our issue is not fighting against Cassial, but ensuring he does not use the power to cause destruction that cannot be reversed.”

My mind went directly to Althea, slotting her in place in Cassial’s plans.

He kept her because he needed her.

“Duwar wanted me. I was told that Altar used them to create the fey – that we are compatible. I could have stopped this if I just accepted – I could’ve prevented Duncan from this suffering…”

I couldn’t bring myself to mention Althea in all of this.

Rafaela nodded. “I understand you believe that your treatment of Duncan was destroying him, but that is simply not true. I do not need my hammer to see the truth of that. Your self-imbued guilt is written across your face. If anything, keeping Duncan in the state you ensured was perhaps the only thing that saved him. We will see.”

We will see. Three words that should’ve relieved me, but they did the very opposite.

“I don’t want to wait and see. Duncan is going to die if he is not seen by a healer.” I finally said it. Spoke the truth that I knew just by looking at him. “No more talk of prophecies until we locate one in Irobel. I can manipulate the winds, try and get us to our destination faster…”

“There is no one in Irobel to heal Duncan, Robin. Only statue and stone reside in Irobel now, unless Duncan can free them.”

We were going round in circles, and still an answer was just out of reach.

I gawked, pain gripping my chest and squeezing. “Then why are we still going?”

“Because there are other ways in which we can help Duncan on Irobel,” Rafaela said. “Our practices do not simply include the binding of a person in stone. As I said, that was only discovered during failed attempts to utilise Altar’s bones. There are practices we have perfected–”

“Can you save him?” I shouted, eyes bulging. “That is all I care to know. Can you save Duncan?”

“I can try, but it will not be my will – no matter how I wish it to be – that saves him.”

A frigid cold crept through my veins, ready to strike against the world. “Then who? If there are no healers, who is going to decide if Duncan lives or dies.”

“The Creator.” Rafaela narrowed her eyes, focusing on the distance. The tension quickly ebbed out the lines of her face, as if her final secret had finally been shared, and she was free from the burdens of her web of lies.

“If you think I will put Duncan’s life in the hands of a god whose own children wish to destroy us, you must think I am a fool!” Rage erupted within me, refusing the answer Rafaela had just given.

“I’m sorry, Robin, but there is no other way.” Rafaela fixed her eyes on me, boring through my soul and out the other side, sorrow pinching her thick brows together. “I cannot promise you that Duncan will be saved, but I do trust in Gabrial’s prophecy and hold hope that we will find salvation in Irobel, and not further pain and suffering. I know that isn’t enough for you to hold onto but know that I would not be doing this if I didn’t think there was a chance.”

There was so much I needed to say, and yet I couldn’t get the words out. Instead, I turned on my heel and marched away from Rafaela. If not, the magic that drummed in my bones would’ve broken free.

I found myself back outside the door to my and Duncan’s cabin when I heard voices from within. As soon as the dulcet tones of the two men I loved sounded past the thin wooden door, I found all my emotions from my conversation with Rafaela dissipated.

Leaning my ear against the door, I fought to still my beating heart just enough to hear what was being said.

“I want nothing more than for you to be happy,” Erix said, voice soft yet firm. “Before I make my decision on what happens next, I need to hear it from your own tongue that this is what you want.”

My palm pressed against the door, wishing to push it open, and yet I didn’t want to interrupt this.

A broken, weak voice rose up and replied. “Erix, this will only ever work if we each equally desire this. Love comes in many forms. My love for Robin is vast, as I know yours is the same for him. But my love for you… comes from knowing that you hold those very same feelings that I do. Robin, he is our everything and for that you are my everything, and I know the feeling is the same. I see it in your eyes, but most notably Duwar saw it in your soul. Answer me this… please.” Duncan must’ve paused, because for the next few seconds I heard the rasp of his strained breathing.

“Take your time,” Erix whispered, his encouragement palpable even through the wood between us.

“Will the first step forwards together be harder than the one it would take to walk away?”

It was my turn to hold my breath, waiting on tenterhooks for Erix’s answer. When it came, I found myself smiling.

“No, it would be easier to move forwards. I know that.”

“Your hesitation is beautiful, Erix. It shows that you have time to contemplate and come to your own decision. This… this door that has opened for the three of us will only stay open if we are all, equally, on the same page.”

“If it closed, I would kick it down,” Erix replied, voice dropping to a faint whisper. “That I know.”

At that I pushed the door open to find both men looking up toward me. They must’ve noticed my smile, because both returned it, Duncan’s fainter than Erix’s due to his exhaustion.

“Little bird,” Erix stood from his seat on the edge of Duncan’s bed, his hand gathering away from Duncan’s which was laid out and stretched across the sheets toward were Erix sat. “I didn’t expect you so soon. Are you okay?”

I shook my head, because lying was not how I was going to start this. “No, but I will be, once we reach Irobel, I hope.”

Erix looked beyond me to the dark and quiet corridor. “It is late, I should–”

“ We should rest,” I said, gesturing toward the bed. “All of us need it.”

Duncan leaned back on the pillow, face pale and eyes closed. His voice was quiet as it rose from the mounds of bedsheets. “I cannot argue with that, darling.”

I kicked off my boots and paced toward the bed. Erix watched my every move. “You need to sleep too, Erix.”

“Are you sure?” he asked as I climbed onto the bed, pressing myself into Duncan’s left side.

I patted the space at my side.

“I am,” I replied, guiding Erix with my eyes to the other side of Duncan. “But only if you are?”

His actions answered for him. Erix followed suit, moving to the right side of Duncan and climbing onto the bed. Whereas I lay on my side, facing them both, Erix put two arms behind his head and looked toward the ceiling.

This felt… easy. The three of us, connected in different and yet powerful ways. I could’ve said something more to Erix, but the peaceful quiet was exactly what I needed. Instead, we shared a final look, a soft smile and a silent promise that tomorrow would be full of answers.

“I don’t want to choose,” I admitted, voice a small whisper.

“Then don’t,” Duncan said, fingers tickling my side. “Why choose anything, when you all know what outcome we want.”

I spared a glance to Erix, whose lip quirked upwards at the corner. He noticed me looking and rolled onto his side until he faced me.

“Why choose,” Erix repeated, toying with the words in his mouth.

No one spoke again. With Duncan between us we slept soundlessly, giving into the sense of peace that I’d not felt in days.

Until a shattering noise broke my reality apart.