Page 100 of A Monarch's Fall

Percy Flores

We rode in silence for hours through the dark of night, until Ana’s breath became heavy and she began to snore lightly.

“She thinks I’m dead, then?” Valen said, breaking the silence.

“Who?” I asked.

“Selene, of course,” he replied.

“Arvid promised he would kill you in exchange for ensuring Oskar's death, so yeah, she thinks you're dead. Everyone does,” I said.

Valen laughed a low chuckle, probably careful not to wake Ana, as we were both talking at a low volume. I didn’t think Valen was going to try anything, not right there; he was as slimy as Arvid, but harming us wasn’t useful to him in that moment,and Ana needed to rest. One of us deserved some sleep in a relatively comfortable environment. The SUV was warm at least.

“That’s good. The lost son of the north. It has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Song worthy, I would say. My return will be of mythic proportions,” he boasted.

“You think you’ll just be welcomed back?” I asked.

“Now more so than ever,” he answered. “Selene really screwed everything with her power grab of Vouna. From what I hear, the northern Houses are in shambles, and my cousin was bested by a poorly organised minor rebellion. The whole of the north is going to welcome me back, you stupid girl.”

I didn’t rise to the insult. Valen could boast and call me names all he liked, so long as he got Ana and me out of Halvorsen and back on our way home, it didn’t matter what he said.

“What did Arvid want from you? What do you really get in exchange for your freedom and helping us?” I asked.

“That isn’t any of your business, is it?” He laughed. “You really are an idiot if you think I would simply tell you everything I have up my sleeve, not even that pompous overgrown bear has any idea what I’m truly capable of. Everyone underestimates me.”

“You realise as soon as I’m with Selene again, I will tell her that you’re alive?” I asked, curiously wondering if he still felt he would have the element of surprise.

“Please do,” he answered.

“How long before we reach the ferry?” I asked.

“Can’t wait to part ways? And here I was thinking we were having such a good conversation,” he said.

I didn’t respond.

It was a few more hours before we reached the Oskar River. I didn’t know my geography well enough to know what the original name was, but it was much larger than I had expected. It was extremely wide, and the shore on the opposite side was difficult to see.

I nudged Ana gently awake.

“What?” she asked, sitting up in fright and immediately whistling in Valen’s direction.

He clutched his chest and ground his teeth.

“Give it a rest!” he demanded.

“Ana, we’re here, everything is okay,” I reassured her with my hand on her shoulder.

She released Valen.

“I can’t wait until my enchantments are in place again,” he groaned out as he opened his door. “You best pray to whichever god you follow that we do not meet again, blood-witch, because if we do, I will rip your head off.”

“You’re not in a position to be making threats,” Ana replied.

Valen responded by slamming the car door shut.

I unlocked and opened my door, but Valen shut it again before I could get out.

“Stay here,” he commanded as he walked away towards the surprisingly small and rundown dock.