Page 33

Bria

I can’t recall when I was last so at peace. Not in a long time. Definitely not since I came of age, that’s for damn sure. Not since I started hiding my gifts and then went into hiding myself. It’s odd and freeing at the same time to feel this way, even though I know it can’t last. It won’t last.

Ash joined me for a hike up one of the nearby mountains this morning.

She packed a light lunch filled with the usual foods: heavily salted meats, fresh cheeses from the goats we kept in the pastures, and some of the last apples that fell before the snow.

Though to be fair, they are getting a bit nasty despite being kept in the cold ass cellar storeroom.

As I lie back on the blanket Ash stowed away in the bag, I snuggle fully into the warm fleecy material.

From here, I can see the expanse of the sky.

More blue than gray today. Spring is coming.

I can smell the ripening of the earth as I breathe, trying to take it all in, to remember all the sights, and sounds, and smells—the billowing clouds that flow past and the tips of the black Kaanos Mountains, peaked with glimmering white snow.

The mountains look foreboding from the village below, but once you’re in them, they transform.

Become majestic. Though we traveled only partially up one of the smaller mountains, the view is breathtaking.

It would have taken the better part of the day for a hike to the summit, and I am positive Ash would not tolerate the required attire of leggings and a tunic for that long.

The mountain air has a chill to it, and I pull the thick cloak tighter around me, warding off the cool. The reaches of winter have not relinquished their tight grip on the mountains just yet, despite the early kiss of spring that touches the earth around us.

Ash flops her body to the ground in a heap next to me.

“Remind me once again why we must exert ourselves for your pleasure?” She speaks with feigned irritation but the heavy breathing she’s exhibiting betrays her real and true exhaustion.

I’m used to hiking and running the trails in and around the mountains, so it causes me no distress to come up here.

But Ash is not in quite the same shape. Not that any of the men ever mind.

She is naturally perfect with envious curves that draw a man’s eye to all the right places.

I, on the other hand, am now swathed in lean muscle.

My thighs and calves can easily carry me up the mountain and my arms can shove a dagger clean through a man’s skull.

But I’m not devoid of curves, I have plenty of them on my small frame —they’re just never on display the way Ash likes hers to be.

Given my lot in life, I’ve attempted to attract little attention while here in the camp, hiding my body in tunics and leggings instead of putting it out there in the open.

“I just wanted to see the beauty of it once more,” I say, a quiet confession regarding the thoughts swirling in my head.

“Masochist,” teases Ash playfully.

A hearty laugh falls from my lips in response.

“What exactly do you think is going to happen when you and Nimai reunite?” Ash is stretched out beside me, hands folded behind her head, hair wild around her.

I sigh heavily, not sure I want to think of it right now. Not with this beauty all around me. But my fate impacts Ash as well, and if it’s on her mind, I’ll sate her curiosity.

“If Cato is right, then the Woods will recognize us as the descendants of Lilith and Kiara. It’s supposed to strengthen us, allowing full access to our potential, our powers.

And then the prophecy can be fulfilled.” I swallow before continuing.

“I’m not sure what will happen from there.

I assume we will plan and start the journey to meet with the rebel forces outside of Castle Eccleston. ”

Ash sets her rouge-tinted lips in a firm line. “Right away?” she queries.

I nod. “I don’t think Helara wants to wait. It’s been long enough, and the king continues to... collect people like me.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to do it? To take him down for good?” I realize that though my own personal destiny may be unfortunate, if Nimai and I fail, the destiny of the rest of the Kingdom of Azudora—the rest of the world as we know it, would be just as bleak.

I bite my lip, chewing on the smooth skin inside. “I hope so,” I answer, nervousness apparent in my tone.

Ashbel reaches a hand out to grasp mine. She holds tight, her fingers intertwining with mine, and squeezes. “Me too.”

We stay like that for some time, silently watching the clouds overhead while we relax and pick at the food.

I listen to the birds singing in the evergreen trees that thrive in the black mountains.

It makes me blissfully happy to spend this time with Ash and I don’t want to leave the quiet of the mountain landing when the sun starts to set.

“We should probably get going,” I finally mutter, the words shattering the surrounding silence.

Ashbel rises to her feet, brushing away the pine needles that had gathered around the ankles of her leggings, sticking to the top of her worn leather boots.

I stare at her, the way the fading sun sets her hair alight.

My chest tightens and I once again feel the stinging in my eyes.

I cannot fall apart, not yet. There’s still too much for me to do.

But I save that image of her, tucking it away in my mind, knowing it may be one of the last moments we spend together.

I leap to my feet, sniffing and trying to hold back tears. Instead, I busy myself, I shake out the blanket before folding it neatly and stuffing it back into the pack we brought, then turn to look at Ash, whose face is also beginning to fall. She feels it too.

“Drinks?” I ask with a raised brow, hoping to distract her before either of us becomes too emotional.

“Oh, gods, yes!” she exclaims.

Her face breaks out in a gleaming smile of white pearl and emerald.

I truly hope she finds happiness in this life.

So far, it hasn’t been kind to her. An only child now, she lost her father and younger sister when we were teenagers to a terrible illness that struck our town of Elwyn.

Her mother then perished in the attack on my father’s estate, along with my father and quite a few others who resided there. Some were killed, others taken.

Though not of blood, Ash is my sister, and I love her fiercely.

I know in this moment that I will do whatever it takes to make King Braddock fall.

I will make it so that Ash and the others can lead normal lives.

Lives where they aren’t isolated in a remote mountain village, forced to live as unworthy outcasts.

Somewhere Ash can wear her dresses and raise a family of her own, where Quinn can fight in a real army.

Where Evander can find a love that he deserves.