Page 117 of Treasured

My heart stopped for a long moment as the cold water slammed into me from all sides. My teeth chattered, my lungs squeezed, and my hands grasped at nothing. My feet sank into the gritty sand, and I pushed up. A second passed. Two. Then I broke the surface of the water, raised my fist, and cheered.

Next to me, two other heads rose. Marie and Bruno’s lips were blue, and their faces were pale, but they wore matching grins.

We were finally getting older. I couldn’t wait to tell my brothers I swam in the Black Sea, just like them. It was as amazing as I thought it would be.

What other kinds of adventures were waiting for me in Eleyta?

Luna and I turned a corner. We moved through the village square slowly. Too slowly. Another memory took over, one more painful than the rest.

“Don’t go, Sebastian.” Mama gripped my hand with far more strength than I thought she possessed. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at me. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

Mama said she didn’t have any favorites, but I knew she loved me more than my brothers. I saw it in every smile, every laugh, every time she played cards and chess with me. She didn’t want me to leave, but what was I supposed to do? I needed to find out what else existed in Eleyta.

“Philippe is in the army,” I said, referring to the tailor’s son who had left for the south the prior spring. “He comes home all the time.” Bending, I kissed Mama’s cheek. After my fourteenth summer, I’d shot up and now I towered over both my parents. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She trembled, shaking her head. “I don’t think so.”

That day, I’d brushed her worries off as nothing more than motherly concern. Looking back, I wondered if she’d had a touch of the Sight. Maybe she’d Seen something. Maybe she had a feeling. Either way, she was right.

I never returned.

Giving Mama one last hug, I turned to my father. He stood stoically to the side, staring at me through hardened eyes. Disappointment was etched onto his face, and he shook his head. “You should stay here and look after the shop, Bastian. It’s what I raised you to do.”

This again. We’d been over it a hundred times.

I adjusted the sword at my hip. “I can’t, Papa. Adventure is calling my name.”

Crossing his arms, he huffed and took a step back. “Fine. Have it your way.”

My brothers were there, and we exchanged quick farewells. Nothing long or drawn out, barely memorable. That was it. I turned my back, fool that I was, and strode down the cobblestone streets away from my family for the last time.

A hand tugged on mine, drawing me back to the present. Luna stood in front of me, her concerned eyes sweeping over mine. Are you alright, Sebastian? she asked through the bond.

I’m… there are many memories here, I replied after a moment.

Regret coursed through me. Why did I agree to this? Why did we come? We should have gone north, skirted around the Black Sea, and continued our search for Jehanne.

Then I saw it.

Papa’s shop stood where it always had, the tall three-story building in a row of others just like it. A wooden sign had always hung off the front, but it looked different now. Lopsided. My steps quickened despite the trepidation growing in my gut like a twisting, churning maelstrom of dread. I fed more shadows into my cloak, hiding us both from sight as the boarded-up windows came into view.

There were no signs of life. No sounds, no smells, nothing. It was abandoned. They were gone.

My breath left me in a whoosh, and a pang of loss ran through me. Resting my palm on the door, a single tear ran down my cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for. Not being a good son? Not listening to them? Not coming back? No matter how painful the memories were in Brookton, I didn’t regret joining the army. I didn’t even regret being Made, because all those decisions led me to Luna.

But I regretted not coming back to see them at least once. Now they were dead, and it was too late.

This was your home. Luna’s voice was soft in my mind.

Yes, I replied. I grew up here.

Seeming to understand that I couldn’t say anything else, Luna wrapped her arms around me. For a long moment, neither of us moved. The past was a heavy burden on my shoulders, and it took several minutes to gather myself.

Eventually, we moved away from my parents’ shop. I guided Luna through the town, and we moved as ghosts in the night. I showed her the school, Ithiar’s temple, and the old blacksmith’s shop where I used to watch sparks fly as the smithy forged weapons, speaking as needed through the bond.