Page 77 of To Ride the Wind

“A life?” she asked hesitantly, looking around again. There was no indication in the room that anyone lived in the house other than Easton.

“The years have been kinder to me than they might have been,” he said. “I have much to be grateful to the locals for. But it never stopped feeling like I was waiting for my real life to begin.” His smile grew warm, his eyes capturing hers. “I never stopped believing you would find a way to stand up to her.”

Gwen flushed, soaking in his attention and presence. The reality of him was so much better than her imaginings and being in his presence triggered a flood of memories from their shared childhood. He was just like the companion of those days, and yet at the same time not. She couldn’t help noticing how tall he had grown, and how broad his shoulders had become. He filled the space in the house in a way he never had before.

But at the same time, she felt his admiration as a pressure. He believed in her beyond what she deserved. She sat heavily on a nearby sofa.

“I didn’t really stand up to her,” she said miserably. “I tried to investigate, but as soon as I discovered about becoming a bear and confronted her with it, she locked me up. Honestly, it was luck as much as anything that kept me from dying in my poor escape attempt. If I hadn’t accidentally stolen a godmother object from her that turned out to allow me to ride the wind…”

“I’m sorry, becoming a bear?” Easton stared at her, and Gwen flushed darkly. She’d forgotten that the enchantment had begun after she confronted her mother over Easton’s disappearance and was locked up. He must have still been in the mountain kingdom somewhere at that point, drugged unconscious, but apparently he hadn’t been one of those the queen included in the binding enchantment.

She swallowed. “My mother cast an enchantment, after you…After we…” She sighed. “The queen and I and all her courtiers and guards turn into bears from sundown to sunrise.”

Easton rocked back, his eyes growing wide. “That is another surprise.”

Gwen watched him closely, but she could see no sign of disgust in his eyes. Catching her scrutiny, he sat beside her. Taking her hands, he smiled at her. “Clearly a lot happened in the years I missed. But what matters is that you found out the truth about her in the end, and you can even ride the wind now! That must be a helpful tool in confounding her. Have you come here for more allies?”

“A…Allies?” Gwen blinked. “I came here to find you. Or at least, that’s what I was trying to do. I wasn’t coming here specifically because I didn’t know you were here.”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, overtaken by a quizzical expression instead. “I’m flattered, and I’ll help you, of course. I’ve been waiting for ten years to do so. But I’m not sure how much value I can bring. You’ll need more allies than just me to bring her down. Or have you already disrupted her that significantly?”

“I…” She swallowed. “I think you’ve misunderstood. As soon as I discovered I could direct the wind, I came over the mountains. I came looking for you.”

He dropped her hands, his brows drawing together. “But I’ve heard rumors about traders from the mountains and further tales about people disappearing. The locals might not have put those two things together, but it must be obvious to anyone who knows Queen Celandine. What has happened to her captives? Did you just leave them there? And what about the people in the city? Your people.”

Gwen went hot and then cold. After meeting the girl from the city, Gwen had been ashamed of herself for never thinking of the city’s inhabitants. But then she had turned around and forgotten about them all over again. Whereas Easton—who hadn’t set foot in the mountain kingdom for ten years—still thought of them immediately.

He surged to his feet, striding away from Gwen only to immediately come striding back. He ran a hand through his hair, further disrupting the messy waves.

“You just abandoned them?” he demanded. “But you’re the true heir of the mountain kingdom, Gwen! You’re the only one who can stand up to her, the only one who can bring her down. How could you just run away?”

All the joy that had filled her on finding him drained out. She leaped up, her hands covering her face. After everything he’d said, after seeing the disbelief in his eyes, she couldn’t bear for him to see her tears.

Blindly she ran from the house, fleeing down the harbor, away from the noise and movement toward the quieter section. Distantly she heard him calling after her, but she didn’t slow.

Only when the sounds of the town completely fell away did she finally stop. She had reached a bluff that gave a sweeping view across the ocean. A flat rock provided a place for her to perch, and she pulled her feet up onto it, hugging her knees as she looked out over the waves.

The tears had stopped, but the emptiness they had brought remained. At home, she had always felt lonely, the walls of the palace closing in around her. But for a brief window, she had thought herself free. And yet, here she sat in a whole new town, with friends at her side, but just as trapped by loneliness as ever.

Physically, the expanse of the sea stretched out before her while a breeze ruffled her hair. But she felt the enclosing walls just the same, this time made of guilt.

Charlotte’s presence only reminded her of the guilt of her secret. She had betrayed her friend, and her friend had paid the price. And now Easton’s presence carried the weight of another betrayal. Everything he had said was true. She was the only other royal in the mountain kingdom, the only heir. She had known others suffered under her mother’s hand. And yet, when given the chance, she had fled without a second thought, intent only on saving herself.

She could come up with a list of excuses. She could say she was powerless before her mother. But she had been telling herself that for years, and it was wearing thin. Faced with the one person who had always believed in her and supported her, she was forced to confront the truth.

She had used her powerlessness as an excuse to wallow in weakness. As long as she told herself there was nothing she could do, as long as she passively accepted her mother’s control, she didn’t have to risk her own safety.

Never once had she truly attempted to best her mother or stand up for anyone else. Even when she finally snapped, she had fought only for her own escape and freedom.

She had done everything Easton had claimed, and now he would never see her the same way again. She had ruined everything.

GWEN

“You look like you could use an apple.” The kind tones of an older woman interrupted Gwen’s despair.

She blinked, wiping away the lingering traces of tears, and scrambled to her feet. The old woman gestured for her to sit again and then sat beside her.

She held out a yellow apple, indicating for Gwen to take it.