Page 92 of Somber Prince
“Let’s enjoy it, my prince.” I shoved the spoon with the apricot into my mouth. Sweetness and flavor exploded on my tongue. I hummed in appreciation. The first bite was always the best, and I was glad Rha was here to share it with me.
His eyebrows remained knotted into a frown, however, his jaw set hard.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” I asked, licking the spoon.
Something distracted him. And I didn’t like it. It worried me, and my worry had obviously filtered through the tendrils to him.
“What is it, Rha? Please tell me. Or we’ll just continue feeding on each other’s anxiety in circles.”
He took the dish out of my hands and set it on the parapet behind him.
“Come here.” He opened his arms for me, and I stepped into his hug without a moment of hesitation. “I have some bad news, my sweet. I fear it will upset you.”
His somber tone sent a chill down my arms. He couldn’t have found out about our escape plans, could he?
I slid a finger down one of his tendrils. “Maybe you should get these out of me, then?”
He pressed the side of his face to my temple, his mouth being just above my ear.
“I want to feel what you feel. I need to taste your pain, then maybe I’ll know how to help you through it.”
I couldn’t feel his emotions the way he did mine, but I read his voice. He sounded sad, not angry. He wasn’t talking about the escape.
“What is it, Rha? What do you need to tell me?”
“General Oskura brought news about your cousin.”
I gripped his arms, afraid to breathe.
“And?”
“She was a part of the queen’s sarai in Kalmena.”
My heart beat against my ribs so hard, I swayed. Ciana was here. After all those years, with no answer about her whereabouts, I finally found her.
Except that Rha’s somber expression didn’t let my hope grow.
“Did you say ‘was?’ Is she not there anymore?”
He slid a hand up and down my back in a soothing motion.
“No. There has been an attack on the queen’s sarai. Your cousin escaped.”
“Escaped?” I clung to this one word. “So, she’s alive? We’ll just have to find her.”
“She escaped the city, into the desert. Alone. That was days ago.”
“You don’t think she’ll make it?”
His silence grew, smothering my hope, before he spoke again.
“A human wouldn’t survive in the Alveari Desert even for a day. She was alone, with no supplies, no water, or any protective clothing. I’m sorry, Dawn. I wish I could let your hope thrive, but it’d be heartless of me to prolong it. Your cousin is no longer alive.”
I drew in a shuddering breath, clinging on to him as his words slowly filtered in, absorbed by my brain like water dripping onto the desert floor.
No longer alive.
Dead.