Page 172 of Dare
Aire cocked his head, then stretched his gaze over his shoulder. He must have felt my questions, attuning himself to my dismay. “Sand drifters read the map.”
My features crumpled. Of course, the Crown would have employed my kind to interpret the lyrics. If our culture could navigate the crevices of this kingdom and find priceless treasures, drifters had the best chance of understanding my sketch.
Still. I was the chosen one, not them. The rainforest had bestowed me with the ability to see the map.
Aire’s irises glinted. “You did not fail this wild.”
Mist filled my eyes. This man read emotions the same way he read nature. What a beautiful gift—and what a haunting burden.
Then again, this land had called me to find the key within myself. Yet maybe it didn’t have a connection only to me, but to everyone. Because we were all part of this world, all part of nature, all linked to one another, our paths converging and diverging. Every sacred realm in The Dark Seasons had its pull, and the difference resided in how it welcomed each of us, and what happened when we arrived. Maybe we were all chosen ones, and maybe the outcome was a mixture of destiny and choice. Not one or the other.
And that was okay.
Jeryn stayed quiet. I peered at the honed shadows of his profile, which I doubted even Aire could penetrate. But if a person close to this prince knew where to look, they’d find a crawlspace, the fissure where he concealed his thoughts. He was considering the knights who’d disembarked from the ships, the torrent presently ambushing them. Fated or not, if they expected to march through here without a problem, they had a vicious surprise coming.
The rain became a drizzle and then dissipated. In its place, bushes shivered, remote voices filtered through the understory, and steel rang. They’d made it inside.
“Your Highness, this is ludicrous,” Aire growled at Jeryn.
“Quiet,” the prince clipped. “I’m thinking.”
“Concealment should not have been the plan. At least, not for you.”
“I know.”
“You could have provided a distraction.”
“I know.”
“If you wanted Flare to get away without them giving chase, you should have stayed behind to deter them.”
“I know,” Jeryn stated while peering into the trees.
On the shore, when Aire had stressed that we needed to leave, he’d meant him and me. True, Jeryn’s presence would have distracted the fleet. Yet I recognized the harsh set of his features, that concentrated dip in his brows. To stop them from finding me, Jeryn would have cut through this army with his bare hands. Although he knew I could blend into this forest without his help, his first impulse had been to remain by my side.
More than that, my prince had another reason—a motive he kept to himself. And there was no way I’d have left him behind in that cove anyway.
Footfalls trampled into the rainforest, the sounds carrying through the storm. More than a dozen soldiers groaned and grunted, the rain having pummeled them like hammers.
“Stay close,” one hollered.
“A torch!” another called. “We need light!”
“Fuck the light,” someone else grumbled. “Do you want to get us mauled?”
“Mind this path. Something’s getting close.”
Something. Not somebody.
They spoke loudly, shouting the words “Prince” and “Prisoner.” That kind of racket would draw the faunas’ attention. And if they disturbed that nest in the creepers, they’d be pincushions in no time.
The troop made it another three paces. Then a woman barked, “Don’t, you idiot. We don’t know–”
A man bellowed, his pained shrieks ripping through the forest. I knew that torture. One of them had gotten thirsty and taken a gulp from a stream that burned its victim’s tongue off. Jeryn and I had discovered this waterway over the past year and avoided it. The soldier groaned and hacked as if half of his mouth had been melted off, the grisly scene preoccupying the troops.
Aire launched forward. “Now.”
“Wait,” I cautioned, snatching his arm and pointing to an overhead bough.