Page 28 of Dawn of Hope
“Thank you, Emilie.” He smiles at her, an air of familiarity between them. I ignore the uncomfortable feeling deep in my gut. Is that jealousy? I’ve never had anything or anyone to be jealous of before, and I don’t like it.
“You just come find me if you needanythingelse,” she says with a small squeeze of his shoulder. She eyes me up and down, narrowing her gaze before turning on her heel and striding away.
Yep, definitely don’t like her.
I scowl at the back of her head as she walks away. Dane’s low chuckle brings my attention back to him.
“Thank you for the food. I, uh, don’t have any money right now, but I can bring some next time I come into the city to pay you back.”
He waves a hand at me, brushing off my words before leaning forward on his crossed arms again. “It’s my pleasure.”
We fall into silence as the scents of the roasted chicken and potatoes waft over us. I pick up the cutlery Emilie dropped off with our plates and start cutting off a piece of chicken. “So, what was it you were sayingbefore?” I pop the bite into my mouth and almost groan. I can see why Dane says this is his favorite tavern, at least, hopefully it is for the food and not for the enthusiastic servers.
He pushes his plate to the side as he leans farther over the table and beckons me closer with a flick of his fingers. I lean over my plate, our faces mere inches apart.
His voice is low and secretive, and I can barely hear him over the roar of the tavern.
“Have you ever heard of a land called Dawnlin?” His eyes search my face, but I try not to react.
“I’ve heard of it.” I tilt my head, showing my surprise at the question. “Don’t tell me that is what you are searching for in the library.”
He chuckles and leans back slightly. “No. Iamactually reading the texts, hoping to find some way to help her. But the longer I go on without answers while my sister continues to suffer, I can’t help but wish for something else. Something that would save her.”
I shake my head, my voice lowered to match his. “It’s not real, Dane. Magic isn’t real. The story just gives people hope that something might help. It just makes it easier to watch them suffer, hoping that magic might fix it all in the end.” I pause. “But it hurts that much worse when it doesn’t happen.”
“Spoken like a true healer.”
“I’m just being logical!” I say with a laugh. “Don’t you think that if it were real, we’d know more about it? How to get there? Wouldn’t there be people lining up to get this magic potion to fix anything and everything?”
His face lights up with pure excitement, like he has been waiting to talk about this with someone. “What about all the stories of miraculous recoveries? No explanation, and no one in the family knew what happened. Not even the healers could explain it.”
“That’s what doesn’t make sense! Why wouldn’t the family know? Someone would have had to get this elixir for them. They can’t just keep it a secret from the entire kingdom, or world for that matter.”
“Maybe they’re really good at keeping secrets.”
“Or maybe it’s just made up.”
“Then what is your explanation for all the cases where people have recovered with no help from the healers?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not magic. It has to be something our healers just haven’t discovered yet.”
“Oh, come on.” He scoffs and leans back in his seat. “Why don’t you believe?”
“Because it isn’t logical,” I say, shifting to sit back as well. “It doesn’t make sense that there is a magical land that has a magical drink that fixes any problem, no matter what. If this is true, why are there still sick people? Who determines who gets cured and who doesn’t? There are too many questionable issues for it to be real. How do you get it? How do you get there? What?—”
He interrupts me. “With the Guardian, of course.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, sure, ‘the Guardian.’” He cracks a smile at my singsong voice. I know I voiced my doubt with Edmond, but talking to Dane about it feels different. It feels like a fun and playful conversation with a friend, not a lesson.
“Fine, fine. Don’t believe.” He throws his hands up in the air in mock exasperation. “I was just asking.”
“Sorry, I’m not trying to make fun.” It is easy to be myself with him, to really feel like the true Lennox instead of the princess act I have to put on in the castle. He’s as easy to talk to as Brynne. I barely know him, but there’s something about him that makes me feel so comfortable that I forget he doesn’t really know me either.
I don’t want him to think I am rude or laughing at him for what he believes, so I continue. “I just prefer to focus on real solutions. I don’t want to sit around and just hope. I want to do something that will fix it.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What if it’s not just hope?”
I raise one back. “What if it is?”