Page 16 of Chasing the Night

Chapter Seven

How Things Are Done

Chalice

Reverie led the way back to the Villa with a hurried pace. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was crying. It seemed every time I grew close, she walked faster. Her back was stiff, and the bubbly demeanor gone. By the time we made it to her chambers, her sniffles confirmed my suspicions.

I closed the door behind us, sealing it with my weight, and quickly reached for her wrist. She jerked it free and stared at me wide eyed. The normally innocent gaze was smothered in unspent tears. They ran freely as she wrapped her arms around me and sobbed against my shoulder.

Something about those deep, desolate sobs made everything in me cringe. Her weight collapsed against me as she lost herself in a violent emotional storm. It was worse than the twisters that often struck the Valley of the Afflicted.

“This can’t be happening,” she began to chant once she had spent herself.

I ran my hand through her hair and tried to help her stand on her own again.” You should be happy. It is your wedding day.”

I wanted to say more, but the words welled within me when she snapped her glossy gaze toward me again. I felt like shrinking, but I held firm and tried to be supportive.

“What is it? Reverie, tell me…” I was starting to grow panicked myself.

What the fuck had I gotten into? Fighting men off in the middle of the street, only to learn it was a game. Seeing the happiest person that I had ever met reduced to a blubbering mess… over what should have been a lovely affair. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, but I held my ground despite everything in me screaming for me to run as far and as fast as I could. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go. Every day the temperature dropped further.

Reverie sucked in air, nearly on the verge of hyperventilating and way beyond hysterical. She’s going to pass out, I thought to myself, only to have the war horn rip me from my thoughts. It was a long low blast that left me wondering if the world itself was coming to an end out there.

“What...what do we do?” I asked whipping around to face her. The tears had dried and she was smiling like someone had solved all her problems.

“Pray he dies in the battle.” She laughed on a sigh and moved toward the window, staggering like she had just left the tavern. Her palm kissed the cold brick wall and she stretched herself to lean out the window.

“Reverie!” I hissed, tugging her back inside. “You’ll catch an arrow.”

“Not up here, they’re still fighting in the low ground.” She pointed, allowing me to squeeze beside her. Indeed, the gate was still firm in place. The invaders hadn’t made it past the second row of rental houses. “Fuck it all!”

She picked up the small potted plant and hurled it across the street. It shattered against the building across the way. She clenched both fists, closed her eyes, and growled like a trapped beast. “Fucking coward,” she whispered shakily, letting her weight collapse on the wall behind her.

I glanced out the window and noticed the cause of her upset. On the roof a few streets over, I made out the shape of two women and a young man.

“That is him?” I whispered. “Your intended?”

“He isn’t -my intended. He is the scumbag Atticus arranged for me to marry. I can’t stand him. I hate his whole family! They are our enemy, Chali… why are they sacrificing me to the enemy?”

The despair in her voice gave me chills. No matter how much I rubbed the side of my neck, the tingles wouldn’t stop.

“Atticus and Isabella adore you… surely they wouldn’t do anything—”

She cut me off with a laugh that ended in tears. “Atticus is evil. If it weren’t for Isabella…” Her voice trailed off.

The door snapped open, and Ender walked past as if nothing at all had happened this morning. His hand gently found my arm and he leaned out the window before nodding.

“It’s over,” he confirmed as if to himself. He tried to pull back and turn to face me, but I gave into instinct and shoved the fucker as hard as I could. His ribs rocked against the bottom of the window sill, and he banged his head off the side before whirling around to confront me.

“What the f—” he started, trailing off when his eyes met mine.

I was livid. I had liked him. I thought we were semi friends, family even, they all had said.

“Hey, Chalice listen—”

“Don’t tell me to listen. Your words lose meaning depending on who is around.” Why the fuck was I unloading on him? He was larger than I, and in his own home, uh my home—who fucking knew. It was all happening so fast.

His hand came out to cup my upper arm again. I jerked it away and tried to slide past him, but his palm kissed the wall, making a toll of sorts.