GWEN
Exhaustion weighs me down,and I tuck myself more deeply into Merak’s arms as he continues to fly toward the Winter Court army. I don’t know why I am so fatigued when he is the one doing all the flying. And he’s not just flying, but he’s holding me and his heavy rucksack.
I sneak a peek at his face and allow my mind to brush against his. To my surprise, he’s not tired at all. Quite the opposite. He’s exhilarated. He truly enjoys flying, especially across great distances. He finds it freeing.
Given my former habit of sitting on the stone walls of Braemar and staring at the road, I suppose I can understand that. The need to escape the trappings of life, even just for a little while. Maybe that is why Merak and I belong together. We are similar in that regard.
I consider the rucksack strapped across his chest, hanging at his waist, and disbelief sweeps through me all over again when I remember how he packed it. Using his winter magic, that blue light he can so effortlessly summon into his palm, he somehowspelled the bag to hold far more than it should. My clothing and shoes, the books he purchased for me, and countless other items had all vanished inside with ease. Though the rucksack appears no larger than before, it somehow contains everything he wished to carry.
I suppose the trinkets and other gifts he secretly purchased from the market are still inside too, and a smile dances across my lips. He’s not aware of my snooping.
Despite my fatigue, I shift in his arms and peek out at the landscape. We’re traveling beside a mountain range sparkling with ussha-blessed vegetation beneath a dusting of snow clinging to the treetops. It’s beautiful, and I can scarcely believe this is my life now.
I always dreamed of leaving Braemar and traveling the realm, and now it would seem that dream is finally coming true.
Though not quite in the way I once imagined.
As a child, I used to picture myself joining a caravan of traveling merchants or perhaps setting off with a dear friend at my side (assuming I one day managed to make a friend), wandering from village to village with no destination in mind. I imagined freedom and adventure.
I never imagined I would leave Braemar as a tribute-cursed slave stolen by deserters, only to be purchased off the auction platform by a devastatingly handsome fae lord who turned out to be my mate.
Heat spreads through my cheeks.
Gods. Life can truly be strange.
Still, I suppose I will be traveling now. Not only for a little while, but perhaps for years... centuries... maybe even thousands of years.
Merak is resigning from the army. I know he won’t change his mind. I feel the truth of it whenever my thoughts brush against his, which means we will not be living in the war camp.
Where we might eventually land, so to speak, remains a mystery. Merak has remained rather tight-lipped about it, and because I sense his turmoil whenever thoughts of resigning surface, I haven’t wanted to press him for answers.
Perhaps we will travel for a while. Wander from place to place. Perhaps we will search for somewhere new to call home. Or perhaps he already has somewhere in mind and simply hasn't told me yet.
My gaze drifts toward his face.
The truth is, I still know so little about him.
I don’t even know the name of the province in the Winter Court that he once called home. I don’t know whether ussha has already spread away from his home province, leaving it empty and dying like so many other places in the fae lands. I don’t know what his life looked like before he joined the Winter Court army, nor how long he’s been King Theron’s most-trusted aerial scout.
Suddenly, I realize I want to know everything.
Not because he is my fated mate, but because he is Merak. He is the highborn fae male whose soul somehow resonates with mine. He is the savage fae lord I once found terrifying, but now I could not fathom living without him.
I think of how I discovered him sleeping near the hearth yesterday, the bird nestled in the crook of his arm, and my heart flutters.
We didn’t release the bird until this morning shortly before our own departure, and it was a bittersweet experience, watching the brave little bird fly off to resume its life.
Also, before our departure, Merak summoned three new messenger birds. I finally sent a missive to my family, a rather vague letter assuring them of my wellbeing, with the promise that I would see them soon. And Merak sent letters to Commander Ashvale and King Theron.
As the sky grows darker, Merak flies closer to the mountains, and I sense he’s searching for something. A cave. He’s looking for a cave, one he’s visited before.
I scan the area, but I don’t see a break in the trees, nor a rock face large enough to conceal an entrance.
Then Merak suddenly dips lower.
I gasp and clutch him tighter as he descends through the snow-dusted treetops into a small clearing. Only at the last moment do I glimpse it… a strange rocky formation half-hidden behind thick vegetation. The opening is concealed by snow-covered vines and branches.
Merak lands with effortless grace.
