“There’s a ward around it. I already checked when I was cleaning the hallway near his quarters yesterday,” I said. “Even my portals wouldn’t break through it.”
Ethan handed me the sorry strip of meat they’d given us for dinner, and I gobbled it down while he nibbled on a crust of bread. I was starving, and felt weak. The meals here were already poor, and I couldn’t eat much of what they’d provided to us, as I was gluten-intolerant and allergic to most of the food. I’d had scraps here and there, but I couldn’t do this for much longer without passing out and potentially exposing us— not to mention I was due to take my medicine soon, and couldn’t skip it. We hadn’t planned on being down here this long.
Shit. Maybe wewouldhave to take the stone by force and leave those kids behind. The thought made me queasy.
“Alexei!”
Alexei went rigid at the sound of a loud, trilling voice approaching. He turned in place, and his face went white as a middle-aged woman and a man came running to our table.
I knew who they had to be. The similarities between Alexei and his parents were striking. Alexei stood, and the woman had tears in her eyes as she swept him into her arms.
“My baby boy’s returned!” she wailed. She kissed Alexei’s head and squeezed him tight. Alexei hugged her back, but his body was stiff.
“We knew you’d come back someday,” Alexei’s dad said gruffly, patting him on the back. “You have no idea how long we’ve prayed to Droga for your return.”
Alexei’s smile was vacant and pained. “I suppose Droga had always fated to bring me back here.”
“Is this your mate?” His mother gestured to Kiara, and squealed. “Oh, Alexei, she’ssobeautiful!”
Kiara gave a forced grin. It was such a strange and common reunion that it put me off. These people were welcoming their son back into acultlike it was some amazing thing.
His mother dotted her eyes. “We’ve been so sad since you’ve been gone.”
“I ran away for what I thought were the right reasons,” Alexei said. His tone was on the edge of despair.
His father’s face hardened at the hint of what Alexei had gone through. “You know... the things we had to do were for your own good,” his father noted. “We never wanted to hurt you, but the acolytes said that’s what was best, and…”
Were they actually trying tojustifythe abuse Alexei had suffered? It was awful. It was like they believed every word they said.
But Alexei nodded, and he said, “I know why you thought that way. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”
His parents appeared relieved, but I knew the truth in Alexei’s words. He knewhowhis parents thought, thewhybehind their reasoning to give him up to the acolytes, but he’d far from forgiven them for it.
His mother’s face shone as she said, “Well, you know we owe the family everything. They took us in when no one else would. I’m sure the life you had was hard out there, that’s why you came back. Such a terrible world it is, outside the family.”
“It’s definitely different,” Alexei said blankly.
His mother reached out to give him another hug. “Oh, we’reso gladyou came back home. Your father and I have to run— we have a night shift at the shop— but we can’t wait to see you again. Perhaps if we ask nicely, the acolytes will agree to letting us work in Confinement together!”
Alexei nodded numbly. Both of his parents gave him kisses on the cheek, before they swept off.
Alexei’s whole body was shaking. Ethan jumped up out of his seat and told us to follow. Kiara and I each grabbed one of Alexei’s arms. We marched him out of the makeshift cafeteria, and into a silent catacomb near the sleeping quarters.
Once we were out of sight, Alexei took one look at Kiara and broke down. His shoulders shook with sobs as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. Ethan patrolled the end of the catacomb, to watch if anyone came by. Myself, I felt helpless as I observed Alexei collapse into Kiara’s arms.
“I’m here,” Kiara told him. She stroked his hair, and kissed his head in the way a sorceress should, and at that moment I thought that there was no better match on Earth than these two.
“I let them go a long time ago,” Alexei sobbed. “Though I can’t say I don’t feel anything for them. It would be untrue. I don’t want to leave again without them, but they won’t abandon the cult, and I can’t— I can’t stay down here—”
“Of course you still care about them. They’re your parents.” Kiara wiped tears away from Alexei’s eyes. Kiara gave a desperate look to me, which prompted an idea.
“Let’s go to my hearthfire tonight,” I suggested. “To get a break.”
Alexei’s tears slowed, and he nodded. If our bodies were stuck here, languishing in the catacombs, at least our souls could get some reprieve. We went inside the sleeping quarters and laid down in our puny, threadbare beds. Anyone observing us would think we were sleeping, but truly, we were meditating our spirits to Edinmyre.
We came to the open field just outside of my hearthfire cottage. The heavens above were purple and dark, dotted with sapphire stars, and the long grass caressed our legs. In the distance, I could hear soft violin music play from the faekin hiding in the woods.
Gods,the sky. We hadn’t seen a hint of it in days, stuck in those dreadful catacombs. I wanted to weep at the sight of it.
