I reach around Wren, patting the saddle’s pommel.
“You should hold on,” I advise, wondering if this will be the moment she breaks her silence. “I’m going to get down, and I don’t want you to fall.”
Wren doesn’t say anything, which is not out of the ordinary, but her hands shift to the saddle, her movements slow and shaky.
I dismount with ease, having ridden hundreds of times before, and my feet land silently on the stone. I straighten, my eyes automatically finding Wren.
She’s hunched over the saddle, her eyes hooded and fingers wrapped around the pommel. Heavy bags hang under her eyes, and her Mark rivals the blue sky in its brilliance, but the sadness in her gaze cannot be missed. Where is her fire? Her strength? It must be in there somewhere, beneath this pain.
Wren is strong. Leaving her sisters must’ve hurt, but she can get past this. She is as smart and cunning as she is beautiful, and I know she can survive this.
If she wants to.
I’ve seen people give up before. Lose the will to live and slowly fade into nothing. I can’t imagine standing by and watching that happen to Wren.
My stomach contorts, and my fingers twitch. I want to pull her down and hold her to my chest, whispering sweet nothings in her ear until she finds her strength. I want to wipe the frownoff her face and smooth the crease between her brows. I want to insist she let me make things better for her.
I don’t know why I feel this way or want these things, nor do I understand why I’m drawn to her. Why does her unhappiness feel like my unhappiness?
None of this makes any sense.
My rational side knows that even though Wren practically acknowledged she could feel this pull between us, I’m still nothing to her.
Well.
That’s not exactly true.
I don’t think she’s indifferent towards me. The way she says my name and the fire that lights in her eyes when she speaks to me all point to how she feels about me: She hates me. I should begrudge her for that, but I don’t.
How can I, when I was hunting her? We were at odds with each other—predator and prey. It would be foolish of me to expect her to look past it, let alone ask her to forgive me for my actions. I don’t even know ifIcan forgive myself for bringing gods-blessed to their deaths.
In doing so, I was no better than my father.
A shudder sweeps down my spine, and I force those thoughts away. This isn’t the moment to think about how I played a part in the demise of the Given or the fact that I was a cog in the machine of death my father has created.
Right now, I need to focus on keeping us safe.
Now that we are further from the capital, hopefully it will be more difficult for the king to find us. His power is immense, and even though I don’t know how it works, I know he can sense those who have been touched by his magic. Especially those of us who carry forged bonds.
Slipping my fingers into my pocket, I rub the amulet that I grabbed when I was preparing for the ball. A gift from mygrandmother days before she passed, it is one of my most prized possessions.
It was the last present she ever gave me.
“Gabriel?” Grandmother is resting in the middle of her large bed, far frailer than I’ve ever seen her. The room is dark, the curtains are drawn, and the air carries the cloying scent of illness. “Come here, boy.”
I’m no longer a boy, but this doesn’t seem like the moment to point it out. Especially not to the only woman who has ever shown me love.
I walk to her bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress.
“Hello, Grandmother,” I say quietly. It feels wrong to be loud in here. “How are you feeling?”
She blinks up at me, her white hair spread across the pillow behind her. “Adros will be welcoming me soon.”
My chest tightens, and I blink back tears. I would never cry in front of Father, but Grandmother has seen me weep before. I don’t want to right now, though. “Don’t say that, Grandmother. It’s not time for you to meet the god of death. Not yet.”
When she goes, what will become of me? Who will care for me?
Her eyes shimmer. “Death comes for us all, Gabriel. No one can escape it.” Her bony fingers lift, finding mine. “Now, I have something for you.”
