Page 5 of The Reaping Rose

A cool morning breeze tickles the back of my neck as I scrape my blade against the sharpening stone. Golden sparks fly from the metal. Shards of aether, like the magic my mate wields. It’s strange that even here on Alyssium, where there is no magic, aether is endless.

Sparks rain onto the soil, and no matter how far away Wilder is from me with the sea, the Well, and a realm between us, I sense him in this blade. In the dirt. In the static prickling the back of my neck.

His magic is that of all things. He’s so close and so far.

The sparks dull to nothing by the time they reach the ground. Like hope lately. Flaring, simply to burn out as quickly as it sparks.

I’ve been doubting myself for months, and this morning, the weight in my chest is even heavier. I was up all night wondering how things might have been different if I’d paid attention. If I’d known the depths of what Malachi and Wilder were planning.

I was blinded by their lies.

Malachi dangled the realm’s fate before me, and I bit, willing to do anything for a better future for my people. I was too naive to see that he didn’t plan on healing the realm at all. He was going to use his gods-touched orb to start over.

And Wilder, although he tried to protect me, was keeping his own secrets. He stole our soul bind instead of trusting me to make an informed decision. That truth hurts worse than any of Malachi’s manipulations.

I replay those weeks in the Ley Court back, and as much as I miss Wilder, I resent how he hid the truth. How I could not see it. Was it this soul bind? The mating bond? My heart?

How much of what I did was free will, and how much was divine intervention?

I close my eyes and take a breath, angry at Wilder for keeping the truth from me. Angry that I miss him regardless. I miss sparring with him in the ring. He showed no mercy because he believed in my strength long before I ever did.

I miss how he understood me. How he knew I led with my heart, and he accepted me for it because he does the same. In a war between kingdoms, he sees value in people, not just the cause.

I miss the male who was not an enemy king. He was simply Wilder. A male with flaws and doubts. Playful and caring. Fighting for those he loved, even when they begged him not to. Like his sister.

I’m angry with him. But more so, I’m frustrated we never got the chance to face his lies and work past them. Resentment gnaws at me, eating me alive.

“I’ve got it.” Letia’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.

I look up to find her glaring at Thomas, who has his hands outstretched as he tries to help her with a basket of beets. She shoos him away, turning her back on him coldly, while his gaze lingers.

My best friend was once a beacon of light on a dying island. Now, she’s like all things around us. Battered by the loss of those she loved. Struggling with the dying embers of hope. Grieving the passing of so many who crossed over to Sarrow.

Between storms, plague, and starvation, Alyssium’s human village was nearly wiped out while I was in the Ley Court. Letia lost her fiancé, mother, and siblings. Letia was painfully, utterly alone, and it changed her.

It changed all of us.

Letia’s hands shake as she sets the basket down beside the others. She wrings her fingers out because they’re probably cramping from the weight of the beets. She should have let Thomas help, but of course, she won’t rely on anyone else again.

Letia’s gaze drops to the ground as she walks away. Not toward her house, but around the opposite corner where grieving pillars line the edge of the forest. In the Mortal Realm, they bury the dead beneath the pillars, but here, we burn ours like the Fae, so they’re nothing more than a place to remember those we’ve lost. Letia has spent so much time there recently, resting beside her mother’s pillar and talking to her spirit.

Mabel would have known the right thing to say to her daughter to get her through this, but she’s gone now.

My gaze moves down the street to where Callum is returning from an early morning hunt. A small rabbit hangs limp in his hand. It’s all the meat we’ll have to feed twenty tonight, and while grain will fill the gaps of hunger, the lack of nutrients is wearing on us all.

Thomas’s sister, Seren, meets Callum outside the food stores, tying her long brown hair off her face before taking the dead animal. She’s been keeping inventory and rationing our supplies, and from her frown, it’s clear this single rabbit is not enough.

Callum’s smile is grim as he waves goodbye and heads to where I’m sharpening my weapons. His Guard armor clatters against the stone wall as he leans against it, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s quiet for a long moment, and while I don’t look up, I feel his eyes on me.

“I’m too tired to argue this morning,” I say finally, dragging my blade over the sharpening stone.

“Then let’s not argue.”

His ceasefire has me pausing.

I glance up, taking in the worry furrowing his eyebrows. I’ve been close with Callum my entire life. Even when he turned me over to the king, he stayed with me and made sure I was safe. My friendship with him runs deep, but these last few weeks, we’ve fought more than we’ve talked.

Callum drops into the seat beside me, unsheathing his sword and grabbing his own sharpening stone. The drag of metal hisses through the square.