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Chapter Seventeen

Aedre

Iwatch him for a moment as I approach. Vanni, sitting atop my rock, our rock, framed by the sea and the cliffs beyond. He looks peaceful, almost. And yet his skills with a sword are already infamous in Murwood End.

His men are skilled too, but Vanni did not become the king’s commander simply because the king is fond of him. He obviously earned that right, and some are openly wondering if he could best Kipp.

No one could conceive of such a thing before Vanni arrived.

Kipp’s father was so skilled with a sword he could have become a court advisor in Meria or Edingham. Instead, he chose the life of a mercenary . . . and did well enough he built Nord Manor.

I look toward it now, far off to the right, on a tidal island only accessible by foot at low tide. Watching its construction gave the people of Murwood End years of entertainment. The manor, and the man who owns it, represent the best of us.

Independent. Ruled by no one. Sometimes inaccessible but still bold and beautiful.

I look back to Vanni, who sees me and likely wonders why I don’t join him. Or why I brought him here in the first place.

What should I say to him?

Despite the invitation I was so quick to give, I still don’t know.

Amma and I talked well into the night, and her admission that Vanni may not be dangerous was tempered by a warning.

He may not wish you harm, my child. But pain takes many forms.

As a Garra, I know the truth of her words well. Even still, I walk toward him, compelled by a force stronger than my conflicted thoughts. Scrambling over small rocks to get to the large one, I greet Vanni as he stands.

My “good day” turns to something less intelligible as I stumble—and he easily catches me. I take his hand instinctively, his strong fingers wrapping around mine.

I’ve regained my balance, but he still doesn’t let me go.

Unlike the last time we were here, today the sea is calm, a steady clapping of water on the rocks. There’s something seductive about it. Coupled with Vanni’s gaze and the heat of his hand, it urges me to get closer to him . . .

Without thinking of the consequences, I close the distance between us, looking up into his eyes. But unlike the evening before, I am no longer scared. Aye, he will leave in a few days. But if I must think of the king’s commander when I sit upon this rock, then I will do so without regret.

“You ran from me,” he says, still holding my hand. “Twice.”

If there was anything I’ve ever wanted more than Vanni d’Abella to kiss me, I cannot remember it at this moment.

“I know better than others not to trifle with matters of the heart.”

He takes my other hand, and my eyes flutter shut of their own volition. The scent that is uniquely Vanni, the sound of the waves—they surround me, lulling me into a temporary peace. I’m being pulled toward him much like the current gets pulled out to sea. And it feels just as inevitable.

My eyes open.

“I did not run.”

I look into his eyes, and a single word courses through my head, my entire being.

Death.

The word so little belongs in this moment, it feels as if someone else planted it there. I know better. Although Amma has never had such visions, my mother did many times. It is a trait of some Garra. Only those with the blood of Athea in them, and who have also been properly trained and truly claim the title of Garra, can even hope to achieve such visions.

Amma says Athea had one before she supposedly broke the Kingdom of Meria.

A noblewoman named Lady Edina visited the healer to ask for a love potion to make King Onry II fall in love with her. Athea made it, though none know if she did so despite her vision of a broken kingdom, or as some speculate, because of it.

The potion worked, the king forsaking his betrothed for Lady Edina. Years later when King Onry chose a successor from his twins sons, the older son by mere minutes became enraged, leaving d’Almerita for the untamed Highlands to the east. The church later claimed the kingdom’s split was punishment against Onry for forsaking his vows. They blamed Athea for her role, her ancestors forever cast into the shadows.