AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You must have. It was everywhere. Apparently, the king's own nephew was involved.”
E.Z. rubbed his fingers up and down my arm.
“Yes! The youngest… What was his name…?” The man thought for a moment before shaking his head and continuing. “Ugh, I can never remember that kid's name. The one that's not Elijah.”
“Eliam.”
“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Thank you! He was killed trying to help her escape. They just had his funeral the other day.”
“I heard the king executed him.”
“Well, either way, they just had his funeral. The king did not attend, but his father did…”
I didn’t hear anything else beyond that. The whole world kind of faded.
I vaguely felt E.Z. shifting to support me better. His hand was on my face, digging under my hood and into my hair.
“Hey. Stay with me, okay?” Trying to catch my attention, E.Z. leaned down, his nose touching mine, trying to snap me out of the trance those words had put me in. I didn’t respond.
E.Z. shifted us, putting his back to the couple. He hid my face in the crook of his neck and rested his chin on my forehead.
“Listen,” E.Z. whispered. “Hey. I need you to hold it together for me. I am going to get you somewhere private. We must walk across the street and cannot draw attention to ourselves.”
I didn’t respond, I couldn’t. I couldn’t move at all. I was numb. E.Z. pushed his lips against my forehead and spoke just loud enough for me to pick up the low tremble of his voice. “You can do this, Kaia. I know you can.”
I don’t know if I believed him or if I was capable of doing much of anything. But I nodded. He believed in me. He was here, holding me together.
E.Z. stood, slowly lowering me to my feet, keeping an arm around my back even when my feet were steady.
“You okay?” E.Z.’s voice was so patient and serious. He reached up, pushing my hair away from my face and back under the hood. “Think you can walk?”
I nodded. E.Z. wanted me to walk, so I would walk. It wasn’t far. It’d be over soon. And I could shut out the world and breathe a little easier. I could do that. I could do anything temporarily.
Chapter24
Kaia
The walk to the hotel and everything after was a blur. I had to have walked myself because E.Z. didn’t carry me. I somehow put one foot in front of the other and returned to our hotel. I didn’t know our room number, what floor we were on, or the color of the bedspread. Nothing. I couldn’t even register the passing of time.
When we returned to the room, E.Z. drew me into his arms, holding me tight against his chest, humming a soft, lilting tune so quietly that I could only feel it in the vibrations of his chest. He rocked us back and forth ever so slowly.
I gripped the material at his sides and buried my face in his shirt. I held tight, allowing him to help me through this, and cried gasping sobs for my best friend. Inhaling E.Z.’s fresh snow smell, I grieved, expelling all the fears, worries, and sadness I had held at bay.
I hadn’t come to terms with Liam’s death. Not fully. I saw him go down. I could still replay that moment in slow motion. His sharp grunt of pain. The thud of his body hitting the pavement. The smack of his head following. His body being dragged away, and the blood that he’d left behind. But Liam should have been saved, and I hadn’t lost hope that he had been healed in time.
That hope had been extinguished.
“I can’t believe they let him die,” I sobbed. “How did his name and his position not give him some immunity? How can they purposely allow an heir to the throne to die?”
E.Z. shuffled us over to sit on the bed, pulling me into his lap. He cradled me against his chest with my forehead under his chin and stroked my hair. He continued humming, the vibrations from his chest soothing against my cheek, quieting some of my hysteria.
“I know how it feels to lose someone you love,” E.Z. spoke softly. His hand caressed my arm in soft, soothing strokes, up and down from my shoulder to my elbow. He looked down, placing a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m sure you’re feeling angry. And hurt. And you’re probably scared, even if you won’t admit it.”
E.Z.’s hand cupped my cheek as his lips moved from my hair to my forehead and lingered there while he spoke, so I felt every word.
“Right now, this seems like something you’ll never move past.” E.Z. gently angled my chin up, giving me a sad smile when my teary eyes met his. His thumb ran across my cheek, drying them. “I won’t give you promises that will mean nothing. It won't be easy. Even after all this time, I still have hard days over losing my mom. There will always be days you’ll wish Liam and your father were here. You’ll be tempted not to think about them, but their memories will be a comfort eventually, so don’t stop. You’ll wish you held onto those memories as long as possible.”
I nodded, sniffling. My throat was too choked up for more.
