AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As if she sensed me thinking of her, Starlight shook her thick mane, jerking me roughly up and down in my saddle.
“Did you steal the geriatric horse on purpose?” Patrick snickered, studying Starlight. His head lifted from his lap, those green eyes of his made soft and mellow by the torch Carter carried.
“For your information, I didn’t steal her. I bargained for her.” Not entirely a lie.
“Ah, well, whatever youbargained, you got duped.” Patrick tried to repress his snort and failed. Miserably.
“Starlight here”—I gave her a sturdy pat on the back—“is a fine horse. Any Knight would be lucky to ride her.” At my words, Starlight’s hooves picked up with a playful determination.
She was growing on me.
Patrick scrubbed a hand over his jaw, his features turning serious. “I wish I could say I’m glad you’re here. But I’m not. What you did was careless, Ki.”
I bristled. “Again, it wasmydecision. Let it go, Pat.” I was growing tired of everyone telling me how naive I’d been coming here. Nothing beyond the borders frightened me. But whatdidworry me was the possibility of Patrick or the others getting hurt without me by their side to protect them. I couldn’t lose anything else.
Regret was the harshest of punishments. Not the Mist. And not death. Another life lesson from Uncle Micah.
I’d learned that lesson the hard way on my fourteenth birthday.
Liam had pleaded me for weeks to come with him to the annual village fair. There’d been parades and revelry, and tents selling wares from all across the realm. It was supposed to be a grand spectacle, but being my prickly, antisocial self, I told Liam no. I hadn’t wanted to be surrounded by all the people I knew, pretending that their stares didn’t bother me, that the way they stole peeks at my gloved hands didn’t make me secretly want to hide away and cry.
Liam had begged and begged, but still I’d said no, even though I was his closest friend.
After the accident happened—and my life forever changed—not many had taken it upon themselves to get close to my family. So Liam had ended up venturing into the fair by himself.
He’d had an attack only a week before, but he’d seemed fine—or at least, I’d told myself he was—but truthfully, cowardice was at the heart of my decision.
An hour into the fair, Liam had reportedly gone down, gasping and panting for air, all alone in that crowded square. He’d curled up in a ball as patrons had trampled him, their boots kicking into his ribs. By chance, Mother had taken a break from her stall of linens to walk through the tents, and that’s when she’d spotted him.
He’d been so battered and bruised, and his lungs rattled every time he inhaled. Liam had been in bed for the next few weeks afterward, and every time I’d seen his face, shame had filled me.
Knowing how sick he’d been, I should have been there, should have protected him. But no, I had been so fearful of petty gossip that I’d left him. Abandoned him.
I’d learned that day that sometimes we have to give away pieces of ourselves to others we love, even if it hurts at the time. Without sacrificing those parts, nothing new—and possibly wonderful—could grow in their stead.
From then onward, I’d never said no to Liam again—at least to the things that meant something to him. Love was nothing if not sacrifice, and for him, I’d willingly give all of myself.
“You know,” Patrick began after many minutes of silence. “You remind me a lot of someone I used to know.”
I shook off memories of the past and of Liam. It was far easier than I would’ve liked.
“A friend?” I asked, winking. I couldn’t picture Patrick with a love interest, not that he wasn’t attractive, with his strong jaw and surprisingly impressive build given his lack of physical prowess. He was simply shy, sometimes painfully so.
“Something like that,” he murmured, his tone turning grim. “She died. Many, many years ago.”
My chest constricted as I watched Patrick’s face contort with the kind of pain that lay deep below the flesh. “I-I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too,” he scoffed, swallowing hard. “She was spirited and stubborn, and got into all the trouble she could manage. If it wasn’t dangerous, she wouldn’t be interested.” The corners of his lips turned up at the thought. “I didn’t think I started living until I met her, and when she left, nothing was ever the same again.”
“What was her name?” I didn’t push, but I also wanted to know more about Patrick and his past life before the Knights.
Patrick visibly gulped, his eyes flickering to the side before he answered. “Rosie.”
“Rosie. That is a beautiful name.”
“And she was beautiful, but where it mattered.” He patted his chest. “She may have been reckless, but she never ignored the evil in this world, not if she could do anything about it.” Patrick shook his head. “Sometimes it annoyed me, her constant desire to help. I think it was mainly because I didn’t want to share her with the rest of the world.”
“What happened to her?”
