AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The evening breeze is cool, and the fog is hanging low today when we set sail a little way out to sea. The day passed in a blur with getting everything ready, and Kye’s parents—who were a miracle to find—wanted to wait until the sun set. I can see why though; the sky is smeared with soft blues and purples. It’s beautiful.
I hold onto Fynn’s hand tightly as we stand on the bow of the ship, needing to feel his strength as I watch Kye’s father place his son’s body on the small boat and lower it down by ropes to the water. A few soldiers help take care of the ship so we can pay our respects.
Queen Zoraida and Emil are also here to honor Kye. They’re holding their hands over their hearts as Kye’s father—a wind keeper, I found out—uses his power to glide the small boat away from us and towards the horizon. He tosses a flaming torch down onto the boat next, and slowly, the fire starts to catch, spreading along the cloth wrapped around Kye’s body. The only part of him visible is his strong face that looks like he’s resting.
My eyes snag on Kye’s mother, who clutches onto the wooden rail of the ship, crying out as she drops petals down to the water one by one. A mother should never have to experience the loss of their child. A beautiful soul she brought into this world, only to watch it leave. And Kye cared for them deeply, or he wouldn’t have offered his life sentence as a guard to protect them.
The boat drifts farther away. Silent sobs tear through my body uncontrollably as I softly choke out my goodbyes to the wind that carries him. “I promised Emma I’d tell you… Though, I know you already know, that she loves you, very much. And I hope you are reunited with her in the afterlife.”
The crackling of flames fills with his mother’s cry that shrouds around the sea. “Thank you,” I continue as Fynn steps closer to hold me. “Thank you for being there for Emma as a friend, and for training her when none of us knew the abuse she was enduring.”
A hiccuped cry catches in my throat. Emma never told us about her suffering, but I understand why. She was protecting us in her own way. Making us unaware…kept us safe. Still, imagining her pain makes me want to avenge her in any way I can. And Kye… He offered her a sense of security and protection by training her. Giving her strength back when others wanted to take it away.
I clutch Fynn’s hand harder as I watch the flames on the boat grow higher. Clearing the fog that lingers above it as the fire flares brighter against the twilight sky.
“And thank you for believing in me,” I whisper, knowing the breeze will deliver it. “When I woke from my injuries and wanted to learn how to fight…you didn’t hesitate.” My lips tremble and I feel my nose start to run. “You told me that nobody would stand a chance against me when I learn how to use a sword.” I pause, remembering this exact moment. “You had said when…not if.”
Fynn kisses the crown of my head, offering comfort as I continue. “You taught me, just like you did Emma. Giving me the strength to help protect those I love, even when I wanted to keep training through the night.” I huff out a wobbly laugh. “And I heard every curse you mumbled under your breath, but just so you know, that only spurred me on to fight harder.”
Leaning my head back, my cheeks soaked with grief, I rest against Fynn’s chest as the boat becomes small the farther away it gets. “You helped me overcome my secret fear of fighting. To take a life when all I’ve known is to save them. And gods, Kye…” My lungs tighten as another onslaught of tears consume me. “I wish I could have saved you.” This time, I break. I can’t breathe… I can’t speak, as I cry out for his loss.
Fynn releases my hand to wrap his arms around my chest, burying his face into my neck as he holds me. It’s then that I realize my legs gave out and he’s keeping me upright, letting me breakdown in the protection of his arms. And for the rest of the night, he stays by my side, never letting me fall.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Fynn
Cora’s hair fans in golden waves over the pillow. Her eyes gently shut as she breathes softly. But even in sleep, she’s drowning in grief with the way her brows stay furrowed together and how she tossed and turned through the night.
Four days ago, we set sail just off the coast of Asiza to honor Kye. But it took us a whole day to locate his parents and deliver the news. They weren’t easy people to find and said they hadn’t seen their son in some time. But I almost broke when his mother fell to her knees, clutching her stomach when I told her their son was dead. And his father bent down with her, keeping her from falling more, holding her tightly as he broke down, too.
They mourned him on the sea with us that day, their hands linked the entire time as they stood at the tip of the ship, shadowed with grief.
I’ve lost count how many times Cora has thanked me for grabbing hold of him in Gehendra instead of leaving him behind. But Kye is one of us. Even in the afterlife, he will always hold a place in our hearts.
The whole time Cora clutched onto my hand as if her legs would give out if she let go. Tears brimmed in her eyes as Kye’s father placed his sons body on the small wooden boat. Then set it aflame to let it drift towards the blue and purple brushed horizon. The fire consuming his body glared brightly against the twilight sky while each of us whispered what we wished we could tell him. Our final goodbyes and our deepest respects. And his parents dropped petals into the sea, letting them float behind their son. An act of hope to have peace in the afterlife.
Every day since, Cora has cried. The pain too much with his loss and Emma’s. But with Kye, she got to say her goodbyes, and with Emma, it seems she’s not able to. I catch her sometimes, pausing in front of Draven’s room where he took her, refusing to let Emma out of his sight. And Cora will take multiple deep breaths before pushing the door open for her daily visit. The moment she leaves, her body crumples right into my waiting arms.
Although, it’s strange. Emma’s body holds no pulse, no sign of life. Yet, she remains perfectly preserved. Cora said as much the second day she visited, when she flooded her powers into Emma’s body to check for any sign of injury but found none.
When I stood at her bedside, Draven was holding her frail hand to his lips. That’s when I caught sight of it: the mating mark. Seeing it made my brows crease together because when a mate dies, so does the mark. I had lifted my own hands then, only to stare at unmarked palms. The only sign that I once had a mate is the light scar sealed over the flesh that was cut.
Draven’s and Emma’s… Although it is faded and nearly nonexistent, the marks still show. Yet, Draven is still experiencing the soul-splitting pain that destroys you from the inside out when you lose a mate. None of it makes sense.
Usually, a body would start to decay, and it's been something I can’t seem to figure out. I’m not sure if the water in the Sea of Souls holds something that keeps a body intact, or if maybe…Emma’s not dead. What if she’s in a deep sleep?
The thought is crazy, but the Sea of Souls is unknown to us, and something we don’t understand. There is no history or written knowledge of what it can do.
But Draven… He can’t see past her unmoving body and the silence in her chest when I voice my questions. And I don’t blame him. I know how consuming the pain is that has taken root.
I’ve seen him in bad shape twice. When he lost his father and when Emma was missing. But this… This is different. He’s not raging. Not seeking violence or speaking to anyone. He has become a shell of himself. Hardly sleeping, and if he does, it’s for minutes at most when his body forces him to. Even then, he stays sitting beside his bed, gripping Emma’s hand.
Dark crescents bracket under his eyes and his face is looking paler and more gauntly from him refusing to eat anything placed in front of him. And it’s like he doesn’t even realize if anyone is in the room with him or if we drop food off.
There is no way to free him from the place he’s trapped himself in. Not until he’s ready. And I would know; it took me years to pull myself out of my self-destruction.
Giving a final glance at a sleeping Cora, I leave her to rest. I need to go check on Draven to see if anything has changed. But when I open his door, the hope vanishes in an instant. Still in the same chair, leaning over the side of the bed, and holding her limp hand to his mouth. His dull, bloodshot eyes never leaving her resting face.
