Chapter 126 -Avianna-

Chapter 126 -Avianna-
\-Avianna-

Thirty-six hours is a very long time to spend regretting approximately three seconds of your life.

Unfortunately, I have discovered it is more than enough time to replay those three seconds several thousand times.

I roll onto my other side and pull the blanket higher over my shoulder. It doesn't help. Nothing helps. Every time I close my eyes, I see Caylix standing on that road. Blood soaking through his shirt. An arrow buried in his side. Another protruding from his shoulder.

Then his eyes finding mine.

Avi?

The snap of the bowstring…. His body jerking when the third arrow hit… I shove my face deeper into the pillow.

"Idiot."

Whether I'm referring to myself or him changes every few minutes. Probably both of us… But I knew better. That is the part I cannot seem to get around. Caylix had asked me to leave the first vision because he needed to concentrate. He had specifically told me he couldn't fight while worrying about what Elise was doing to me.

So what had I done?

Thrown myself directly into another vision because I needed to see him.

And he had looked at me. Of course he had looked at me. For thirteen years, Caylix has noticed when I stub my toe from three rooms away. Apparently I thought I could materialize in the middle of a battlefield and he would politely ignore me.

The tether warms.

You're doing it again.

I glare at the wall.

Go away.

No.

You're very irritating.

You've mentioned that too.

I close my eyes. Thirty-six hours of this. Thirty-six hours of feeling him move steadily closer. Thirty-six hours of reaching for the tether every time it became too quiet and receiving some variation of I'm here in response. He has slept very little. I know because I have slept very little.

I felt the worst of his pain ease after the arrows were finally removed. I felt the strange heat of his runes as his body repaired what it could, and I have felt the steady exhaustion building beneath everything else as they continue toward Caelthar.

He hasn't once reminded me that he told me not to enter that vision, but somehow, that makes it worse.

It wasn't your fault.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

I don't want to talk about it.

I know.

There’s no argument, no lecture. Just that quiet certainty that he isn't going anywhere. I hate him a little for knowing exactly what I need. I love him considerably more for the same reason. There is another thought I have spent the past day and a half refusing to touch.

Because if you knew what permanently sealing the Dark Realm requires... you might finally understand why Caylix would rather you never ask.

Elise had known exactly what she was doing. She couldn't frighten me away from Caylix, so she had tried something else.

Doubt.

I hate that she managed to leave the question behind. It’s not because I believe her… I don't… I know Caylix. I know the man who spent thirteen years hearing every ridiculous, embarrassing, frightened thought that passed through my head and somehow loved me anyway. I know the man who had just taken three arrows while refusing to kill soldiers trying to murder him because they weren't acting of their own free will.

Whatever Elise knows, whatever she thinks Caylix knows, I refuse to let her decide when that conversation happens.

So I haven't asked and Caylix hasn't mentioned it.

A knock sounds at my door but I ignore it.

"Avianna?"

Father. Of course.

"I'm asleep."

There is a pause.

"You're speaking."

"I talk in my sleep."

"Remarkably clearly."

"It's one of my many talents."

The door opens. I roll onto my stomach and drag the pillow over my head.

"I believe that was locked."

"It was."

I lift the pillow enough to glare at him. Father closes the door behind him.

"Then how did you get in?"

"I'm the King."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It answers most questions."

He crosses the room and looks down at the tray sitting untouched beside my bed. His expression changes.

"I'm not hungry."

The mattress sinks as Father sits beside me.

He doesn't immediately say anything and somehow that is worse.

"Please don't."

"Don't what?"

"Whatever wise fatherly thing you're about to say."

"I wasn't planning anything wise."

"Good."

"I was planning to tell you that hiding in your bed won't make him arrive any faster."

I lower the pillow.

"I'm not hiding."

He looks around my darkened bedroom, curtains drawn, fire burned nearly to embers, me still in bed well past any respectable hour.

"Of course not."

I sigh.

"I know he's alive. I can feel him."

"I know."

"And every time I ask, he tells me he's fine."

Father's mouth twitches.

"We both know Caylix's definition of fine is questionable."

"Exactly."

I sit up and pull my knees against my chest.

"I watched it happen."

Father's expression softens.

"The last arrow."

I nod.

"He looked at me."

"Avianna…"

"He would have seen it coming if I hadn't been there."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

Father reaches for my hand. Before he can take it, a horn sounds from somewhere beyond my window. I freeze. A second horn answers from the outer wall. My heart explodes. For thirty-six hours, Caylix has been a distant presence stretched across miles of road and forest.

Now… He is everywhere. Warmth surges through the tether so suddenly and powerfully that I suck in a breath.

Avi.

I throw the blanket aside. Father barely gets out of the way before I'm on my feet.

"He's here."

I don't wait for an answer. I run. I don't bother with shoes, I am halfway down the corridor before I realize I'm still wearing the loose nightdress I slept in, and I cannot find it within myself to care.

You're running.

Yes.

Barefoot?

I glance down.

Possibly.

Warm amusement brushes through the tether.

Of course you are.

I take the stairs too quickly. By the time I reach the lower corridor, guards are already moving toward the courtyard. Someone calls my name.

I ignore them.

The doors open ahead of me and cold air hits my face. Then I see him. Caylix has just ridden through the gates beside the wagon.

For a moment, all I can see is the blood. It's dried now, dark across his shirt and armor. The wounds themselves have mostly closed, I know that from the tether, but exhaustion is written into every line of his body.

Then he sees me and everything else disappears. I run straight toward him. He barely has time to get off the horse before I hit him. His arms close around me.

Hard.

He makes a quiet sound near my ear. I immediately pull back.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No."

"You made a noise."

"I've been riding for thirty-six hours with three arrow wounds. Everything makes a noise."

My eyes burn.

"Don't."

His expression changes.

"Avi."

His forehead touches mine. He's here… Actually here. Warm and solid beneath my hands.

Alive.