Page 39 of The Awakening of Essensia

Vaelira walked in silence, her fists clenched at her sides. When the sound of their voices drifted from the dining room and down the hall behind her, she ignored them.

The bedroom door shut with a soft click, the sound echoing through the too large room. Tears stung her eyes. Hot, furious tears that she pushed back with the heels of her palms. She was angry at Eli for his cruelty, but mostly at herself for handing them every reason to doubt her.

She had to be better. Stronger.

She couldn’t afford mistakes. Not here and not now. Not when she needed answers.

Answers that could help her avenge her brother. That could help her decide what to do with this thing that she still barely understood. That simmered in her blood like a threat.

It frightened her, and fear was the fastest way to die.

9

Home

Vaelira woke before first light. Someone had washed and dried her travelling clothes, folding them neatly over her pack by the door. The thought of someone coming into the room while she slept should have disturbed her, but after the images that had haunted her sleep, the violation felt like a small thing.

She dressed quickly and strapped on her weapons before slipping out of the room.

Downstairs, her boots waited in the dimly lit hall. She sat on the edge of the lower step and pulled them on. Her breath felt too loud in the silence. With a sigh, she pulled on her cloak and stepped into the cold morning.

She reached the courtyard at the main gates as the sky began to soften into the first colours of dawn. A few guards moved about, and three horses stood off to the side. Eli and Jurah were already securing their packs to the saddles. Vaelira took a fortifying breath and walked towards them.

“Nice of you to join us,” Eli muttered.

“Nice of you to wake me,” she said, unstrapping her sword and quiver.

“That’s enough,” Jurah said sharply. “You have both said your piece. Vaelira has apologised. Let us move on.”

Eli’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing before swinging up and onto his white steed with practised ease.

Vaelira offered Jurah a grateful smile.

He didn’t return it. When he spoke, his voice was hard. “You will follow orders without question. Is that understood?”

Vaelira’s smile faded but she nodded. She would do better this time.

They left Allen as the sun began to rise, casting its rays over the wide hills and plains. The river wound north, carving a gorge through a tree topped plateau ahead. The current moved faster here, and the air grew colder as they rode along the thin path between the river and the steep face of the plateau. The rock rose on both sides, the trees looming above like great ominous idols watching their progress.

A faint clatter reached them over the sound of the current, and a man on the opposite side of the river waved to them from his seat on a cart, his horse walking a steady pace south. They hadn’t seen anyone on the road after that.

No one had offered much in the way of conversation, so Vaelira was startled when Eli spoke.

“In the warmer months, this gorge is impassable,” he said, his voice echoing off the stone walls. “The river swells with the thawing mountains. The entire path becomes submerged. Then all trade south is by boat.”

“What about trade coming north?” she said. Her mouth was dry, her voice cracking.

“There is none, but stocks are always full before then. The city hasn’t gone without in over a century,” he said proudly, as if it were entirely his doing.

Vaelira didn’t respond. She kept her gaze fixed ahead, trying not to sway in the saddle. Her limbs ached and her thoughts dulled, a faint pounding settling behind her eyes.

The horses continued in single file, their hooves clacking along the narrow track, as the river roared like a starved beast, white churning against the stone.

She hadn’t eaten since the bite of potato the night before, and before that, she couldn’t remember. Perhaps it had been the other evening at the Drowned Oar. She’d told herself she wasn’t hungry, that it was nerves that ate at her as they drew closer to the capital, but now she felt the lie deep in her gut.

Her vision blurred and she tried to blink it clear, but the pounding in her head was relentless.

The world tilted.