Page 30 of An Archer's Redemption

He stared at me so long I started to squirm in my chair.

“Are you okay, Dec?”

“Fine. I’m fine.” He stood and began pacing and muttering to himself. “I should go back through the gate. That makes sense. If she can help . . . Yeah, that’s what I need to do.”

I watched but said nothing. Discussions of magic and power still made me feel as useless as a dry inkwell. They also underscored just how different we were, how different our paths would become. Spirits, we already walked different paths.

Declan turned and started, as if remembering I sat there with him.

“You should go to Saltstone, help with the rebuilding effort.”

And there it was. I could not help him in his magical mission, so he would send me away to work on something a Mute could handle. A bitter taste filled my mouth, and I bit back a sharp retort.

None of this was Declan’s fault.

It wasn’t fair to lay it at his feet. Still, I could not help but wonder if this was a preview of our lives together: me stuck shoveling shit while he and the Gifted handled more important matters.

I swallowed back the rising bile.

“And you will join me when you can?”

“I will follow you to the ends of the world, Ayden Byrne.” He closed the gap between us before I could blink. His lips were warm against mine, and I felt the shroud on my heart lift, if only a little. “I have to go. There’s no time to waste.”

Before I could hug him or kiss him back . . . or even say goodbye . . . he leaped through the gate and vanished.

For the second time in only a handful of days, I stared into space and wondered at my place in the world, at my place by Declan’s side.

Atikus was in trouble.

Irina’s spirit roamed the continent.

Declan was needed, now more than ever.

And I sat there, useless, unable to do a damn thing to help him or anyone else.

I filled a glass and sucked it down. The wine revived my body and mind but did little to relieve my sour mood. I doubted there was a magic powerful enough to lessen the sting of what I felt in that moment.

My elbows found the tabletop as my face fell into my palms.

“How long will he keep doing this?” I asked the empty air of the cavern. “How long will Dec want to be with someone who cannot even stand at his back as he fights? Someone who wields no power stronger than a bow or axe? I am no better than a common soldier—and most of them have a fucking Gift.”

I refilled my glass.

By the time I finished my fifth glass, I remembered that the magical wine didn’t cause drunkenness.

“Great. I cannot even get myself properly smashed. I really am fucking useless.”

I hurled the glass into the wall.

It tinkled to the floor, unmarred and mocking my fecklessness.

“Saltstone,” I mused. “A month on the road traveling to a city where I will be just as useless as I am sitting in this cave.”

I knew Declan’s first thought was of rebuilding our home. My father and mother had both survived the battle. Our estate had also survived. I could return and find work with the Guard or other groups helping to repair the Kingdom army’s damage.

But I would still only be one pair of hands.

There had to be something better for me to do, some greater purpose. If Declan could save the world, I could at least try to save one tiny corner of it.

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