Page 58 of A Broken Promise

“I—"

“Hide your cock if you want it still attached to you, Florian!” Priya’s loud voice roared down the hallway. My heart jumped in surprise.

“All hidden now,” he shouted back, without breaking his eyes away from me.

Priya’s figure emerged from the dimmed hallway.

“Ready?” she asked, running her eyes up and down me, as if checking if anything was out of place.

“Um, yes,” I said, glancing over to Florian in silent goodbye.

We were almost by the door.

“Wait, I didn’t get your name,” Florian asked from behind the bar.

Priya rolled her eyes, stopping just for a minute and turning her head to him.

“Gods, Florian you are honestly a dumbass, you didn’t even ask hername? Hell, and Heavens above, It’s Finn. Her name is Finn, like a fishfin.”

I fought a laugh. I wasn’t sure which of Priya’s nicknames I preferred more, Freckles or Fish Finn. Florian ignored Priya’s remarks.

“When you come back, me and you, fishFinn,are going out!”

I didn’t know what changed in my heart in the moment, but I turned my face to him as I spoke confidently.

“Okay.”

“Then it’s a date.” He smiled and ran the towel down the bar.

31

Tall aspen trees were lined in a neat row, glimmering brightly even through the foggy glass of the small carriage we were in. It’d been three weeks of nonstop journeying, deep into the Royal lands. Long gone were the mighty buildings of Svitar, or the moss-covered brick of Port City, replaced by gloomy, cabin-like houses and tiny villages. Hotels and taverns were getting poorer and dirtier the further we traveled. Soon, even the carriages wouldn’t make the trip that far into the gods’ forsaken lands. Even the weather seemed to match the lack of life in these lands. It was cold and gloomy, with only occasional yellow and orange leaves stranded in the sea of grays.

The carriage abruptly stopped. Half asleep, Priya raised her head to the corner.

“Why are we stopping here? For gods’ sake!” she grumped, rubbing her face angrily.

The old man with large, white sideburns opened the carriage.

“The bridge is under construction, miss; the carriage can’t pass.”

“Then what am I paying you for, old man?” she argued, getting out of the carriage. I followed. The cold, autumn air wrapped my body immediately. The dark rain clouds were now constantly covering the skies, as a reminder of never-ending gloom.

“I could take you back and try again in a week or so,” he offered.

“Oh, and spend a whole week in that rat infested motel? I’d rather die.” Priya dramatically growled in frustration. The old man just shrugged, climbing back on his high seat.

“On foot it is then,” Priya irritably said, chucking a silver coin to him.

I grabbed our bags and slid one across the shoulder, passing another one to Priya. There was no point in arguing. Not when I had to save whatever remaining bravery I had to find the one man that had altered my life. Plus, I wasn’t that eager to return to that nasty motel either, and if we were fast enough, we could make it to the next village before sundown.

Tall grass ran up to my shins, my boots now covered in moisture. The grass was muted green in anticipation, before it slowly rots underneath the layers of soon to come snow.

“Let’s play marry, fuck, kill?” I asked. I had heard the village girls play that game a few times growing up, but I was never included.

“Oh gods. Are we five?” Priya rolled her eyes as we crossed the small makeshift bridge across the lazy river, but nodded her head in agreement.

“Florian, Beatrice, Ronald?”

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