Page 53 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

A gagging sound ripped Lessia from her thoughts, and when she glanced to the side, Raine was doubled over, his hands pushing into the tall dune beside them as he emptied his stomach onto the powdery sand.

Her nose scrunched when the harsh stench of alcohol assaulted her senses, and she backed up a step as he continued retching.

Raine very unwillingly participated in her training, and even while circling her, he’d take sips from that beloved flask of his.

At least she wasn’t in as bad a state as he was, she thought as she retreated farther to avoid getting sprayed by the droplets of his expulsions.

“Don’t judge him too harshly.”

Turning her head over her shoulder, she met Merrick’s eyes, and warmth spread over her cheeks at the look in them. “I wasn’t—”

“You were,” Merrick said quietly.

Gripping her shoulders, he turned her back toward Raine, who’d sat down against the dune, panting as he scrambled to pull the cork on the flask and take another drag of it.

“He used to be one of the most powerful Fae in Havlands,” Merrick whispered, his warm breath tickling her neck. “So powerful even Rioner’s father didn’t dare stand against him.”

Stepping closer so his chest lined up with her back, Merrick continued, his voice barely carrying over the salty breeze. “No war, no torture, no pain could break him. That’s love. That’s what it does to you. To love someone and have them love you back… only to lose them…”

Lessia’s breath caught in her throat when Merrick shuddered behind her.

“Did you… did you lose someone?” she whispered, keeping her eyes on Raine as he stuffed the flask into his sweat-stained tunic.

She wasn’t sure if she’d be strong enough if she saw Merrick’s darkness fill with pain, like the pools of agony that were Raine’s eyes whenever he saw her dressed in Solana’s clothes.

A breeze traveled across her skin when Merrick hesitated.

It was quiet for so long that she would have suspected that Merrick had stormed off if his soft breaths didn’t continue to drift through her hair.

“You can’t lose someone if you’ve never had them,” he finally responded.

A lump formed in her throat at the sorrow lacing his voice, and something brushed her senses, sending a prickling sensation across her skin.

Lessia bit back the question at the tip of her tongue, thankful for the screech that burst through the air, interrupting the strange silence.

She whipped her head up at the same time as Merrick stepped back, the coldness he left behind forcing her to stop herself from shivering.

An eagle soared through the air from the sea, circling a few times before it landed on Raine’s outstretched arm.

Her eyes widened when she realized the feathers covering its body were the usual brown—like the eagles she’d seen in both Ellow and Vastala—but those lining its head were bright gold, shimmering in the afternoon sunlight.

Raine patted the eagle’s wing before plucking a small white parchment tied to its leg.

“Looks like Alarin responded.” Raine held out the letter to Merrick, who’d stalked up to him.

After reading it, Merrick rolled it up again, and she thought her blood might freeze to ice when he said, “They’re coming here tomorrow.”

Raine wiggled his brows. “Didn’t trust you to come to his island?”

“He didn’t say,” Merrick responded.

It felt as if her knees would buckle.

Her father was coming here.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, she’d have to face what she’d done to him.

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