Page 116 of Enchanted Shadows
Her quiet kindness was the thing which drew me to her most. She didn’t do it to be flashy. She did it just because. I knew I was stealing borrowed time with my wife. Eventually reality would rear its head and force me to be rid of her. No matter how much I wanted otherwise, it was going to happen. But for this day, I would fight for her and with her.
Wars should never be taken lightly, were never meant to be first resorts, first lines of action. Too many innocent, uninvolved people were the ones hurt most. That was why we focused on taking down Theon the way in which we had. Cut the head off the snake.
I knew all of this to be truth, the compass which had ordered my steps these last few years. Yet for Kessara to feel safe, I found Iwas willing to tear the realm seam from seam. She deserved better. Agria deserved better.
“Ready?” she asked. We were ready for the day, about to head up to the deck of this ship to check on the Wylan ship.
“In a moment.” I grabbed her necklace out of my pocket before reaching for her hand, closing her fingers around it.
She was wearing a nicer dress for our arrival in Agria. One she must have worn the day she escaped it all, as it didn’t look quite the fashion of Wylan. Once she felt what it was, she looked up to my eyes, that little line between her eyes forming. “You didn’t destroy this?”
“No,” I told her. “Merely kept it safe for you. Take it. And if we get separated?—”
“No!” she snapped.
“I wasn’t even done explaining.”
“No! I will not leave you behind, Owen.” Her voice was breathless, emotion swirling in her eyes. “Don’t ask that of me.”
“I don’t want to be apart from you either,” I explained gently. “But I cannot exist in a world where you are not safe. So if something does happen, today or tomorrow, if all hell breaks loose, put it on and either get your ass across the river to Dra Skor or get to the Wylan ship. I need you to take it.”
“I can’t.” Her voice tore at the words. “Not without you.”
“I’m ordering you as your commander, pleading as your husband.” I pushed her hand toward her. “Just keep it. That’s all I’m asking. In case you need it.”
She looked at it and then at me again.
“It’s just a necklace, Kess. Take it.”
She looked at me for one long moment before she finally moved to place it in the pocket of her dress. I thought that would be the end of it, until we made it to the doorway to the deck, sunlight and glittering water beckoning us into a day which was trying its best to look like it might not end in bloodshed. Shelooked over her shoulder and mumbled, “It’s more than a necklace.”
“And you’re more than a princess to me,” I admitted. I stepped up behind her and whispered in her ear, “Do try not to kill anyone today.”
She inhaled deeply. “Fine. Steal all my fun then.”
“There’s always tomorrow.”
Laughing, we headed into the sun, together.
Agria was hot.And not just hot, but sticky hot. I was certain I was going to evaporate into thin air. Become one with the mosquitos and humid haze.
I wasn’t trying to compare Agria to hell itself, but on first impression, it felt like at least a close cousin. Except where the legends of hell spoke of fires, Agria instead was teeming with trees. Agria was green, crawling and bursting with vegetation. Wylan had trees: a small, forested area next to the castle, but that was nothing like the number of trees in Agria. There were little hills and mounds of land instead of mountains, and covered on each one popping up on the shoreline were more and more trees. As if the soil and ground craved the shadows of the trees as much as her people.
As the sun began to set, we’d been instructed to dock at a location closest to the castle, which fortunately for us, was on the northwestern corner of Agria.
Kessara said we’d have about a half hour ride to Itzahl castle, the name meaningshadow protection. We’d meet with her mother there tonight.
Throughout the day, Amos had planned the best course of action for the Slay Sisters, deciding that they would sleep for one night at an inn in Seros, the town on the docks. Thus giving thecastle a moment to prepare for their presence out of politeness. We were planning to stay hopefully no more than three nights in Agria.
And that was if things went well. If they didn’t, we could easily leave right back for the Wylan ship late tonight.
I looked to Jessina and Amos, talking on the Wylan ship while the ships finished docking. “Stay out of trouble for the next day.”
“On our best behavior, Commander,” Sam called over to me in assurance.
I turned to Kessara and said, “That’s what scares me most.”
I wasn’t all that surprised an hour later when the trees barely parted to reveal the castle hidden within the trees. The rainforest wasn’t cleared for the castle. Or if it was, it decided to just grow in around it.
