Page 99 of Cages and Crowns
“Is it safe?”
“They won’t recognize you. And if they do, neither of us will let anything happen to you.” I stare at the back of Nero’s tunic. The summer heat is enough to make me sweat with this cloak on, but I keep it fastened. For some reason, it makes me feel safe.
We ride in silence for a few moments, enjoying the fresh air and the scenery. It’s quiet. Silent. As if no one is here. It feels almost suffocating. As if the silence is pressing downaround me.
“I need to tell you something.” I whisper. Nithe said it was my choice—my choice in what we do with our situation. But an outside perspective might be better. Maybe he’ll know what to do?
“Is it about the guard?” I shake my head. That’s the last thing I want to talk about. “Elaenor, what is it?” I pull back on the reins slightly, slowing my horse. Nero trots up ahead, just out of earshot.
“I’m pregnant.” I whisper. His eyes widen and then a smile crosses his lips.
“What! That is incredible. It’s early though, how do you—” His voice stops as he takes in my face. “No.” He whispers. I nod and look away from him, tears pricking my eyes. “Elaenor, I am so sorry.”
“Nithe says it’s my choice what we do, but he says he’ll claim it as his own.”
“That is a very Nithe response.” I nod again. “What do you mean ‘what you do’?”
“If we keep it.” I whisper and look back at him. His face softens knowingly.
“You mean whether or not you ask me to siphon.”
“Yes.” He sighs and tightens his hands on the reins. “I don’t know what I want.”
“What is your heart telling you?” We are quiet for a minute.
“That this child inside me is somehow connecting me to Tobias.” My voice cracks. “The guard—when I killed him, I thought it was Tobias. I saw him. Ifelthim. He was there.”
“Have you told Nithe, or my father?” I shake my head. “It could be in your head.”
“That’s not all.” I bite my lip and take a deep breath. He needs to know everything. Someone does. “Sometimes when I am using my starlight, shadows appear. They snuff out the sparks or turn them black. And more than once my veins have turned black in my face.” He pulls his horse to a stop. “Before you ask,Nithe only knows of it happening one time, but it has happened a lot.”
“Elaenor, we need to go back.”
“No, Enzo—”
“We need to tell Kassius.” He cuts me off.
“No!” I snap, stopping my own horse. I glance forward and see Nero stop as well. “No.” I say softer. “I don’t know what any of this means.”
“When you first got here and you were sick, Lenus said that something inside was eating you alive, making you sick. It’s him. It’s the child. It’s making you sick. It’s spreading his curse through your veins.” I stare at him, and I know in my heart he’s right.
“So what do we do?”
“We tell my father.” I brush the hair out of my face.
“When we get back. Please. Just let me have this one day.” He sighs reluctantly and kicks his horse forward. “Talk about something. Anything.” I say, my hands tightening around the reins as I follow after him.
“When I was younger, I used to beg my father for a sibling. I cried and cried until he introduced me to Nithe. I think we were maybe four or five—I’m not sure—and I threw an even bigger fit. I was a small child, and Nithe wasn’t. Mostly due to his wyvos genes, but he just grew faster than I did. So I asked for a sister, and he introduced us to Emery.” He smiles.
“I always wanted siblings, too.”
“The three of us got along fairly well. Emery called Nithe out for being a bully, but then she’d turn it around and call me a child. But we loved each other as if we were related. I never thought I would have a sibling until my father came home with Mali.” He ends his sentence with a smile as he pictures the young girl I rarely see.
“Who is her mother?”
“He said she was some woman he’d known for a long time. They saw each other again after years apart and had a single affair. It resulted in her getting pregnant. She died during childbirth.” My throat constricts at the fact that nearlyall of our mothers have died. I change the subject.
“How far away is Wistervale?” I ask, my voice cracking.
