Page 97 of Under the Mistletoe
The Land of Plenty was always the end goal, always the promise. Why would he give that up?
“The Land of Plenty will offer rest and joy beyond what you can comprehend. But I have more for you to do, if you choose it.”
Rand looked back toward his family, then at the ribbon. “You mean more pain, more suffering?”
“I don’t deny it will cost you.” The gentleness in the rich voice gripped his heart. “But I also have love and a future for you. But you must let go of your anger and your belief that you are in control—that you have all the answers. That Orin’s death is yours to avenge. Let go, and I can do great things through you. Let go, and Astryn and you can do great things for all the kingdoms together.”
Astryn. The word was like a faint memory, but it stirred desire, longing, and a hunger in him.
“She is fighting for you.” The gold ring grew brighter. “But you must let go. Stop fighting her and fightforher.”
Rand turned back to the opening where his parents and Orin waited. It was closer now. Time was running out.
“Choose.” The word shook the space once more.
He focused back on the gold thread growing weaker by the moment. Astryn was risking everything to pull him back to their life. She was fighting for them, but she couldn’t keep fighting alone.
He glanced back again at his parents and Orin, but their faces no longer beckoned him. They all smiled as if they knew his choice before he did. Because his parents already knew the truth. Love was worth fighting for. The path Origin had for him was worth traveling. Death would be easier, but life, pain, and, most of all, love were worth it.
He grasped the fading gold ribbon. It wrapped around his finger, growing brighter and stronger again with his touch. Then the gold stream snaked around his hand and up his arm toward his chest. The moment it reached his heart, a flood of light and heat overwhelmed him.
Everything was too bright. Too painful. Too intense.
Then the warmth settled into his bones. And he gasped for air. The darkness vanished along with the golden ribbon. Rain pattered against his face as the water-saturated earth soaked through his clothes.
He blinked against the water falling on him from the dark-gray sky. Was the sun going down, or was the storm growing worse? Either way, he couldn’t stay here.
He started to rise, but the weight on his chest stopped him. He raised his head.
Astryn was draped over his chest.
No.
He jerked to a sitting position, cradling her limp body in his arms. Her face pale, her lips purple. “Astryn.”
Nothing.
He pressed his cheek to her cool face. “You cannot die on me. Cambria and Anathia need you.”
He had to save her, but how? He pressed his face to hers and still nothing. “I need you.”
A beat, then another. The rain grew heavy as if the earth itself was mourning her. He had waited too long to choose.
Let go, and I can do great things through you.
But letting go meant trusting her to Origin. Letting go meant trusting Origin’s path no matter what the outcome was.
“I trust You.” He released it all to Origin. “But I am asking You to save her. Give her back to me.” Rand breathed out the words as he buried his face into her neck and cradled her body closer, and a sob shook his body. “Origin, please.”
The words were swallowed up in the trees surrounding him.
“You fought for me, and now I am fighting for you.” Then he pressed his lips into her cool temple. “Don’t leave me, Astryn. You are my everything.”
“Rand.” The word was but a whisper but enough to give him hope.
Rand took her face in his hands, feeling the faint beat of her pulse beneath his fingertips. The world around him faded, leaving only the two of them suspended in this moment. He moved in closer, blocking out the cool air, a fragile barrier between them that begged to be broken.
“Astryn,” he murmured, his voice thick and raw. “You’re alive.”
