Of Two Suns

xii

It wasn't long before Riven had left on his own again, his mask back in place to hide the lower half of his face.

The three of them had walked for hours and would likely be resting in the cavern. Even though her very soul pulled at her to keep moving and cover more ground, her body would not entertain it. The aches in her feet grew up through her legs and into her lower back like stems of flowers, and they had now rooted in place.

Ryla watched as Mon and Pan swam circles in the pool of night sky, chirping to each other as they dove and resurfaced over and over again in delight. Their game inspired an idea in her: she swiveled where she sat until her back was to the black water, then leaned backward to rest against the cool stone floor. She shifted backward, farther into the water until it grasped her matted curls at their roots and the warm water tickled her neck.

The relief of the weightlessness on her scalp released a sigh from her. The small waves caused by the two little ones licked at her ears, her neck, the crown of her head. Each time the water tickled her eardrums she could hear tiny whispers of a familiar voice that belonged to someone she had never met.

While she had always felt a connection to the Sun Brothers, something she had inherited from her mother, there was another that had always tugged at her. When she was small, she had been so certain that every autumn Nephtus visited the river that flowed through Perneah. That if she held her breath long enough, kept her eyes open under the water long enough, she would catch a glimpse of her. Some small part of her still felt that way.

A small chirp at her ear had her turning her head, the spring water offering new indiscernible whispers as it enveloped the side of her face. Pan was beside her face, neck twisted to look at her upside down.

"Can you hear her?" she whispered, her voice barely audible to her own ears. Pan offered two small chirps, then untwisted their neck to stare at her right side up. Before she could speak again, they dove back beneath the water's surface and disappeared.

She turned her face back to stare at the cavern's ceiling. The tiny blue insects remained aglow above them, keeping the space lit to some degree. She didn't know for certain how long this pause from travel would last; she doubted she'd be getting any sleep even if they did linger.

While her feet were sore, she only noticed it when they stopped moving. And she needed to keep going; the want to continue was a vibration beneath her skin, keeping her alert and anxious. The longer she spent in the mountain, the longer the people of Perneah went without aid.

She squeezed her eyes tightly closed as her chest clenched. She couldn't shake Myr's face as they had left Delsie's home from her mind. She had never seen Myricha so afraid, so absolutely terrified. They had both lost everything that day; their homes, their families, their safety. And Ryla knew that she was the reason that they had both lost their best friend. If only she had paid more attention to Myr and Bell. If only she had noticed sooner-

"Do you know the name of this mountain?" Gale's voice interrupted her thoughts.

She started at the sudden sound, but didn't move from where she lay. She released a shaky breath as her mind slowly registered the question the Elf had asked her. After a moment she hesitantly replied, "Her name is Deenia."

"And do you know what the name means?"

Ryla furrowed her brows and pushed herself up onto her forearms to look over at him. "Are you quizzing me?"

She found him seated where he had once been standing, his back now turned to her. As if he was giving her some sort of privacy. She thought she could hear the smile on his face as he answered, "I'm curious how much you were taught."