Shadow Weaver (Back on Wattpad 2020!)

Chapter 29

Mist hangs over the new green shrubs carpeting the forest floor. My lungs fill with crisp air as we gallop down a narrowing track, away from the high walls, cramped courtyards and lifeless maze of the fort. The rising sun glances through the trees and sparkles in my vision.

Kel could get well again living in the forest. A familiar place. Away from the countless minds of men and women with greed and fear and self-serving desire in their hearts. Now all I must do is convince him he will be safe here. Without me.

We slow our horses to navigate the undergrowth and fallen branches. The stone house lies to the east of the castle, not far from the lake, but in a thick part of woodland with few man-made paths. I spot it between the long trunks and anticipation and anxiety cut through me.

Two guards straighten at our approach. The Duchess appears from the low, simple structure. She signals to let us pass.

"You have not got long," Tug says.

"I know."

I dismount and pass him the reins. Strength seeps from my legs as I stride across the small clearing. The Duchess tears her eyes from Tug to step aside and allow me entrance. Once I am level with her, I pause.

"I will hold you entirely responsible for my brother's well-being until Tug returns."

Her gaze drops to the leafed medallion in her gloved fingers. "I was four or five," she says, "when Tye and his father found me." Turmoil roils beneath her poised expression. It strikes me she has hidden her past from all who surround her almost as expertly as Tug. "I don't remember my life before that. Only the fear. Afraid every breath I took would be my last. Afraid of living, terrified of dying."

For a moment, I imagine the Duchess a captive like my childhood friend, Asmine. An image surfaces on my inner eye. The girl in the Pit, dressed in frills, clasping a shiny purse, immobilized with terror. I doubt she will be as fortunate as Elise.

The Duchess flinches. She may not willingly use her sight, but she cannot avoid the memories of others.

"You could use your influence with your husband to change things," I say. "Instead, you hide."

She bows her head, and I push through the stone doorway, not allowing her to see the crack in my unforgiving attitude. In her position, my mother might have done the same.

The room is in a shambles. Dust covers the wooden table. A small fire burns in the hearth. Cobwebs, thicker than cloth, crisscross sloping shelves. A draught blows through the open door and whistles between tiny gaps in the walls. The one-room building hasn't been used for years.

Kel sits on a raised platform covered in brightly colored quilts, which Elise must have sneaked from the fort. He is upright but his eyes are shut, head leaning against worn stone.

I perch on the edge of the bed and touch my hand to his face. His body tenses, but when he sees me his shoulders slump, and he gives a wan smile. His face looks tired and so serious, but life flutters in his glimmering irises. I take off my gloves and squeeze his hands.

"Hi, Bud."

"You said you weren't coming for me till moonrise," he murmurs. "I didn't know if she was your friend, or if it was a trick."

"We had to change the plan."

He twists his arms around me and snuggles his face into my furs.

"You're OK," I say into his hair. "You're safe." I wrap him close and hum one of Ma's lullabies.

He used to sit on Ma's lap while she rocked him and sang him to sleep. Nothing grated on my nerves more. Now all I want is to make him feel that safe. I wish we could pretend we've found a magic door to an enchanted wood where neither monsters nor men can come for him. He sniffles and rubs his eyes. The crying is a good sign. He is letting go of all he's kept locked inside him. Of the weight that was pulling him under.