Aligning the Forgotten ✓

Chapter 58: Roux

The salted, warm air of the ocean kisses against my skin. The sunlight basking from the sky, aiming directly for the exposed skin of my arms and face, warms me to the bone. I'm clean, free, and content. I haven't felt this way in so long; Arego brings along a certain calm with it that I'll never achieve if I'm not here.

Now that I am, standing on the cliffsides, that familiarity returns. I spent most of my life here, and being back without my parents and with a different mindset, makes Arego look different to me, as well. So much has changed. I've allowed myself to grow over these months, not only in who I associate myself with but in my power, too. It's hard looking back on a time when all I ever wanted was to be free of this place and free of my power.

I embrace everything given to me. My life, mainly, as I should technically be dead by now. I came in such close contact with the king in the castle that death was the only viable option—as it is for every other witch in the same inhabitants. But somehow, I made it here, back to Arego, and I can finally breathe.

These months have changed me, yes, but there is still a part of me left that can still claim Arego as the only home I'll ever hope to see. The village isn't perfect, it'll likely be ruined again, but this plot of land is the one that gave my parents their start, and granted second chances to witches on the run. I can't appreciate that more, the entire kingdom would say the same.

Arego wasn't meant to die that day the prince arrived with an ocean-swelling storm. And it didn't die, considering I'm standing here now, and life is moving on as normal behind me. Well, as normal as it can be.

I cross my arms over my chest, looking out into the dark blue waters. They stretch on for as far as the eye can see. Blue sky meets it halfway and embraces, shifting the shades of sunrise so the rays bask along the water to the east and gently caress the cliffsides and the broken down village beyond. I bask in that warmth.

Mornings were my favorite during the summers in Arego. Nearly every day, I came out to the cliffsides and breathed in the scent of salted air and smooth grasses swaying in the inevitable ocean breeze. Slightly to the west, only a few miles out, is a small stretch of beach that the fisherman used to use to send their boats into the water. The climb down to the water isn't as steep as the rest, but one must be careful around the sharp rocks.

I loved going out onto the water with my father and catching fish for that night's supper. With the ocean below us, I didn't worry about my power and what it might do to damage Arego. I was still home, but the worries that constantly plagued me weren't as prominent as they were when my boots were touching land.

Freedom came in few ways—that was one of them.

Boots crunch through the grass behind me and I look over my shoulder to watch Binx approach, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He's received enough lashings since the night before, I've grown tired of them myself, so to separate ourselves from the world means stepping only as far as the ocean will allow.

The king's guard stops next to me and squints out at the impending sunrise. "I can see why you loved this place so much," he says. "There's a certain..."

His voice trails off. "Feeling of home?" I finish for him.

"Exactly." He sighs through his nose, shoulders slumped, and looks down to the ocean waters. The future he is to face next, there's no guarantee for life. We discussed this with everyone early in the morning, what purpose he is to hold for this next step, and everyone agreed that he is to die for involving himself with the king.

The only one that remained silent was Renit. After all, out of everyone here, he's the only living being with experience. The man on the throne has his own ways of persuasion, if you don't comply, an axe and a fallen head waits around the corner. Binx was only doing what he thought he had to do, but that doesn't completely justify his actions.