The Sprinter

Chapter 19

Arothena sat back down, the marble cold beneath her legs, and held her head in her hands. She had known. Of course she had known - Eloise would never go back to the King. But still, she had thought it worth a try. She looked up, her hands sliding down her face to grip her chin. Salene was still standing, her gaze locked on the forest - on the tree Eloise had disappeared behind, her eyes laced with worry.

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” she asked, her voice anxious. Ronan opened his mouth to reassure her, but Arothena cut in.

“Likely not. Doesn’t matter. We have to press on,”

Salene stared at her in shock, and Ronan with reproach.

“Aro. It’s night,” he stated, “the sun has just set, and we’ve been walking all day. We will sleep here, just as we intended to, and cross the border tomorrow. Is that alright?” he said, in a way that meant that ‘no’ was not an answer. Arothena nodded. Ronan strode to the edge of the temple, where they’d set down their bags, and began setting up the tent. Salene went to put out the fire, leaving her sitting alone, at the edge of the temple.

It was a work of art, really. The marble was white, with black flecked along it, climbing the pillars along with the ivy. A temple to the wild - it was only fit that it should be complimented by such. The greenery seemed to avoid the carvings at the top, as if it knew that to cover the insignia of the Eternal Shifter would be a step too far, even if they were kin. As was fitting of a temple to the Eternals, there was no shrine, no altar. Just an open space, for people to do as they wished. Practise, train, worship - the temple could be used for anything to honour the Eternal Shifter with, save murder. Even in the name of the Eternals, killing anything was forbidden in their temples. She didn’t know why.

Ronan came and sat beside her, stroking her hair with his fingers. She frowned as his fingers caught on one too many knots. He chuckled, but stopped.

“It’ll be ok. We set out without knowing this - we can still defeat him without it.”
“I know, but what if we’re too late?” she shifted to face him.
“Look at him. He has demon soldiers, and he’s known about Eloise for a long time - perhaps since before she was born. How? How did he acquire those soldiers, how does he know these things? What else does he -”

Ronan shushed her. Arothena looked at him, her mouth gaping in outrage.

“Don’t you dare shush me!” Ronan just laughed, and shushed her again.

“I know, Aro,” he laughed, “times are hard. You’re always at the bottom, always the last to know. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter! You’ve survived so far, and you’re going to keep surviving. We will do this. And don’t you dare talk about if we don’t,” he added when she opened her mouth. She closed it, smiling.

“We will reach Yuhnig. We will take down Jotkur. And then, you will come with me to visit the cliffs of Inuerta, and we will stay in a log cabin in the forest, by mountains, and you, my love, will learn to relax for once,”

Arothena shook her head.

“A log cabin in the forest by the cliffs. Well, if we survive this, and we will, yes, then I will come to your log cabin. And I will learn to relax,”

Ronan nudged her.

“Alright I promise! There, are you happy, you tetchy outcast? I promise,”

Ronan smiled, and put his arm around her, her small frame seeming to shrink beneath him.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep,”
“No,” Arothena said, a dreamy smile still spread across her face, “let’s stay here a while.”

Ronan smiled, and she nudged him.

“Besides, I don’t have to learn to relax yet,”

He snorted, and lay down, dragging her with him. Together, they stared up at the stars, smiling. And Arothena knew that no matter what happened, no matter the promises she made, the tasks she set herself, she would make sure that they got there. Even if he didn’t know that no matter what he did, she would never be more relaxed, never be happier than she was now, lying here, staring up at the stars, with him.

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