OathBlade (Wattys2015)

53. What The Future Holds*

The prospect of a trip so long was not ideal to Elery. Even on dragonback it would be close to the end of the rainy season before they saw the light of the sun again. It was a distance far greater than that between Lyewryn and Suthri. Farther than she ever imagined they would venture. The snow would come soon to Lyewryn, but would no doubt greet them once they exited the tunnel. Each winter it coated the world at a slow crawl, as if it were a blanket gently tugged up the body of a small child by her doting mother.

Cylphi's decision weighed heavily on her, and though she hated to acknowledge it, she worried for the girl. Seeing her lost in such fear that it sucked the color from her skin...it was more than Elery could handle seeing again. She'd never felt the overwhelming need to protect her as she felt then.

No, that is false. She frowned as she looked over the sturdy railing circling up the outer edge of the entryway path. It was the very reason I wished to leave her behind in the first place.

She leaned forward and rested her arms on the thick metal bar. The chill bit into her bare arms but she endured it, letting her gaze sweep the vast city. It was an impressive yet dismal vista. Something unfitting for her people. The sparkling lantern stones cast interesting shadows across the rock walls and buildings, painting the cavern in a never-ending extravagant pattern of darkness and light. Under any other circumstance she would have admired it for its artistic beauty, but a beautiful prison was still a prison.

"I didn't expect you would leave preparation to everyone else while you came here to laze about," Isandel said as he walked up the path.

"I needed space to think. Cylphi assured me she could handle everything." She turned to rest her back against the railing. "And what of you?"

He rested beside her, staring up at their flickering, dancing shadows that towered like giants before them. "I came to be beside you, of course. How can I hope to win you if I'm not at your side?"

She sighed. "More empty words..." She turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes fixed on his. "Speak true. Why are you here and not with the others?"

He tilted his head. "You're growing better at sensing my little deceptions," he said. "Truth be told, I felt you should have someone with you. If it could not be Cylphi, I hoped at least I might do."

"Why?"

"Betrayal is a painful thing. No matter how you try to push past it, to see the other as merely your adversary, you cannot break them completely away from your heart. They hang by delicate fibers full of little nerves, injecting pain deep into you with each attempt to sever them." He turned to lean over the railing and look out over the city as she had moments ago. "The pain of losing someone to death is horrid, but the betrayal of someone you trust...it is as though that person dies again and again in an endless, soul-rending cycle."

She joined him in gazing over the city. He spoke not with empty sincerity but as one who felt the stab of betrayal. As her mind drifted to Taelin, anger seeped through her until it consumed her. She wondered if Isandel felt the same when thoughts of Celestine arose. For there was no doubt in Elery's heart who caused the deep pain reflected in his eyes as he stared at the seryn below. Seryn who despised both she and Isandel in what Elery could only imagine was equal measure. She was now among the ranks of creatures not truly welcome in their world anymore. Their glances toward her bare wrist were no less venomous than those they gave Isandel simply for being what he was born to be.

The unbidden thought crept through her that Taelin was not the only one who'd betrayed her. Her own people looked to her as though she was an enemy within their walls. Their stolen glances, their whispers...

She swallowed hard and lowered her head.

"Do not give them the satisfaction, Princess," he said. "They do not deserve your bowed head. When this is done they'll see you as you deserve to be seen. For now, keep your head up and eyes forward."