The Oath of an Oxblood

41

The dinner table was louder than normal, everyone trying to ask each other questions and catch up. Ben was just under two years old but refused to speak to anyone but Sarah and Anthony. He was cute, but he froze whenever anyone interacted with him.

"How did you guys meet?" Amarilla asked.

Sarah laughed. "Well, um. Awkwardly. I was taken from my family in the south of Emory. I was paired up with a high-ranking officer in the army of the south. He had this weird accent that was a mix between southern and northern—I realized he lived close to the border, but I kept it to myself. Eventually, he told me he was a northerner and I opened up...and we fell in love. Then Ben came along."

"It wasn't the ideal situation, but it worked," Anthony said. "We are in for a culture shock," he admitted. "We've lived in the south for the past... what, honey, four years?" Sarah nodded and tore another piece of bread for Ben.

Sarah turned to me. "Naomi, Anthony tells me you were working on a carrot farm?"

I nodded and took a bite of my apple.

"My parents were carrot farmers," she said.

I nodded again.

Sarah looked at Anthony with a tinge of concern at my reticence.

"Sorry. I am just exhausted. Farming wasn't the worst job ever. And I had Amarilla to keep track of, so it was...fun," I ended lamely.

Amarilla took her cue like a pro. "Well, Naomi took the job of healer. I tended to get myself in a bad way and she would swoop in and heal me—all the while pretending she wasn't a Slate. So, I pretended like I didn't know she was a Slate. It was a fun game."

Sarah laughed. "I come from the most human of human families," Sarah said. "So when Anthony started talking about reading minds and capacity and Sage...I thought he had gone mad, so I started fetching water and trying to put him to bed so he would sleep it off!"

Anthony laughed. "I was so confused," he confessed. "You told me to go to bed and I couldn't understand how you were just accepting this so easily!"

I gave them all a small smiled. "I am going to excuse myself," I said softly.

Everyone said their goodnights and left.

As I climbed the stairs, Amarilla came chasing after me. She caught up to me and yanked on the back of my tunic roughly.

"What the fugg, Cricket?" she shot at me.

"That's not my name, Amarilla," I said.

"I'm sure you're tired, but you're not dead. What's wrong with you?" she asked harshly.

I continued up the stairs and made my way to my room, dragging her behind me. I sat down on the bed as Amarilla followed me and stood there with her hands on her hips.

I opened my mouth and then shut it as tears started to rise.

Finally, Amarilla sighed. "What's wrong?" she asked tenderly.

I glanced at her. "I've spent the past decade trying to find Anthony," I said shakily. "And now that I've found him, he has a family."

"That's not the problem," Amarilla said. "Because the Naomi I know would be thrilled to have more family. She would be willing to die for them because that's what she does—that's who she is. She's not this mopey quivering mess. The Naomi I know went to battle to find her brother. She would be thrilled she has a sister and nephew now."

I nodded. "Then maybe I am Cricket," I said.

"Shut up," Amarilla said sharply. "I called you that to stir you up, but obviously that failed. Is this about Ember?"

I looked down, tears falling again.

"Did he reject you?" Amarilla's eyebrows shot up. "If you tell me he rejected you, I will go and kick his lily-white a—"

"No," I cut her off. "He...it won't work."

"Like hel—"

"He's dying," I blurted out, a sob rising again. "It's not public because he doesn't want Romina to know. It's just—I love him. He's the first person I can trust in a very long time and now he's gone. And I want to spend his last year or two together, but he wants me to get on with my life." I wiped a tear away. "And I can. I just...I just need to feel the pain now."

Amarilla pulled me in to a hug.

"It's just...I feel like I lose so many people I love," I managed between tears. "I protect people I love," I said. "And I love him. I just can't protect him. No matter how powerful I am, I can't protect him."

Amarilla let me go. "I'm sorry. You trust him?"

I nodded.

+++++++

That night, I couldn't sleep. I lay awake in bed for hours, watching the moon glint in the distance. It was full. My heart ached.

I should have been friendlier to my new family. I should have been more present with Romina and Amarilla. I should have—

A sound outside the window made me sit up. I slowly pushed the covers off me and made my way to the window.

"Romina?" I saw her little body slip over the edge. "Romina?" I made my way through the widow and peeked over the edge. She glanced at me with a tear-stained face and started running away from the castle.

Was she sleepwalking? Sleeprunning?

I glanced down and saw a trellis. She copied my trick.

I made my way down and began running after her, suddenly regretting not having shoes. I was too far to run back. I shouted finally, realizing I should be creating more of an alarm. I raced through the forest and saw a peek of light blue running in the moonlight. I upped the speed and tripped over a root.

"Romina!" I shouted again. I made my way up and continued running. I saw another glimmer and sprinted toward her. I was panting, hoping that the legion of her guards was following me. How did she escape them?

I sprinted into a clearing and almost dropped in relief when I was Romina kneeling. I fell next to her and pulled her in to a hug.

She was weeping. "Romina, Romina, what's wrong?"

"Emmy's dying," she wailed. My heart sank. The windows. Our rooms were next to each other. She must have heard,

"Oh, Romina," I said. I couldn't lie to her now. Something was poking me. I leaned back and found a knife tied around her little waist. I undid it and set it next to me. "What were you doing?" I asked.

"I was going to save Ember," she cried. "I'm a Slate. I could heal him. I could keep him from dying."

"Romina," I said soothingly. "Courageous little Romina. Where are your guards?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I told them to wait outside and slipped out the window," she said. She looked at me weepily. "Like you did on the farm."

I gave her a small smile. "I didn't think you saw that," I confessed.

"Just like you thought I wouldn't hear you talk about..." she started weeping again, clutching onto me. I glanced behind me, hearing the thunder of horses. Finally.

"I'm sorry, Romina. Ember...he still has a while of living," I said.

She took a weepy breath. "Then why doesn't he want to spend it with me?" she asked.

I met her eyes. Tears streamed down my face. "I don't know," I admitted. "I was asking the same question." The horses got louder. "How about this, Romina? Let's go back home and we'll go find him. As a team. And we'll ask him. Maybe he'll change his mind, okay?"

She nodded, sniffling.

Horses burst into the clearing. Three of them.

"Thank you," I told them. Romina and I stood up.

"Maybe you should see who you're thanking," a voice called.

I froze in fear. Slowly, my eyes rose and locked onto the tall northerner's eyes.

Vincent.