Journey of a Girl

Secrets We Keep: Chapter Fourteen

She did not ask him to give her up, but the mood shifted all the same.

It seemed a mean-spirited act, to ruin a lovely dinner.

But Credence had to hear the answer from Ajo's lips.

He stood, wiping a tear that had fallen onto his cheek.

"I must take my leave," he muttered.

He doesn't want me to see him this way, she thought.

He didn't want her to know how heavy a sorrow she placed on him. He didn't understand it was that very sadness that endeared him to her.

Ajo left the hall and Credence sat alone, contemplating their conversation. She hadn't wanted him to leave. She felt the urge to call him back, to apologize for hurting him, but she wasn't sure if he would answer her.

She walked through the empty castle, made all the more lonely without John by her side. She traveled through the towns and into the field, where Ajo's jasmine tree still stood. No breeze ran through its branches, no wind carried to cool the heat of her skin. She couldn't even feel the grass tickling her ankles as she walked through it. She was numb. She had taken all the enjoyment away, and turned the whole world upside down.

I need to make this right.

It was a strange feeling, this desire to make amends with Ajo.

She sat in the grass and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath in, and her lips moved, forming a word she did not try to stop. On the exhale of her breath, Credence whispered his name.

"Ajo."

She felt his presence before she opened her eyes. He stood before her, utterly forlorn, like a man lost in a storm. She opened her mouth to greet him, but Ajo spoke first.

"Will you demand it this very moment," he asked in a stilted voice. "Are you going to make me give you up now?" He gave her a pleading look. "Please don't."

A memory came to Credence. The Collector towering over her with a smile.

'I like that. Do it again.'

'Do what?'

'Beg.'

Heat rose into her face. It felt good to have his happiness in the palm of her hand. She shook her head to clear the malicious thought. She didn't want to think she could ever find delight in someone else's suffering.

Power was a burden.

She stood and took a tentative step towards him, and he shuddered as if she were a fire threatening to burn him.

"I only wanted to see you," she said.

At her reply, a wave of tension left Ajo's body, and he gave a deep sigh that twisted into a half-sob. He looked like he might fall to his knees at the smallest gust of wind. She looked at the field around them, desperate to soothe him.

"You offered to show me the wonders of your world once. Perhaps you could do so now."

They walked the world together.

Ajo was her guide, answering her questions along the way. All of the places they visited were from his childhood, scenes of happier times. He'd put them here, he explained, as a way to remember that once, long ago, his life had been blissful.

The beautiful lake that Credence bathed in had been a particular favorite of his, where he found peace when he had a moment away from studies. The houses in the trees had belonged to a clan of goblins who, despite their love of all things filthy, demanded pristine living quarters.