Journey of a Girl

Ajo: Chapter Twenty-Three

"Credence...Credence! Wake up, child!"

The Queen's voice roused her from a dreamless void.

Credence was still inside the vault, behind the third door. Galeia's statue stood over her with the black orb nestled in her hand.

The last of Ajo's secrets was revealed, and all his memories, both beautiful and horrifying, were known to Credence. She had lived his entire life and his journey had become a part of hers.

How long had she been inside the vault? Minutes? Days? More?

The thought of time made her feel uneasy.

The thought of anything else made her stomach threaten to empty.

She could not stop the sobs that escaped her, and she wept for a long while as the image of Ma's corpse remained vivid in her mind.

Those gray eyes, identical to her own, staring ahead...

Credence yearned to see the sky again but was hesitant to leave.

Ajo was waiting outside the vault, ready to begin their life together. He warned her not to go inside. He begged her to remember that he loved her. She had given her word, and now, no matter what she had seen, she had to accept him.

But she could not endure a future where she carried his suffering alone.

"Credence," the Queen softly called, startling the girl who had almost forgotten the monarch was there. "Tell me your thoughts."

Credence swallowed. "I knew he killed her, but..."

"It's another thing to see it."

"Yes." Credence winced. "Why didn't you stop him? Why did you allow everything to happen?"

"Their mistakes were their own. I was angry with Galeia and Ajo, and horrified by what had passed between them. But they were no longer children, and I believed they would come to understand what they had done and see reason. I was certain I had raised them to...I thought they would learn from their failures." The Queen shook her head. "I never imagined Ajo would be capable of taking her life."

"Galeia took his first," Credence answered in a low, bitter voice. "She was just as much a villain in their story."

"Do her mistakes justify her death?"

"Of course not, but he's trying to make things right."

"If he could do that to the woman he loved—"

"He didn't love her, not really." Credence considered her next words carefully before speaking them. "Ajo cared for her, strongly, but his feelings had no compromise. He couldn't hear her refusal without growing vengeful. That's not real love, your majesty. Real love weathers the storms and sun together. Ajo's heard my refusal many times, but he's remained understanding and gentle. My love gave him the capacity to become more than a monster. That is why I know what he feels for me is real."

"You will marry him after what you've seen?"

"I promised I would leave as his bride."

"You couldn't have known what a difficult promise that would be."

"I have no intention of breaking it. Ajo said I would hate him for what I found in this vault. But I don't. I feel...pity. I mourn the prince who had the world taken from him. I even mourn the creature who was driven to..."

She could not finish the thought.

"It may sound foolish to you, but I love him. What I've seen has not diminished that, or it would have been a fragile love. I will marry him, not because I promised. Because I want to. I believe in our love."