*Book One of The Accursed Chronicles*
August was a man from a normal world, living a mundane life until one night everything changed, and he was sent spiraling into a world stuck forever in winter, full of magic, creatures, and a curse that has grip...
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With August and his priorities mostly settled, we prepared for a day to begin our journey to Eyrin. August had kept quiet about it, but I knew he was perturbed that we were going to another king. I understood his reason behind not wanting to go to another after what had happened with Magnus and Altair, yet it was our only option. We couldn't stay in Krak.
At the sound of the front door pushing open, I turned away from a bickering Leuthar and August and strode over to greet Saint. He stumbled in with a great sigh as he heaved a woven basket on one arm and his medicinal box on the other. The basket had been covered by a worn cloth, but even with the layer, I could see the indents of the goods beneath. He had gone overboard.
"I said to not make it look obvious," I pointed out, picking at the cloth. Saint swatted my hand before I withdrew my fingers, with a lift of my eyebrow. "This looks obvious, don't you think?"
"You're travelling to Eyrin, I wanted to ensure you had enough food," Saint defended as he eyed me over his spectacles. He slid the basket down his arm, then shoved the handle into my hand. "You'll be thanking me when you have full bellies in the middle of nowhere. Don't complain, saesi."
"I wasn't—"
"Oh, I know you weren't complaining, you were merely doing your usual Ronan scolding, but I don't want to hear it. I'm not one of your footmen," he rattled on, then patted my shoulder. "You forget I've known you since you were a boy. You haven't changed a bit."
August skipped over with a pep in his step that had me grimacing on the inside. He was attracted to sweet fruit like flies were, anything to get his hands on more information on me. He'd said he was staying with us, but I didn't believe for a second that he had meant for the mission. I wished he would return to the August I had been irritated by before, the one who had wanted to save anyone he could.
Now it only seemed that he wanted to protect me and Leuthar, even if he didn't voice it aloud anymore.
"He's always been this way, huh?" August butted in, smirk on his lips and a teasing glint in his eye. "You must've been no fun as a kid."
Saint broke out into laughter before he sauntered away over to where Leuthar had been packing items into satchels for us. Leuthar glanced across to me and August but paid us little mind as he cinched a satchel closed. I gazed down at August, then shoved the basket into his arms, making him gasp and gawk at me.
"What do you want me to do with this?" he sputtered after me as I crossed the room, leaving him behind.
"You'll figure it out," I replied, then pushed the door open to my room and closed it behind me.
Once inside, I released a long-held sigh and ran my palm over my face. August was dedicated I couldn't deny that, but he was in over his head. I worried how he would fair in the next months, both as a wanted man of Krak, and as a hybrid. It was no small feat for him, nor would it be for anyone.
A soft rap on the door had me pull away from it before I turned and opened it. Saint peered his head in, then tsked his tongue.
"You look like a frost wyrm beat your hide," he stated, eyes milling over me from head to toe.
"It wouldn't be the first time," I muttered as I stepped aside to let him in.
He closed the door behind himself before he placed his hands on both my shoulders and held tight to them. "You have friends out there that you can talk to. You can trust them with everything in the world. You can't always rely on me to be there for you, saesi. I'm old and—"
"Enough of this sorry talk. Where is it coming from?" I brushed his hands off my shoulders. "Why are you bringing this up now?"
He was talking like one of us were going to die, which was utter nonsense.
"I think I've had a tiresome week," he murmured, with a faint smile that fell away as tears pooled in his eyes. "And I worry for you, Ronan. I always have and always will. You're the closet I've had to family in all these years."
I shook my head, then blotted his tears away using my sleeve. "Don't, don't shed a tear for me, not when I'm dead nor when I'm breathing. You should forget me for your sake and move on with your life."
His tears continued to trickle out of his eyes and down his cheeks, despite my words and my trying to dry them. My heart ached as I hated to see him like this. I didn't want anyone to feel this way about me. They deserved to be spared the heartache I would give them.
"Oh, Ronan," he choked out before he snuck his arms around me and drew me into a hug, his head rested on my chest. "I will always cry for you, no matter what."
With a heavy sigh, I wrapped my arms around him and comforted him the best I could. He wore his heart on his sleeve and it was a heart that pumped with enough love that it overflooded at the seams. I'd wished he hadn't been hurt as much as he had throughout his life, yet I couldn't change the past. I could only fix the future and if that meant ensuring he would be okay, then that was enough for me.
After a moment, Saint settled and withdrew from my arms, drying his eyes and nose. He readjusted his glasses before he gazed up at me through blurry eyes. I wanted him to leave Krak with us, but he wouldn't, and I knew that, not unless he had to.
"Promise me that if things turn for the worse here, that you will flee to Eyrin," I stated sincerely. "They will give you refuge there and many others if Krak falls to the Vale."
"How can you be certain that Eyrin will not strive towards the Vale themselves?" Saint asked, eyes shaken with worry.
I clenched my jaw. "The Remnant will make them listen. King Tariel will hear us, or he can fall with the rest of Laelmos."
The Remnant, once a dead society, was having life breathed in it again and with it, I could feel myself being reinvigorated. I had purpose, I had a plan, and I would conquer. Laelmos would not fall under my watch, even if I were beaten, bloodied, and bruised, I would not fail. This was my last gasp of life, my last fight to live. Laelmos would live or die with me.
"You would make an admirable king one day," Saint stated, tone too serious for such an impossible belief.
I scoffed and ignored his comment. "Just tell me you will come."
He nodded, with upturned lips. I breathed a sigh of relief internally, then opened the door for him before following him out. He stepped away to clean up his table and herbs that had been set out while I glanced to Leuthar and August. To my surprise, they worked together to pack up bread, cheese, and apples into cloths for keeping. Neither of them spoke a word nor turned a scowl upon the other. It was my hope that Leuthar was beginning to accept August and that August was maturing, even if a little.
August looked up from his work first before Leuthar, then both stood from their crouched positions and joined me.
"Ready?" I asked with both pairs of eyes on me. When they nodded, I felt a weight lift off of me. "We leave tonight for Kalle."
