Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 53 +

Moira and I had planned out the morning over breakfast. There were three vendors we had plans to meet today, and for only the second time since I'd been here, I would be leaving the grounds to do it. It was as I was getting dressed that I heard the door to my room open, and Ceth stepped inside.

Snow flecked his hair as if he'd just come in from outside, and he wore a thick wool coat, the collar turned up to cover his neck. Since last night, all I'd done was thought about what he'd said to me. About the rite. About my family.

When he saw me, he paused, eyes lingering as I tugged my knit sweater over my head and stepped into full-length coat I'd planned to wear. I'd braided my hair over one shoulder, and as he quietly strolled towards me, I made busy work at pulling the plait out from under the thick layers I'd bundled into. I adjusted myself in the mirror, only stopping when I noticed his gaze from the corner. Lazy, uninterested.

My voice was drab. "What is it?"

"I'm coming with you to Cold's Summit."

I'd known he'd had the day off like the rest of the ambassadors, but I'd still foolishly hoped that he'd have other business to attend to. I didn't meet his eyes, threading a pair of silver earrings through my ears and checking myself once more before I strolled back toward my armoire and chose a pair of riding gloves from a drawer. "I expected an escort of some sort, but please. By no means did I expect you to go out of your way to watch out for me."

What a joke. Talking in back-handed discourse had become easy for us. Now, it was nearly impossible to talk any way but.

"I have business in town, and I thought it might be a good opportunity to be seen together."

"Seen together," I echoed, tasting the words. Why exactly did we need to be seen together?

Ceth strolled toward me, his hands finding my shoulders and squeezing as our eyes met in the armoire mirror. I spotted the crown set atop his golden hair, jewels gleaming at the delicate joints where the three stems of the crown intertwined. The jewels matched the hilt of the sword tucked at his hip- as well as the ring I had unknowingly chosen to wear on my right hand. If he looked like a king, then I was his dazzling queen- another prized gem for him to show off.

His lips curled into a smile. "You play your part well, Brenna love."

I slid away from him, pulling on my gloves and strolling toward the door without waiting to see if he followed after me. "I'll see you downstairs."

The cathedral doors were open to the frigid, snow-laced wind outside. Through them, the courtyard was full of horses and stable-hands. With the hoods of their gloomy cloaks pulled overhead, the stable-hands looked more like shadows compared to the other servants. Even as snow fell, they kept their heads low, tugging on the reins of the mares and guiding them toward the opened drawbridge.

Snow and mud eddied together on the ground, and I followed the soggy tracks toward the iron gate where Moira stood waiting with a mare of her own. As small and frail as Moira was, next to the horse, she still came to a head above its back. It was so strange to think that it would only take a second for us to shift, to morph into beasts and run.

She gave a small smile when she saw me, and I approached slowly, holding my hand out to the creature as it brayed. As if it knew what lingered just beneath our skin. It was right to fear what we were.

"Gentle," Moira pet up the creature's narrow snout, trailing her fingers through it's coffee brown mane until she reached its silky pelt. "It's okay, girl." The creature huffed a breath, but it smelled my hand and nuzzled it, allowing me closer.

"What's her name?"

Moira ran another hand across the horses flank, calming her, and I smiled. "Fides. It means faith. Honesty." Moira motioned me forward, and I ran a gentle hand across Fides' neck. Hard muscle bunched beneath my hands, but she remained calm even as Moira set her lead in my hands. "She'll be yours. Earnest, but strong."