An Unexpected Surprise

Chapter 8

Cal's POV.

I feel numb. I can barely register what is happening around me, letting the emotions from everything that happened consume me.

It is happening again. I am losing someone I love. First, it was my mother, Coriane. Before I even got the chance to know her, Elara and her whispers drove my mother to death. Then, my father, murdered by my own hand. Then Maven, driven so far into darkness by his mother's whispers that he couldn't find his way out, ultimately bringing about his death. And now, I might lose Mare and our unborn child.

It feels like I am cursed. For some reason, everyone I care about, everyone I love, always ends up dead.

But she isn't dead yet. Neither of them are. There is still hope.

I try to focus on that hope, to hold onto it, to help save me from this pool of dark thoughts and emotions I seem to be drowning in.

I begin to reach out to whatever gods I can think of, praying to them to help save Mare and the baby. I've never been the religious kind, apart from the mandatory lessons Father made Maven and I take in religion when we were little, but I don't know what else to do.

Kilorn sits next to me on the floor, leaning his back against the wall outside of the hospital, but he doesn't talk, leaving me to my thoughts.

I'm grateful for the silence. It helps me sort out my thoughts, my feelings. And as much as I don't want to, as much as I try to deny it, I can't help but feel a bit of anger towards Mare. This is exactly why I told her to stay behind in the first place. If she had listened, none of this would have happened. If she didn't lie...

Kilorn nudges my shoulder, breaking me out of my thoughts. I look at him, slightly annoyed, to find him pointing down the hallway. I turn my head to look and see Farley walking towards us, before returning my gaze to the floor.

"Calore!" She almost shouts, as she strolls up to us and comes to a stop, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you. I've tried to call you on the walkie but you never picked up. I thought something might have happened to you."

I ignore her and keep my gaze glued to the floor. I don't have the energy or the patience to explain things right now. Luckily, Kilorn understands and quickly stands up and goes to whisper something in Farley's ear.

A mix of emotions clouds her face. Shock, concern, and even a bit of remorse over her last few words.

"Cal, I'm...I'm so sorry," she says quietly. "I didn't know."

I don't say anything, afraid that opening my mouth to speak about it, or even tilting my head up to look Farley and Kilorn in the eye, to see the emotion and concern written across their faces over Mare, will cause me to break down.

Instead, I shift slightly and begin playing with my flame maker bracelets, a nervous habit that I've had since I was little.

Awkward silence surrounds us before Kilorn finally speaks up. "How are things going

out there, Farley?"

My ears perk up at the conversation and I happily eavesdrop, eager for a distraction from my current situation.

I keep my gaze on my hands, but in my periphery vision, I can see Farley cast a nervous glance my way before answering Kilorn.

"Well, once Cal told me that they were using the tunnels, we immediately sent troops to seal them off, but..."

Farley hesitates, thinking.

"But what?" Kilorn asks.

My own curiosity is rising, and I am grateful when Farley responds.

"When we got there, there was no sign of Lakelander soldiers anywhere. They must have gotten word that we found out what they were up to because they all started retreating, and by the time we got there, not many Lakelanders were still in the battle. We sealed the tunnels off anyways out of precaution and managed to capture some of the enemy soldiers. They are in the dungeons right now."

Farley and Kilorn both smile, seeming happy at our sudden turn of luck, but I can't help but feel like there is something else going on here.

"Did you do a full sweep of the castle, make sure the soldiers weren't just hiding inside?" I ask. Hearing my voice startles both Farley and Kilorn, but they recover quickly.

"Yes," Farley replies. "I know how to do my job, Cal. We sealed off any possible entryways and made sure that no soldiers were hiding within the castle."

I let the dig at me go, focusing on more important issues.

"So they just left?" I continue, "That makes no sense. Why would they do that when they were winning?"

My heartbeat starts to increase as my suspicions from earlier start to creep up to the surface again. I really hope that I am wrong.

"We don't know," Farley replies. "Any soldiers I talked to said that they saw the Lakelanders start to retreat right before we went to seal off the tunnels. One said that it was right after he saw a bomb go off."

Kilorn and I look at each other realization hitting us both, hanging on to Farley's every word.

"My guess is that they heard that we caught wind of what they were doing and decided to retreat before too many of them were captured," she continues, "or that their mission wasn't to capture the castle and they have a hidden agenda that we need to figure out."

I break Kilorn's gaze and bury my face in my hands as all the pieces fall into place. This was supposed to help me keep my mind off of Mare, of all of my thoughts and worries, but instead, it has made it ten times worse.

I can feel the heat in the room rise as I struggle to contain the emotions threatening to consume me. My sudden realization courses through my head, screaming at me: This is all my fault.