The Siege of Shadows: Book one

The well (44)

KAEL'S POINT OF VIEW

As we journeyed down the river, the fading light of day slipped away, swallowed by the horizon. The air grew cooler with each passing moment, and the once-verdant landscape took on an eerie stillness as dusk settled in. The sun had long since dipped beneath the mountains, leaving behind only the soft glow of twilight, a fading ember in the sky.

The shadows lengthened, curling around the trees and stretching across the ground as the world seemed to exhale in the quiet of the evening. The river, which had once glimmered beneath the sunlight, now shimmered with a silvery, ethereal glow, the moonlight dancing upon its surface in rhythmic waves.

The temperature dropped, and the first stars began to pierce the darkening sky. I couldn't help but glance upward, the constellations emerging as though they had always been waiting for this moment. The light from the stars felt like a touch, something familiar and ancient stirring within me.

It was as if the land itself was holding its breath. I felt the weight of the night surrounding us, the quiet pressure of time slipping by unnoticed, as if the darkness was not just the absence of light, but a thing that pressed against me, urging me to hurry, to make my choice. The day had ended, and with it, so had the illusion of safety. We were no longer in the light, but in the realm of the unknown.

And with the sun gone, my heart seemed to follow. The heaviness of the night mirrored the heaviness in my chest, the weight of the decision that was looming over me. We were approaching the healing pool, but even the stillness of the water felt like a prelude to something greater—a choice I wasn't sure I was ready to make.

The air tasted of anticipation, thick with the silence that only the dark could bring. And I couldn't shake the feeling that with the setting sun, something else was setting within me too, something I couldn't quite name yet.

Rowan's words hung in the air, their weight settling heavily between us. Before the king does.

The thought of returning the well to the Seelie king churned something deep inside me—something I hadn't fully understood until now. The task had seemed simple before: retrieve the well, bring it back, fulfill my duty. But now, with the well within reach and my mother's fate ever present in my mind, I couldn't shake the gnawing dread that had started to take root.

I turned away from Rowan, my thoughts a tangled mess. What was I to do? If I didn't return with the well, the king would find another way to torment my mother, and I would never forgive myself for that. Yet, if I did return it, I would only be cementing my own role as his pawn, as a beast to be controlled.

My chest constricted. I was supposed to be a servant of the Seelie court, a monster cursed to serve. But now, something inside me rebelled at the thought. Was I a monster? The horns that curled from my head—were they the sign of some dark fate, or a heritage I had never understood?

I closed my eyes, trying to shake the feeling of dread that pressed on my chest. I was tired of being controlled, of being nothing more than a tool for the Seelie king's whims.

"Kael?" Rowan's voice, soft yet insistent, pulled me back from my spiraling thoughts.

I turned to find her watching me, her expression unreadable, but her eyes holding something that made my heart beat faster. Concern. Not for herself, but for me.

"Are you ready?" she asked, stepping closer, her voice steady but laced with the strain of everything we had endured.

I nodded, though my mind was still wrestling with the storm of emotions. "We should go."

I reached out and offered her my hand, and for the briefest moment, I hesitated, wondering if I was already too lost in my own mind to trust anyone again. But Rowan didn't hesitate. She took my hand, her grip warm and steady, grounding me even as the uncertainty clawed at my insides.