Waiting For Apricity

Chapter 11

Adventure begins

"Anywhere my father can't find us," he answered, the grim resolve in his voice a testament to the price he was willing to pay for our escape.

We flew in silence for a while, the morning sky our only witness. Despite the danger and uncertainty, I felt a sense of freedom I had never known.

Eventually, we landed in a dense forest, the canopy of trees providing cover from prying eyes. Karlaious gently set me down, his wings folding back behind him. I looked around, taking in our surroundings.

"We'll rest here for now," Karlaious said, his voice softer now. "But we can't stay long. My father's creatures will be searching for us."

I nodded, still trying to process everything that had happened. "Thank you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "For everything."

He gave me a small, reassuring smile. "We'll get through this," he promised. "Together."

As we settled in for a brief rest, I felt a sense of resolve hardening within me. The path ahead was uncertain and fraught with danger, but I was no longer alone. I knew we had a fighting chance, together. I just felt horribly sick, that I'd had to drag karlaious into this.

I look around the forest. I can't tell if we're still in Moanae or if this is another forest entirely. The trees look the same—tall and strong, their branches tormented by the same kind of whispers. Even the ground feels familiar—rough, dirty, scattered with dry leaves, twigs, rocks, and splinters of bone, likely from some small creature that had been eaten by something much larger.

The sun, now at its peak, shines through the canopy. I feel its warmth kiss my nose and eyelashes. I turn around to study Karlaious, watching his every move. He paces, grunts, and pauses to stretch his ebony wings, folding them back again. He is clearly restless—clearly, without a doubt, helpless right now.

How could he not be? He is a prince—not just any prince—but one who was to inherit the throne and rule over all eleven kingdoms. He was destined for pure power. And now? He is stranded in a forest with a stupid human girl who has just cost him something close to his life.

I sit down, too nervous to say anything, feeling the weight of the predicament, I've put him in. I dig my fingers into the earth beneath me and look up at the canopy, basking in the sunlight. I don't take the threat lightly. I know they'll come after us again, and I don't know when I'll be able to sit like this—just look at the trees, listen to my heartbeat, or feel anything close to this warmth again.

The birds' gentle tweets sound like melodies riding the wind—carefree and pleasant. How happy they must be, completely unaware of the ways of the world. But me? I feel nothing but grief.

I've learned that I'm not being kept alive for redemption or mercy. No one saved me to cast humans in a different light or give me a second chance. I'm alive because I haven't been caught yet—likely because my mother took pity on me, kept me alive out of her own care.

Learning that I'm only here to repent for a species that lived and died before I was even born makes me sick. It feels like the sins of my kind are drowning me, pulling me under every time I try to breathe. They kept me alive only to suffocate in the horrors of my ancestors, to relive their terrors, to fester in them, and perhaps, to die as a lesson. There's no mercy. No love. Freedom? That's just a cruel joke.

And my name... Apricity. A twisted, sick joke bestowed upon me by the kingdom.

I wonder—who really saved me? And now that I think about it, who am I, actually? Who was my human mother? Who was my father? Did they love me? What was my real name, if they even had the chance to name me? Could I even be her—Apricity? I don't feel anything like the warmth of the sun in this hellish winter. I feel like rain—torrential rain. Not the pretty kind, but thick, humid rain that causes landslides and wreckage, rain that breaks branches and rips birds' nests apart. Rain that smothers you, soaks you, and makes you feel dirty.