Dark Crown {Crowned Trilogy, Book 1} | ↺

[X] Talon - Welcome to the Castle, Boy ✔ [revised 10/22]

                 

I'm clumsy, yeah my head's a mess

Cause you got me growing taller everyday

We're giants in a little man's world

My heart is pumping so big that it could burst

Been trying so hard not to let it show

But you got me feeling like

I'm stepping on buildings, cars and boats

I swear I could touch the sky

                                                       - Ten Feet Tall , by Afrojack ft. Wrabel

                 

The storm got lighter and lighter as they forged on. Eventually, Talon could see his hands again, and he wasn't constantly coughing on and spitting up grit-filled saliva. He took out the skin of water, finally, partly because he felt he deserved it, but mostly because his mouth was parched. His tongue felt swollen and heavy and his mouth wouldn't open without splitting the skin on his lips and releasing droplets of blood that fell away toward the ground beneath him, lost in the wind that still roared and pounded at his back furiously.

He almost didn't dare look back, afraid that there would be something there. It was unreasonable, because he was sure that no one, not even the most desperate trader, would be out in this kind of storm, letting their goods be worn down by a wind of grit and sand. And to prove that his rational side was indeed right, he would turn his head, just a little to right, and glance at the space behind him out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't see much, and it heightened his fear, but he pretended that he had reassured himself of any strange, unnatural beings following him. It at least made him feel braver, though he knew he was anything but.

He licked his lips slowly after a small drink, and almost sighed with pleasure as he felt the relieving coolness made its way into his parched mouth, filling all the dry corners and slowly, lazily, meandered its way down his throat and chest, until it settled in his stomach. He was tempted to take another mouthful, but wanted to ration it well, unsure how far away the castle was. He knew he could always ask Barton, but the two had travelled in silence for quite a while now, during the whole duration of the storm, and he felt like if he asked, it would be the act of dependence, especially after he was still savoring the small victory of making it through such a turbulent sandstorm on foot, in nothing more a light tunic and trousers.

Once they reached the castle, he knew he wouldn't always be able to rely on Barton, since that was an act of weakness in itself, and the Streetknight surely wouldn't have the time. Talon knew nearly nothing about being a Streetknight, but he was determined to learn what he could and make it through the hard month by his own power and no more. He didn't want Barton to use what authority he had (not that he would, Talon was sure) to make his life easier, nor did he want the training to be easy, because of his situation. In fact, he wanted everything to be harsher. That only felt right, like some kind of tribute he was paying to Lily. And the next time - there won't even be a next time. I'll be prepared when they come after me again.

He wasn't thinking clearly, he knew, but he felt such a knot in his chest and in his stomach, when he thought of Lily and those men dressed in green, acting with no mercy, none at all.

Lily's death had already become part of him.

And he made that resolution, despite the doubts that still hung in the back of his head from before. If it was too hard, too difficult, if he was too soft, then he - Talon shook his head. He wouldn't even think about it.