Ever So Lightly- Book 1

35

 Buildings dotted the horizon, the orange of the sun silhouetting the town of Ikana in the distance. Zephyr hadn't been so happy to see civilization in what felt like ages. They were so close, so close to finding the rebels. To reuniting with Saria and Bennet and everyone else. Looming off to the east of the town, the Skypeak mountains shot into the sky like a monstrosity of nature. The waning sunlight gleaming off of the red veins that streaked from the clouds all the way to the base of the mountains, glimmering like streams of blood seeping down the rocky surfaces.

"We're almost there," Zephyr said, turning to face Jasper. The sight of their destination filled her with a bittersweet longing. They'd had three days. Three days to pretend that their lives weren't in shambles, to pretend they were anything but a dead princess and a deserter. A rebel symbol and her steadfast soldier. As much as she longed for her friends and a real bed, Zephyr felt like she was about to lose something precious. She pressed into Jasper's side, her knuckles brushing against his as they watched the last bit of sunlight dip out of sight.

"The valley must be somewhere close," Jasper said as he scanned the base of the mountains, his hand drifting up along Zephyr's spine to rest at the base of her neck. She had to work to suppress a shiver at his touch. "Let's follow along the edge of the mountains past the town. We should run into it eventually." Zephyr nodded as his hand fell away from her neck. Cool air immediately replaced the warmth of his touch and this time she did shiver. The night held a silent chill that set Zephyr off-balance. Unease crept under her skin as they approached the mountains, and she didn't know whether or not to blame it on her own dread of what lay before her.

The dead princess. Zephyr couldn't keep from thinking the words. They haunted her, hung over her every movement, her every thought like a new moon in the night sky. She hadn't truly allowed herself to sift through everything implied by what Kade had revealed to her. What Jasper had confirmed for her. She had no memories, no memories at all of her life before Agitha. How could she have forgotten? Jasper seemed to think nothing of it, saying that she was only a toddler when Lorelei poached the throne and murdered her family. Of course a small child wouldn't remember something like that. Of course. But she'd had a family. A mother, a father, a brother. Bowen. The little prince was five years old when his life had been stolen away. Zephyr hadn't even known his name until Jasper had told her the stories of that fateful night that had failed to make their way to her own small town on the coast. How could she have forgotten her brother's name?

A part of her, a dark, unforgiving part that she had to shove down or be lost in forever, told her that Bowen should have been the one to survive. Her brother wouldn't have forgotten, he would have known who he was, would have wanted vengeance for his parents and sister. He was the true heir, and he would have vanquished the evil queen. All Zephyr wanted to do was keep hiding, keep running, keep locking everything away into a hidden corner of her mind. Because the dead princess wasn't a princess anymore. She was the rightful heir to the throne of Auros. The living queen. And no matter which way she looked at it, Zephyr didn't want it. Any of it.

A sudden feeling of hopelessness washed over Zephyr, threatening to pull her away from the rocky formations spread before her like her her own nightmares. Towering over her, blocking the sight of anything else, hiding everything that she wanted, poised to topple over and suffocate any hopes of a normal life.

Jasper's hand found her own, a light squeeze of her fingers pulling Zephyr from under a weight she could barely lift from her own mind. His touch was a reminder of a promise not to let her see this through by herself. And the thought of having even one person to lean on, to share her burden in even the slightest way, that thought gave her the strength to keep pressing forward.

The sun had fully disappeared, replaced by two half moons high in the black sky. Zephyr and Jasper walked in silence so as not to alert any roaming townspeople to their presence, her hand still held tightly in his. They followed the base of the mountains, Zephyr keeping a careful eye out for stray or protruding rocks. The last thing she needed now was to trip and break something so close to safety. Or what she hoped would be safety.