[Book 3 of the Grounding the Storm series] Renit's worst nightmare has come true. Roux isn't at his side, and he's banished from his throne and his crown, leaving him nameless and on the run. While trying to escape his father's cruel reign, he has t...
Sitting at a table with my closest friends, we pick through the meals on our plates. It's not much, a small side of vegetables, fish someone managed to catch, and a few berries from nearby bushes, For now, this is all we'll have to eat. The land doesn't provide much else, but in summer, a witch of the gardens will be quite useful.
From my observations, there are a couple that hold the power; they're mixed in with the rebels. The witch sitting to my right, my sister, once held that strength. But it's gone now. She explained everything to me, from the moment she realized that her power would not get me out, to the transformation, to actually using that power.
Although I was angry at her for putting something so beautiful to waste, I can't blame her. I would've done the same if it was the other way around and the king was using her, instead. Celestine did what she felt was right, and for the first time in her life, no one tried to stop her. And the fact that her power is gone doesn't change who she is as a person or a witch. She's still Celestine, the garden power is what I thought gave her that touch of sweetness, but upon seeing what she is now, I realize that sweetness came from who she is.
Her power is infinite, and she might be the key to what we'll face in the future. Along with everyone else sitting at the table in my cottage, in the place I used to live with my family. How it's evolved since then.
Renit, who cooked the food for us, sits to my left, his hand on my knee underneath the table. There were only five chairs when we came in here, so we gathered some from other residences to fit everyone else sitting around. At the head of the table where my father used to sit, Bren picks at his berries and frowns at their flavor. He's never been a fan.
He's done his best to help Celestine feel comfortable. They haven't seen each other since that night, have only heard that the other is alive and well, and are not willing to part like brother and sister; not again. I don't know what they went through at the river, whether it formed some unspoken bond between their souls, but the way they speak to each other, soothing and gentle, it proves they'll be there for each other through these next steps.
To Bren's right, Tesha inhales her food and hardly has the courtesy to take the bones out of the fish before she has to pick them from her teeth with a frown. She doesn't speak much, not to anyone, she's still trying to find a way around Akeno's death but is entertaining the idea of feeling like herself again with frequent jokes or jabs at the race of witches.
The rest of the table is people I've grown to care about and those I have yet to thank. Especially Dalis, the witch of water eating slowly and savoring every bite as if it might be her last. I can't imagine what it must feel like to not know whether her father is alive or not. She left him for this, for residing in a village and advancing on what it must take to kill a very powerful leader.
She's put her trust in us without question and was more than willing to help. Dalis left the kitchens, left the servant passageways, and found somewhere that held her the most useful. I would never ask this of her, not in a million years, but she's offered her services to us for the purpose of finding a better future in this kingdom.
Her words have been few and far in between, as well. Traveling from the capital to Lona, and then finding herself in Arego is enough to drain the life out of anyone, including someone as strong and willing as the witch of water winking at me from across the table. She returns to her food a second later, that smile fading as quickly as it appeared.
I'll do what it takes to get her back to her family.
There are some faces I wish were at this table. My stomach churns with the thought of them being hurt by the king because they were left behind. They are his only targets now, and if anything happens to them, the blame comes to me. Silas, Avalie, and Hallie. They're still at the castle, still underneath the king's roof, and will face imminent danger if they don't decide very quickly what the right decision is.
I long to see their faces around this table. We're already packed in, shoved against each other in such an uncomfortable way, but it feels like home. We can make room for three more people.
Sitting at the other end of the table, Binx is nearly finished with his meal. He's left behind bits and pieces in case anyone else is looking for more food, an option Bren won't fail to take him up on. No one wants him to be here, no one talks to him, but I invited the witch of illusion to the table so he could have some semblance of normalcy after a long life of never experiencing any.
He was the one that set out the table settings, plates, knives, and forks, and held the cups for Dalis while she filled them with water. Renit was the chef of this meal, a skill I didn't know he had, and I dusted off all our dishware without shedding a tear. It was hard, my chest still aches from opening the cabinets and finding everything where I saw it last, my parents' touch still over every single piece.
But I've managed. All of us have. Even Citlali, who sits next to Renit's left. I asked her why she came here in the first place, Lona was so much safer, and she said it was time to get off her ass and do something. The king is strong, but two witches of ground are stronger. She longs to find a way to bring our two powers together as one so we can take down the castle without blinking twice. I told her I'd have to think about it—there are so many other factors at play here.
Alaric, the last at the table and sitting at the other end next to Binx, hunches over his food. I haven't had the chance to converse with him, either. But I don't have to talk to him to understand what this means, what the boost of having him here brings. He helped me without question, went into his death believing that I was worth saving, and for him, I'll return the favor.
By far, he's come strides more than I have. Like everyone else here at this table, he's risking everything to watch the sunrise without a care. The world will not be following apart around us, for we have the strongest group known to the kingdom sitting at this table. There are others that'll try to take us down, yes, but we will prevail.
The motto handed to me in the war will play a different role here. The rebels will lay waste, one way or the other.
For we will not go down without a fight.
Lay waste.
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