Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Eighteen

♕ Luna ♕

Zander stood out the front door, his head turning towards Sybilla as he heard the click of her heels against the floor. Sybilla tried not to look towards him, tried to not let show how much she hated the idea of spending the next several days with him and the rest of goldcrest soldiers.

She'd be alone. Completely alone. Once, a lifetime ago, the thought wouldn't have made her bat an eye, but now... Now she was used to the feeling of others around her. She was used to the warmth of other's affection.

Sybilla stopped walking a few steps before reaching the door. She could do this. For Aubrette she could do this.

"I said first light" Zander said and Sybilla shrugged. Walking past him onto the steps of Exilium.

The two of them made their way down surrounded by five guards, he did not bother to speak to her again. As they made their way down, Sybilla saw every security point torn apart, melted away into the rock of the mountain. Still she did not let the shock of seeing the front of Exilium ripped apart show on her face.

The guards tried to stop several times, but Sybilla kept walking, forcing them to continue behind her. As they reached the gate Sybilla realized the last time she'd walked through the gates front doors she'd been barely a kid. The memory made her skin shiver. Zander walked out first and she followed after him. A pair of black horses waiting for them. Sybilla raised a brow staring at him as he caressed his horse's back.

"Expecting a carriage princess?" He said, and Sybilla rolled her eyes, grabbing her horse rail, and walking away from him.

As they approached Blackstone edge. Sybilla mounted her horse and followed Zander towards Luna Bay. Ignoring the gleaming of the mourning sun shining down on her skin, and the mourning moon beside it.

☾

"When was the last time you left Blackstone?" Zander asked her.

Sybilla had done her best to concentrate on the sounds of the horse's steps, letting herself enjoy the view of snow-covered trees and frozen lakes as they travelled further north.

She could see the guards trembling beside them. Their armor not suited for the weather, and even when Sybilla wore a simple coat over her shoulders , she could still remember the days were the cold had been used against her, when her only option had been to learn to push pass the itch on her skin as it froze. The nights she spent sitting in the snow in front of her house, wishing she'd been in the comfort of her bed instead.

Cold didn't mean anything anymore.

"I don't think that's any of your business" she said and shrugged.

"It is. If the people don't know you, they may think you are not..."

"People will believe anything you say if you say it loud enough" Sybilla said and parted her eyes from him. That was something, perhaps the only thing she knew too well.

Sybilla looked up into the sky, to her surprise only the moon was visible. The few rays of sun peaking in between the clouds lighting the day enough for them to be able to see through the frozen forest.

"I wish I didn't feel the cold" He said, following her gaze towards the trees. "I think it's beautiful, but it hurts too much"

"Most beautiful things do" Sybilla said and regretted it immediately. She was too tired for this. Zander frowned. "And can you shut up already? It's enough that I have to travel with you"

"Someone woke up in the wrong side of bed" He said. "You did sleep right?"

Sybilla didn't say anything, fighting the urge to yawn. Concentrating on watching the poodles of water on the floor. Melted snow marking their way towards Luna Bay. She remembered that sight all too well. Couldn't shake the memory as they passed the tall trees, so different from the ones on Wood Sorrow.