The Moonshaped Sorrow (Open Novella Contest 2020)

Chapter Ten: Past Deeds Repaid

For the first few hours, he was silent.

Despite what Guin had said, he was no fool. (He didn't think of himself as one, anyway.) He knew that stealing the letter right from his mother's hands would be difficult for Guin to do without notice. The simplest explanation was that Mollie had handed Guin the letter, because Mollie had intended for Guin to deliver it.

This lapse of judgment was confirmed by the guilty glances she kept shooting him. He'd never told her about Guin's proposal and his rejection, or about the way Guin had set him ill at ease. She'd only really known Guin as a childhood friend of Cori's. In his heart of hearts, Cori couldn't really blame Mollie for trusting her. But for the first hours, that knowledge was overruled by the knowledge that tomorrow Miraluna was going to die, and Cori could do nothing about it.

But as the hours passed, silence became deafening. Cori then spoke, and when he spoke he told his mother about everything: the long hours Cori and Miraluna had spent teaching themselves a language no human had heavier spoke before, the times after when Miraluna had understood the core of Cori's being in a way no one else ever even tried. He told of his failure to break her curse, and of the many days just relaxing, sitting by her side in the library or in the sunlit deck. And he told of the garden she'd crafted, filled with flowers because he'd told her he thought they were beautiful.

Some of her confusion at last seemed to dissipate. With no more to say, Cori fell into an exhausted silence.

The tent was dimly lit, with only one small candle still burning on a table by the tent flap. Perhaps this was to make it easier to sleep, if sleeping were even possible. The arrangement wasn't so uncomfortable. The ground was littered with a couple of soft cloths that would have made it easier to lie down. His hand was loosely tied to a pole in the tent's center. Mollie wasn't even tied to anything.

But the real authority keeping Cori in the tent were the guards standing just outside. He could hear them talking to each other in murmurs every now and then.

As the hours went by, Cori wondered if it might not be worth it to make an attempt to run for it. It was extremely unlikely that he would get farther than one foot away from the tent, but at least he would feel like he'd done something.

Not that any of it would mean anything to Miraluna. Miraluna, who was surely asleep in her chambers right now, having not the slightest idea that tomorrow morning the Generals who smelled weakness would be coming for her head.

He didn't know how long he'd been in the tent when the flap opened. His heart skipped a panicked beat-it couldn't be dawn already, could it? The attack couldn't have been done with.

The opening widened as three faces slipped in, showing just enough of the sky to confirm that it was still night. He breathed easier.

The newcomers knelt on the ground before Cori, a candle in each of their hands illuminating their faces. They were the boating boys, and one another whose face Cori fought to place. Then he recognized him. This was the man Cori had tossed spare coins into months before, back when he was returning from delivering a clock to RosHaskel.

"What are you doing here?" Cori asked.

The men looked at one another, then back at Cori.

It was the man from the streets that spoke. "We heard you in the tent yesterday. We heard you say you think they're wrong about the Lantaminth princess."

"They are."

"You're sure of that?" The taller boat boy asked.

Cori met his gaze evenly. "Surer than of anything else."

The man from the streets frowned. "Would the princess strike back against us for coming this far?"

Miraluna had once spoken about the use of force being the best way to deal with threats, but somehow, Cori couldn't imagine her launching an invasion that would get some of her people killed. She had little interest in the lands outside of Lantaminth.

"She'd repel this invasion," Cori answered truthfully. "But once the invaders were out of Lantaminth's borders, I don't think she'd pursue a counter invasion."

The shortest boy bit his lip. "Is she good?"

"Good," the taller boat boy scoffed. "I think there are more important things here than good."

But Cori thought of not gardens or stars but of the way Miraluna had said "You must go to her" when earlier she had seemed to think that if he didn't break her curse, no one would. He thought of how in that moment, she had put Cori and his mother's needs above her own, and had never showed any sign of hesitance at sending Cori to his mother with all the resources her royalty could provide.

"Yes," Cori said softly. "She is good."

The boys exchanged a long glance with one another. When they turned back to Cori, the taller boat boy spoke while the man from the street approached.

"You must not tell anyone we did this."

With one slice, the man from the street slit the rope tying Cori to the tent. It fell to the ground.

Cori used the pole to pull himself to his feet. His legs ached from the hours of sitting. "There are guards outside."

"That's us," piped the short boy, with perhaps a little bit of pride. "We're the ones supposed to be guarding you right now."

"But you did us a favor," said the taller boy, "so now we're repaying it."

Cori had many more questions, but given the urgency of the situation, he let them all go for now.

"I need a way across the water," he told them.

The taller boy nodded. "My boat's on the beach outside. Right now, everyone's prepping for the invasion. If you leave now, they won't notice you on the water."

That was enough for Cori. He strode out of the tent, and sure enough, a boat was on the beach, glistening in the moonlight like a gift from the heavens.

The man from the street caught up to Cori. "One more thing. The Holy Generals agreed to let Guinevere go early."

"What?"

Right when things were looking hopeful, this brought Cori's relief crashing down again.

"She set off right before we came into speak to you. She'll beat you to the island, but if you hurry, not by much."

I can still get there before she does damage.

"Thanks," Cori said, and turned away. He had a palace to get to.