“No, it’s not fair. But you need to give her a break. She’s had a tough life, Eldric. Between poverty and loss, she’s had her hands full. Yet none of that compares to what she’s going through now. You might not see it, but she’s falling to pieces,” Freyah spoke blankly, her own eye fixated on the darkness ahead. “I wish I could tell you everything, but this is not my story to tell.”
Eldric looked to his right to meet her gaze, a particular word in her statement catching his attention. “Poverty, huh?”
She nodded.
Eldric’s thoughts traveled at the speed of lightning as he recalled Alissa’s promise of wealth and the ridiculous amount of riches she had offered him to take them to the capital. Freyahcouldn’t have known her friend had lied to him; she wasn’t there when Alissa made those false promises. As far as Freyah knew, Eldric was helping them out of the goodness of his heart.
It hit him then that he would never see the fifty silver coins. But deep down, he knew the rage rising inside him wasn’t about the money. Money had never really mattered to him. It was about the lies, the deceit to make him do her bidding, when all he had done was remain loyal and keep his word.
His blood boiled in his veins. Her audacity turned his sorrow into anger, but Freyah was still completely unaware of his change in temperament.
She looked at him with a sympathetic eye. “I’m sure she will tell you everything when the time’s right. All I’m asking is for you to be patient.”
He nodded, completely lost for words.
“Please try not to hate her for this, okay?” she said, hopeful Eldric would be able to forgive Alissa. Little did she know that she had just accidentally given him more reasons to despise her friend.
Incapable of saying anything else, he picked up a few rocks that lay on the ground and threw them away, one at a time, remembering those times he threw rocks at the river when he was little, as if the tightness would leave his chest to follow the little pebbles he threw far away.
They both sat together in silence for a while longer, accompanied by the sound of rocks hitting the water and crickets singing under the full moon.
Chapter 19
Hidden Secrets
124 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
It’d been two days since Alissa last saw Eldric. He hadn’t stopped by to check on her as he had been doing, nor did he spend the night with them in the tent like the first two nights in Nyfrel. Even with all the unspoken words hanging there, she blamed him for the way things turned out between them. For being such a coward to face her after their argument.
Desi was changing the bandage around Alissa’s leg injury when Eldric stormed into the medical office. His fists were closed tight, hanging by his sides; his exhales were so loud that the pair could sense his irritation from across the room.
The healer was talking, something about Alissa responding well to the medication, but she wasn’t paying any attention to her and all the annoying medical terms and potion names. All she paid attention to at that moment was him. Eldric walked to the back, where the potions cabinet was. Her gaze followed him all the way, even when Desi waved at her to catch her attention.
He started packing up some of the belongings he had left behind. When he finished, he lifted the rucksack on his shoulder and, with firm steps, headed to the exit without a single word.
“Where are you going?” Alissa asked.
“That’s none of your business.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, come on, Van Myr! You can’t be that upset about our silly argument.”
The fact that she didn’t even know what truly upset him made him even madder. He halted halfway to the exit, taking a deep breath. Eldric turned around, and the killer stare, followed by the sudden tension in the air, was enough for Desi to decide to leave before the drama became unbearable. She could finish patching up Alissa’s leg later.
He faced Alissa, his eyes bloodshot with fury. “You lied.”
Alissa frowned. He certainly was exaggerating to think that omitting information about her reasons for leaving Bryniard could be considered a lie. That was her first thought, but when his expression changed to a painful stare, she understood which one of her lies he was referring to. Alissa couldn’t find within her the strength to deny it; she was tired of lying and pretending, so instead, she nodded.
With her confirmation, Eldric resumed his way to the exit, the determination to leave the ungrateful woman behind and never look back marking every step out of there. But before he could leave, her pained moan caught his attention.
Eldric glanced back once again to find her walking to him. Her knees faltered with the effort she had put into her small movements, and a new drop of blood ran down her thigh over the barely patched injury. He cursed under his breath and dropped his rucksack to the floor, meeting her where she nearly fainted with a single stride. One of his arms was instinctively under her knees, the other behind her back. Lifting her in his arms, he walked her back to the cot.
“Damn it, Alissa! You know you can’t make that much effort yet. You’re still recovering.” His grunt was made out of both anger and concern in equal measures.
Her vision blurred, and exhaustion began to set in. She instinctively let her head fall to the space between his shoulder and his neck, a place she could not have anticipated she would have fit in so perfectly. With eyes shut, she sighed, feeling the soft cotton of his shirt against her cheeks.
The way her head lay against him, the sensation of her deep exhales brushing the sensitive skin of his neck, and how she cradled herself in his arms, made hating her so much harder for him.
Eldric gently lay her down, and his chest tightened with the sight of her injury bleeding once again. He hated himself for letting her ruin the outraged façade he wore when he first walked in, but before the man could dig deeper within himself and recover some of the pride he had left, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it.