*Lena*
I ran my hand down Xander’s back, my thumb grazing over his spine. I could feel each vertebra clearly, and my heart sunk in my chest as I stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“You need to eat more,” I coaxed, glancing up at him.
His eyes were on the water, however, and the port of Breles that was just visible on the horizon. His mouth twitched as he looked down at , a look of understanding passing behind his eyes.
“Alma will make sure I’m fed, I assure you. She probably won’t let us leave until I’m back to my usual weight.”
I gave Xander a soft smile, and it was all I could muster. His nightmares the past week had lessened but weren’t gone entirely. So nights he’d been able to sleep through the night without waking, but most of the ti he tossed and turned, crying out in his sleep. I just laid there, being as still and quiet as possible so I didn’t startle him, and silently cried as he suffered.
At first, he’d refused to sleep in the sa bed as . We’d spent a few nights in Avondale looking for Oliver, but to no avail. Will hadn’t seen or heard from him, and to my surprise, both he and Hollis were torn to shreds about it. Hollis and I even spent an evening just talking in one of the sitting rooms at the palace, talking like the friends we used to be.
Grief has a funny way of pulling people together, I guess.
We’d been on the ship to Breles for three days. We should have been on land by now, but had to travel far north to skirt past a hurricane that was tornting the narrow pass between the Isles and Breles. This boat ride was eating up the ti we had to visit Crimson Creek. I was closing in on the eighth month of my pregnancy with every day that passed, and the babies in my family were always born a little early.
But my focus was wholly on Xander. We’d already fought over the way I was treating him and my constant hovering. He said I was driving him insane, and maybe I was. But he rarely touched his food and was sleeping like shit, so what else was I supposed to do but constantly remind him to eat and shut his eyes?
Xander wrapped his arm around my shoulders as the boat pulled into the port. It was dusk, and the city was dark and empty beyond the port, which was still bustling with warriors. The war camp had turned into a village now, and I noticed won and children walking around. I wondered if people were starting to co back to Breles, to pick up the pieces and continue on with life.
I guess I’d find out.
We disembarked, Xander carrying the single duffle bag we were using to carry our things. Xander kept his arm around my shoulder as we walked through the camp, heading to an area where supplies were being sorted and driven from Breles to Crimson Creek.
We rounded a corner and I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I saw my dad talking with an unfamiliar warrior in the center of the tent-lined street. He turned halfway to us, and his face showed no emotion for a mont as he squinted into the sunset at our backs. But then he turned fully, his hands falling to his sides.
I ran to him, holding my belly as I struggled to keep my breath steady.
“Don’t–don’t run, I’m coming,” Dad said in a strained voice as he ran over to , throwing his arms around . “Are you alright? Your mom said you were coming here, but I don’t understand why.”
“I’m fine. We’re going to Crimson Creek to check in our friends,” I said into his shoulder. I let him go and stepped away from him, looking up into his face, but he was looking at Xander. “Dad,” I said softly, but his gaze didn’t falter. He continued to look at Xander, his eyes blank of any and all expression. “He asked to marry him, and I said yes.”
“I know,” he replied. “He asked –”
“You told him no–”
“That was before,” he interrupted, a soft smile touching his lips. It was gone in an instant. “He stopped here before he went to Mirage. He asked again.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said no, again.”
I pursed my lips, but he just tilted his head to the side, chuckling a little.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not up to , Lena. You’re in control of your own life. You always have been. I just wish... I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to show you that from the beginning.”
I hugged him again, closing my eyes as I pressed my cheek against his chest.
“There’s a train leaving for Crimson Creek in a few minutes,” he said quietly. “You need to go now if you want to board–”
“A train? How?”
“We cleared the tracks a few days ago. Everything is starting to feel a little more... better. We’re making progress.”
A group of civilians walked by carrying baskets of supplies. I watched them as they walked between a pair of tents toward one of the brick comrcial builds, which had lights on inside.
“Breles will be rebuilt. People can start coming ho, soon, we hope... before winter cos, at least.”
I squeezed his arms, smiling. It was over. We’d made it through the war. We were all going to be okay.
I hadn’t noticed that Xander had walked up behind until he laced his fingers in mine, nodding at my dad in greeting. Dad’s eyes hardened on Xander for a mont, but he nodded back nonetheless.
Well, their relationship would need so work. But I could confidently say that they would have all the ti in the world to form a bond.
My heart felt full and warm as I said goodbye, but only for now, to my dad. Xander and I walked on and eventually found the train station, which was the only repaired building in what seed like all of Breles.
“Do you rember when we t?” Xander asked as we waited to board the train, which was currently being stocked full of all kinds of supplies for the vampires in Crimson Creek.
I looked up at Xander, twisting my face into a scowl.
“The day you ruined my life, you an?”
“That’s a highly exaggerated accusation,” he growled, then leaned down to kiss on the forehead.
“Yes, I do rember the day we t. But I rember you before that, you know. I went to a party that you were at once, you and Adrian. Adrian was walking around with a huge gash on his forehead and got blood all over Cressida Mayfaire’s fancy downtown apartnt.”
“Yeah, I rember that night. Barely,” he laughed. “Do you know how he got that wound?”
“How? I thought it was a fight.”
“A keg stand–we don’t... do those in Egoren. It’s safe to say Adrian and I had a great ti pretending to be college students, but we were way in over our heads from the beginning.”
A warrior walked up to us, and Xander stepped forward to explain what we were doing there, and our intentions in Crimson Creek. The warrior peered around Xander to look at , taking in my hair and the striking features I shared with my father and grandmother. He nodded, motioning for us to board one of the three passenger cars connected to the supply train. There were several other people traveling to Crimson Creek. We walked through the first two passenger cars to the third and final one, which had overnight sleeper cabins.
“Is it okay that we use one of these? We don’t even have tickets–”
“I’m the Princess of Valoria’s fiance,” Xander said as he knocked on the cabin door. No one answered, and he shrugged as he opened it and motioned inside. “Special privileges co with my new title, I would assu.”
“Okay, Alpha King,” I teased. I squeezed into the snug cabin, which wasn’t more than a bench that folded out into a bed and shelving on the other side to hold our duffle bag, as well as an incredibly small bathroom.
I sat down on the bed, signing with relief. My feet were absolutely killing , and I knew they were swollen.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine, just tired,” I breathed, taking off the clunky orthopedic tennis shoes my mom had bought for recently. They were the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, and Xander nearly choked himself to death on a laugh when he saw wear them for the first ti, but desperate tis called for desperate asures.
I didn’t feel like Alexis was coming anyti soon, unfortunately. I had another few weeks to suffer through ugly shoes and clothes that didn’t fit.
I’d brought a few dresses, which was all that would fit my body as it was now, but Xander tossed one of his T-shirts to sleep in as we readied for bed. We’d be in Crimson Creek in roughly seven hours, unless the train made other stops. An almost full night’s rest was exactly what I needed.
As long as Xander didn’t have another nightmare... but I pushed the thought from my mind as I settled into the crook of his arm.
The train lurched forward while we laid in the bed, which was uncomfortable, but it was a bed so I couldn’t complain that much.
“Where is Adrian, anyway?” I asked after a few monts of silence.
“He’d better still be in Egoren,” he said with a sleepy chuckle, then sighed. “Abigail and Adrian will be here after Alexis is born, I know that for sure. She wants to visit her family and... well, she wanted to be the one to tell you this so don’t tell her I told you.”
“Told what?”
“That Adrian and Abigail got married last month,” he said, his knuckles gently stroking my upper arm.
I sighed, smiling as I snuggled into his chest. “That’s really good news,” I said honestly, smiling a little broader. Our huntress was now a married woman. Who would’ve thought?
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Because she got married without you there.”
“Was she worried about that?”
He shrugged. I blew out my breath, laughing a little. “I’m not mad at all. I’m looking forward to seeing them though.” A thought sparked in my mind, sothing I hadn’t thought to ask before. “How do you cross over into my realm?”
“Moonstones,” he answered matter-of-factly. “We call them moonlight crystals in the Dark Realm, but it’s the sa thing. They’re not like the moonstones in this realm, though–less powerful, from what I understand. Legend has it, when Lycaon created my realm, he filled it with moonstones, deep in the ground, just so he could have a fraction of the powers he would have had if he’d inherited the Goddess’s moonstone in full. We mine for them now. That’s how I was able to travel through with an army. Everyone had their own crystal.”
“Wow–”
“Mine’s in my watch, and it’s a little different. Those crystals don’t work more than twice, to co in and out. I don’t know why. But with a moonstone from your realm–” he held up the watch he’d been wearing since the day I t him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take it off. “I can co in and out however many tis I want.”
“What if,” I said, my mind beginning to reel as the sunstone necklace around my neck began to warm, “no one needed the moonstones to cross into our realms?”
“What do you an?”
“What if there wasn’t a portal at all? And we were just... open to each other?”
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