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THERE STILL ISN’T A way for both of you to leave together, the voice said.
Evynria sniffled and wiped her tears, releasing herself from Roan’s arms. She flushed in embarrassment at how hard she’d cried as he held her, though it had felt nice to do so. Especially when his fingers had gently combed through her hair. Her blush deepened. He must think her a mess with all the tangles. It was an unfortunate side effect of being close with faeries. They loved knotting people’s hair. Though, by holding their favor, they managed to hide most of it in the layers underneath.
“The voice still says that only one of us may leave,” she told him. “And whether you feel I deserve it, or not, I know that I deserve to stay here more than you. You may say you would have killed him, but you didn’t put his mind in your hands and mold it like potter’s clay to your liking.”
“I choose to ignore any and all arguments in favor of you being left behind,” Roan said stubbornly, crossing his arms. “But you said the girl made a deal? And that’s how the prince escaped?”
She frowned, but nodded.
“Why don’t you make a different deal?”
Evyn pursed her lips, thinking. It could work, but what would cost more than someone’s life? “Let me ask.”
Turning to the darkness, she called out to the voice from before. “We want to make a deal with you. To save us both.”
The darkness remained silent long enough to set Evyn’s hands shaking. She should just sacrifice herself like the farm girl had and let Roan go. He’d come in to save her, so she owed him. More than deserving punishment, she owed him the safety of escape.
I’m listening. What do you have to offer?
“They’ve asked what we have to offer,” she said, turning back to face Roan.
He uncrossed his arms and instead tapped his fingers on his knees, as if thinking. For some reason, the gesture reminded her that his mask was an illusion. That she’d felt his face instead of the dark material she’d expected. Did that make him a magic user, or had he been given the charmed item from someone else?
“What if we promise to replace both of us? Offer two lives for our two lives?”
Her eyes widened. “But how would we choose?”
He shrugged. “There are definitely people worse than us who deserve to rot in the darkness. We’ll find them.”
I would take the offer, the voice in the darkness said. But I will only give you one moon cycle to procure them.
Evyn gasped.
“What?”
She chewed on her lip. Only one cycle? Would that be enough time? What if they got desperate and chose the wrong people? But the offer was so tempting. And it would guarantee Roan’s safety. Except, she could already guarantee his safety by offering her own life instead. Only a moment ago, she’d been so willing to sacrifice herself, but now that an option presented itself for her to be safe, too...
Her heart thumped against her ribs like a club.
“Tell me what they said, Evynria. It’s not only your decision to bear. I’m here.”
Slowly, she took in a deep breath, then let it back out. “They will accept your offer... but, we only have one moon cycle to find our replacements.”
“Tell them we accept,” Roan said, reaching his hand out to hers.
Part of her wanted to flinch away, not let him touch her. It still didn’t feel right. He said there were worse people out there, but who was she to judge? Who was she to consign someone to this forever?
Roan took her hand, as she hadn’t moved, and squeezed it gently. “Tell them we accept. We will find two people to replace us. And we will do it before the next moon cycle is up. I promise.”
“What if they’re the wrong people?”
“They won’t be.”
He squeezed her hand again and she nodded.
Turning to the darkness, she proclaimed, “All right, Voice, we will take your deal.”
The voice in the darkness said nothing, but she felt an energy of pride.
And then her body seemed to be falling through midair, everything tightening around her like a vise. She closed her eyes and screamed from the sudden shock of weightlessness.
And then she landed hard on the ground, arm and hip throbbing. She gasped, though the pain dissipated quickly after.
“Evyn?”
She knew that voice. Her eyes hunted and finally landed on him, standing a few yards away. Enloris stared back at her for a moment, panting, and then ran to her. As he kneeled beside her, his hands went to her face, brushing her hair away. His gaze roved all over her frantically.
“Are you alright? Have you been hurt?”
Evyn had never seen him like this. His eyes were wide pools of worry and his forehead crumpled. She knew he was concerned for her safety, because he was sworn to protect her, but her heart fluttered all the same from the thought that he cared this much about her wellbeing. She cleared her throat and tried to suppress her heart from its sudden excitement.
“I’m... fine. I’m unharmed,” she replied.
Enloris exhaled and his shoulders drooped in clear relief. “Thank the Divine.” And then he cleared his throat. “Voladys would’ve had my head if you’d been harmed, of course.”
She tilted her head, wondering whether that was true. Even though they were still in Her Majesty’s forest, she could feel something else there. Instead, she closed her channels again, not sure when they’d opened, although she had lost her hat. The prison had already fatigued her enough.
“I’m fine too!” Roan said. Evyn looked back to see him struggling to get up out of a bush, dusting off leaves. “Don’t worry about me.”
She breathed a sigh of relief this time. It worked. They’d both made it out. Mainly, Roan had made it out.
But at what cost?
Otsana ran over and hit Roan over the head. He shouted in protest. “Abyss take you! How dare you jump in there with no plan! Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Seriously! What is wrong with you?” Ylid joined in, slapping his arm, which nearly knocked Roan over.
Arnes said nothing, but seemed to laugh silently, jaws open in what looked like a smile. Arrius had his muscled arms folded, shaking out his wings slightly before settling again.
Roan pursed his lips. “I’m fine, aren’t I? The point is that Evynria and I escaped, and we’re both alive and well.”
“For now,” Evyn muttered.
“What was that?” Enloris asked, whirling to face her.
Evyn closed her eyes, annoyed with herself. She hadn’t meant for him to hear that. Though she supposed they should know about their deal with the darkness. A deal that still made her want to crawl out of her skin.
She couldn’t look at Enloris, but found Roan’s boots entering her lowered view. Evyn lifted her gaze to meet his and wondered once again what face hid behind that illusion of a mask. His eyes were squinted slightly, in a way that read as sympathy, and then he nodded.
“I can tell them, if you want. It was my idea, after all.”
“What idea?” Enloris asked, his voice deepening slightly.
Evyn nodded at Roan, who in turn looked at the rest of their cadre. “We have one lunar cycle to find our replacements for the amulet. It was the deal we made to exit the prison.”