Chapter 30: The Farther, The Better

No one had noticed me and Pyren in the tiger's cage. No one could understand how it escaped. The poor beast was killed on the night of the Pinnacle, but not before he ate a hefty meal of glowing young nobility.

Lord Dolev Eloroan was imprisoned in the Somaer dungeon where he awaited trial as the story of his plot reached the rest of the Fel family.

Lady Liora Somaer told a remarkable story about her escape from Lord Eloroan's failed coup. She never mentioned a man controlling the spectres, because that would be a tale impossible to believe. If she knew it was me who saved her, she never revealed my involvement.

The states of the north voted unanimously to reinstate the king over Vynam and be a unified kingdom under his rule. The failed coupe added a sense of urgency. If in a single night the heads of the strongest families in Vynam could be wiped out, that meant all families were vulnerable on their own.

It was then that Lady Liora Somaer came in with Lady Nava's identity. The houses would never back someone as strong as Liora as queen, but an outcast from Somaer who was a true descendent of the Jura line of kings was a choice all could agree to.

The Masquerade was finally drawing to a close.

"Lady Aspertin? You wished to see me?" said Thiba Faladric clutching her hands nervously as she stood in the open doorway of what was now, as the head of the Cervi, my study.

I was sitting behind the oak desk that had belonged to Alik Aspertin with a pen in hand. My steward, who had also belonged to Alik Aspertin, sat in the same chair Lady Golia occupied on the night she was arrested.

"Yes, Lady Thiba. Do come in."

Fidgeting slightly, Thiba took a few careful steps into the study, eying the steward warily.

"Close the door and have a seat," I said.

***

Thiba bumped into her own chair when she rose to her feet, nearly falling to the floor. I allowed the steward to arrange the documents in order as I rushed to help her. There were yet a few pieces of furniture in the room and I had a feeling Thiba would bump into all of them before long.

"I... thank you Lady Aspertin," she stammered again for the millionth time. She barely made it to the door. Then she paused, straightening her back. "Can I... may I ask you something?"

"Of course," I said.

"Why me?" She squeezed her hands together. "I'm not... I'm not even a first born. And everyone says I've got silly fancies and... I'm not pretty... and—"

"Thiba," I said in a low voice. "Your list of shortcomings is smaller than your virtues. I don't want to hear you utter another bad word about yourself. Understood?"

Her ears turned crimson at my words. She gasped in a breath. "Yes, my lady."

She turned and opened the door.

Lord Waryn Eloroan was standing there and Thiba emitted a startled squeak before stammering a hurried greeting and rushing away.

"I'm assuming that's your heir..." Waryn said.

"I don't like to leave loose strings."

"Interesting choice." He looked at the steward who was knocking together the papers and cleared his throat.

The steward carefully arranged the papers inside a leather folder.

"Lord Mannan," I said. "You may leave."

The steward closed the leather folder with a snap, sticking it under his arm and walked out of the room with the same measured pace he did everything.

Waryn closed the door behind him.

We stood at a distance from each other, he at the door and me by my desk.

"How's... Marin?"

"She's..." I paused, moving in behind the desk to put more things between us. I didn't want him to see how anxious the mention of my sister's health made me. "She's still the same...but we'll travel soon."

"You won't stay?" he asked.

I let out a hollow laugh. I had an entire box filled with unanswered letters that had been written to Dylana from her sisters. It was only a matter of time before someone who knew her would come to visit. "If you were in my place, would you?"

He took a step into the room. "Where will you go?"

I mimed locking my lips and throwing away the key.

He advanced into the centre of the room. It was too difficult for me to bear to look at his face, so I focused me gaze on his shoulder. "Are you fine with leaving things the way they are?"

"Of course I am, as long as I have Marin I—"

"I meant between us, Yael." I didn't expect the tremor in his voice to pass through my ears right to my soul.

"I..."

"Because I'm not," he said and lowered himself to his knees.

"What are you doing?" I asked in an anxious whisper.

"I'm begging for your forgiveness. I should've trusted you and instead I did everything to protect only myself."

"Waryn, stop. You were right to—"

"You were telling the truth. That night, when you said you loved me, you weren't lying, were you?"

"I...I wasn't lying..." I said, defeated. I could save face in front of anyone, but Waryn made my shell crumble.

He sat on his heels, his eyes moist, looking boyish and exposed. "If you still love me," he said, wistfully. "Don't live without me."

"Waryn..." He was making this difficult. I couldn't live with him, I had to leave him, and everything else, behind.

Even if regret would make my life bitter, I would someday learn how to heal.

But then he said the four words I never thought I'd hear, "Take me with you."

"What?"

"Take me with you, Yael," he said. He rose to his feet, and moved towards the table. "I've had enough of schemes and wars, of spies and riddles and assassins and hostages. These squabbles for power will never end. The powerful will never be content with what they have, they'll always want more, chasing after their own greed without any thought toward the devastation they leave in their wake."

He pressed his palms to the oak surface of the desk that was now the only thing that separated us. "I've lived it for only eighteen years and I've had enough."

"But...you're the Lord Eloroan now," I said. "Who will rule Lamoni?"

"My mother will govern it at first and then..." he shrugged. "I have a younger brother, he can have it when he grows. I don't care. What difference does it make who stands on top? It doesn't have to be me."

"But... Nava needs you."

"She never needed me," he said. "And she has Leah by her side, always."

"It can be difficult to live as no one," I said.

"Not if you know what it means to live here," he said.

"But you don't know anything about... about anything."

Waryn drew his head back, looking mildly offended. "I'll have you know I'm quite well read."

"I mean, the basic work of life. Life means toil, Waryn, from the morning till the night. I'll have enough gold to get a holding from a lord. I'll have to look out for our livelihood and Marin... she's...not well yet. I won't be your servant."

"All this work, can I do it with you?"

I twisted my mouth.

"We'll buy a vineyard, somewhere far from here," he said. "You can teach me how to make wine while you make masks for the locals, and we can both look after Marin, together, until she gets better. I don't need a servant."

"I don't want you to grow to resent me for giving up everything you have," I said. It was a relief that someone thought Marin would heal with time. Emil continued to feed her serum, but something wasn't right and I was scared, terrified, that what had been done to her couldn't be reversed.

Waryn edged around the table with a small smile on his lips. I wouldn't look at him directly, so he sat on the table, forcing me to meet his eye.

I tried to look away, but he moved his head to smile at me from a different direction.

An unladylike snort escaped me.

"Let me come with you as far as you can stand me," he said.

"That might be very far."

I couldn't resist the urge to touch him again, to finally touch him.

I slid my arms under his, pressing my head to his shoulder. He instantly closed his arms around me and for a moment there was nothing but his scent and warmth.

He kissed my hair. "The farther, the better."

The End

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you so much for reading and putting up with me. I hope this book lived up to your expectations!

This is definitely one of my darker projects, but spies and the things that surround them are really the darker stories that happen in our reality. I didn't want to sugarcoat or romanticise something that uses people's pain and secrets against them. I've served in intelligence in the army and hated it, but it helped fuel my inspiration for this book.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and CRITICISM. You don't have to like or agree with everything I've done. And you don't need to fear sharing your thoughts with me. I know a lot of authors on Wattpad don't like to hear anything negative about their work, but for me, personally, understanding the spectrum of the reaction to my book, even if I don't agree with everything, is always food for thought and something to be considered to better my work in the future.

ANYWAY!

This is a very shaggy version of me lovingly waving goodbye:

♥️
Einaty