The Obsidian Throne

by Michelle Soper

  Chapter 23

  Wyatt thought the knocking he heard was coming from his pounding head at first, but then realized it was Addi at his bedroom door. “What?” he mumbled, still drowning in feelings of distress and heartbreak.

  Addi threw open the door. “Come on, if we hurry, we can surely catch up to her before morning,” she speculated, pulling Wyatt into a sitting position.

  Wyatt’s head sank. “She is gone, Addi. Just leave me be,” he protested, sounding lost.

  Addi grabbed his face in her hand and made him look at her. “You made a promise to this girl?” she queried in a serious tone.

  “Yeah,” Wyatt concurred, sighing heavily.

  “And you love her? Truly love her?” she asked, refusing to let Wyatt look away from her.

  “Yes, but what does any of that matter?” he countered. His voice was steeped in despair.

  Addi stood up and threw his pack at him. “Love is all that matters. It’s why I volunteered to keep you safe all those years ago, and it’s why you are going to get up and go look for her. It’s also why I’m going to help you. Even though I may think it’s crazy,” she decreed, tapping her foot and sounding impatient. “Besides, I would never be able to live with all your moping. I mean seriously, look at yourself. So, let’s go, we are wasting time.”

  Wyatt felt a flicker of hope rapidly ignite inside him. Just maybe. I have to try, he thought. He felt ashamed of himself for giving up so quickly. Never again, he promised. He stood up and threw his pack on his back. He grabbed the fabric Nev had placed on his pillow and tied it to his belt loop. “We need to hurry. I don’t know how or why, but I can sense her, at least for now,” he instructed, as he rushed out the front door.

  Addi checked to make sure her crossbow was secure and grabbed her pack. “Alright, which way?” she inquired as they stepped outside into the night air.

  Wyatt closed his eyes and rubbed the piece of Nev’s fabric between his fingers. Where are you, he asked. Suddenly, he felt it. It was like a faint pulse beating in the distance. “This way,” he directed, running.

  Chapter 24

  Preferring to avoid the bustle of the city during the day, General Razine arrived in Birclan in the dead of night. He had sent word to his top operative in the area to meet him. Razine lamented the days when the Obsidian Order had handled all special assignments for the one ruling Obsidia, instead of the Shadow’s Hand. He had always found the order to be honorable. However, Malicus had seen them disbanded due to what he claimed was a ‘total failure.’ Failure or not, at least they didn’t make Razine’s skin crawl the way prowlers always did.

  Despite him not enjoying being in the presence of prowlers, he was anxiously awaiting Sagrine’s arrival. Razine needed to hear from Sagrine himself what had happened in Serenity Falls. The Shadow’s Hand was supposed to be his organization, but he often suspected that the true loyalty of all prowlers lay elsewhere. That thought fueled his suspicions as to why the prowler had not reported in for almost a month. Still, he would give Sagrine one chance to explain himself.

  Suspecting this situation was what the Oracle had alluded to, he needed to find out for certain what had happened. Thus, Razine checked in at the inn’s best room and retired for the evening. With a thick sense of anticipation, he began his wait for the operative that was due in the next day or two. Until that time, he had plenty of reports to sift through. Pouring himself a glass of his favorite red wine, he got to work. His duties would help focus his mind and prepare him for whatever news Sagrine brought him.

  Chapter 25

  Wyatt and Addi quickly made their way outside of the city. As they traveled the alleyways, whispered rumors stirred of someone high up the chain of command arriving soon. Perhaps their impromptu decision to leave tonight was wiser than they had realized. It would undoubtedly behoove them to not cross paths with any emperors or generals.

  As they reached the outskirts of the city, Wyatt became less certain which way Nev had gone. Remorse and fear were clouding his ability to sense her. He kept second-guessing himself as doubt ate at him.

  Addi saw his hesitation and grabbed his shoulder, “Wyatt, you can do this,” she assured him.

  “I can’t,” he rebuked. “I feel Nev slipping farther away.”

  “Remember when we were little, and we would play hide-and-seek? You always found me, despite me picking the best hiding spots. How did you do it?” she inquired in the hopes of jogging his memory.

  Wyatt nodded. Using his gifts so rarely before meeting Nev, he had forgotten. Now he suddenly remembered like it was yesterday. Wyatt closed his eyes and concentrated on the energies and particles that were constantly present around him. He could feel them as they bounced and swirled in endless serene waves. Sometimes, however, their movements were abrupt. Like when someone ran through them with great urgency. Then he saw it. It was like a road of lights, and it all pointed the same way—towards the lake. Sure, it could have been caused by something or someone else, but he knew it wasn’t. Nev had been through here. Droplets of her scent still clung to the air, and he could feel the faint pulse of their connection beginning to hum louder as his misgivings faded. “This way,” he stated with growing conviction, while he took off running.

  Dawn was just beginning to breach the horizon, and Wyatt pushed himself to move even quicker. He knew they needed to reach Nev before she started moving away again or before danger found her. “At least you aren’t a morning person,” he joked. Within a few minutes, they came to the shore of Lake Abanyss, and Wyatt scanned the horizon for any sign of her.

  Addi was walking down the shoreline towards something that had caught her eye. It was a derelict boathouse and dock. They were the only structures nearby, and Addi hoped they had drawn Nev’s attention the way they had hers. “Wyatt!” she hollered.

  Wyatt ran to catch up with Addi. “I don’t see her or her trail, but I can feel her somewhere nearby,” he stated, sounding distressed.

  “Maybe that is because she took a boat,” she suggested, pointing at fresh drag marks on the shore.

  Wyatt sighed. “Maybe, but how do we follow her if she did?” he asked before indicating the distinct lack of boats.

  Addi scanned the area. In the tall grass surrounding this side of the lake, she spotted the nose of a canoe. “Here!” she shouted as she took off into the grass.

  Wyatt helped her pull the boat towards the shore. “Umm, not that I’m not appreciative of your resourcefulness. But, are we sure this is going to float?” he asked, gesturing towards a large hole in the bow of the canoe and a large crack down the starboard side.

  “It will float, enough. Plus, you can still swim, right?” Addi asked.

  Wyatt let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I can still swim,” he replied as a memory flashed in his mind.

  Addi and Wyatt pushed the canoe into the water and swiftly climbed in. Wyatt had managed to find two oars; one wasn’t even broken. They paddled straight out from where the drag marks had been. After many long minutes, the shape of a boat came into view.

  “Maybe she is still sleeping,” Addi suggested, after seeing the lack of a person’s silhouette within the nearing boat.

  Wyatt chuckled a bit, “If she is in that boat, which I think… which I know she is, then she is definitely still sleeping. She almost always hates mornings,” he noted.

  “Almost always?” Addi inquired.

  “In my experience, she always hates them. Unless you are in a cave. Then you have a 50/50 shot at her being a morning person,” he explained, grinning to himself.

  “Umm… good to know,” Addi reckoned, feeling like she had missed some part of an inside joke.

  Wyatt pulled their canoe up next to the dinghy gently before leaning in and reaching a hand down inside the boat. Touching Nev’s face lightly, he whispered, “Rise and shine.”

  Nev blinked the sleep from her eyes and saw Wyatt’s face. She rubbed her eyes and opened them again, but she still saw him.

  “Good morning, beautiful,�
�� Wyatt marveled, with a warm smile.

  “Wyatt?” Nev asked, shakily.

  “Afraid so. You didn’t think I had forgotten my promise, did you? Besides, what kind of man would I be not to chase after the woman I love… and who loves me back,” he queried while grinning at her.

  Nev sat up and just blinked at him again. She was still trying to believe what she was seeing and hearing. “But I was certain you… you hated me. Or at least that you would,” she countered before staring out to the horizon.

  Wyatt climbed into Nev’s boat carefully and took her face in his hands. “I love you. I could never hate you. And, lest you forget, I promised to not let go. I’ll never break my promises, not to you,” he vowed before kissing her deeply.

  Nev wrapped her hands around his neck and then wrapped a single curl around her finger. Desperate for his reassurance, she pulled him closer to her. Kissing him, she ignored the rocking of the dinghy.

  “Umm, I hate to interrupt. But I would prefer to get into a boat with far fewer holes and cracks in it,” Addi interjected, pointing towards the large hole in the bow of the canoe.

  Wyatt quickly glanced over at Addi and laughed. “Have a sinking feeling, do you?” he jested.

  Addi groaned and climbed into the dinghy carefully.

  Wyatt looked at Nev and Addi. “Well, this has been an exciting evening. Nev, you and I should chat about why disappearing on me is not such a great thing, but that can wait for now. First, I think I am going to take a nap. It seems reuniting with your sister and chasing down the woman you love is exhausting work,” he surmised before laying down in the bottom of the boat. Wyatt had everything he cared about in the whole world sitting in that dinghy with him, and he would be looking forward to the dreams he had this time. In a matter of moments, Wyatt had fallen soundly asleep.

  Nev nodded, picked up the oars, and then paused a moment. “Addi, I’m really sorry about what has happened to you. It is truly horrible. I just want you to know… well, I am going to try and make it right,” she promised, giving Addi a quick smile before starting to row the boat across the lake and away from Birclan.

  “Thanks. And I am sorry too. I was too harsh earlier,” regretted Addi, sounding sorrowful.

  “No worries,” Nev replied.

  “No worries,” Addi repeated, smiling to herself. There was only one other person that had ever said that to her. Oh, Wyatt. You couldn’t have just brought home a nice typical girl from town, could you? Nope. Not my brother. You just had to make things interesting and bring home a… a princess, she said, laughing to herself quietly. Addi lay down at the bottom of the boat and closed her eyes. I wonder what kind of princess you will prove to be, and if you truly love my brother as much as he seems to love you, she thought, as she fell asleep.

  Chapter 26

  Through a steady drizzle of rain, Nev had pushed herself to row the boat sluggishly toward the horizon for the past two hours. She could finally just make out the shoreline in the distance. Wyatt and Addi still slept peacefully in the hull of the dinghy, and Nev was intent on letting them continue to slumber until they reached the shore. They deserve to rest, she thought. Despite the rain gradually slowing since dawn, the morning sun was struggling to penetrate the evening’s lingering chill. Unfortunately, Nev found the perpetually damp, cool air less of a relief than she hoped.

  Her shoulder had been aching even before Wyatt and Addi reached her, but she’d pushed herself to ignore it. Now, it was on fire. The chilly air was no longer doing anything to alleviate her pain. With her shoulder now screaming at her to halt her rowing, Nev silently rested the oars against the boat. She rubbed her shoulder lightly, hoping to alleviate at least a little of the pain. When she pulled her hand back, however, she let out an audible gasp at the sight of blood. She suddenly had an intense urge to see her wound, as the visions of it gaping open pushed into her mind. Instantly, Nev felt compelled to prove to herself that it wasn’t that bad.

  She carefully and easily unclasped her cloak and let it slide behind her, but the chainmail shirt would prove much more challenging to remove. She got her good arm out and clear but moaned with pain as she tried to slide the shirt off her head. Sighing heavily, as she tried to figure a way out of her current predicament that did not involve waking the others.

  Wyatt’s sleepy mind thought he heard or felt Nev hurting, and he pushed himself to wake up. He blinked a few times and rubbed his face as he worked to focus his eyes. “Nev, what’s wrong?” he inquired, still sounding sleepy.

  “It’s…,” she whispered with hesitation.

  Wyatt sat up and looked at her. For a moment, he almost laughed out loud at her dilemma, but then the reason for it dawned on him. “Your shoulder,” he stated, suddenly overwhelmed by concern and guilt.

  Nev nodded. “I wanted to get you and Addi to shore before you had to wake up, but it hurts. And it started bleeding. So, I thought if I could just look at it… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Then I could just make myself keep going,” she explained, her voice trembling a bit.

  “Bleeding? But it was getting better. Nev, you should have said something. You should have reminded me,” he bemoaned emphatically, before shaking his head and sighing. “No, that’s not fair. I should’ve remembered,” he sighed again and moved to carefully help her remove her shirt.

  “I just wanted to let you sleep. You deserve at least that much for everything I keep putting you through,” Nev whispered, looking at him before hanging her head down. “But Wyatt, it really hurts.”

  Wyatt nodded and cupped her cheek with his hand. He briefly ran his thumb lightly over her mouth before smiling at her. “Hey, you. First, you are not putting me through anything. I want to be here… with you. Secondly, it is going to be okay. One of these days, however, you and I are going to play healer the right way,” he reassured, nudging her good shoulder lightly and winking.

  Nev nodded and then grimaced as Wyatt began to remove the bandages. She could see the ones that he dropped in the boat were stained bright red.

  Addi stretched and opened her eyes. “Why have we stopped?” she asked. Spying Wyatt kneeling in front of Nev and the chainmail shirt on the floor of the boat, Addi sighed. “Really? I’m right here,” she grumbled, sounding annoyed.

  Wyatt glanced at Addi, shook his head briefly, and then returned his focus to Nev’s shoulder.

  Addi moved to get a better look at what had Wyatt so focused and gasped at the sight of Nev’s wound. She quickly began to pull supplies from her pack and watched Wyatt work. He’d always had a gift for treating injuries, and Addi often wondered if that was true of all Tinks. If perhaps the way they saw the world differently helped them see ways to mend injuries that others couldn’t. Or maybe her brother had an actual gift for something besides annoying her. She smiled briefly to herself and then focused on assisting Wyatt.

  “You’ve torn your wound open again and in two places this time,” Wyatt explained, sighing heavily. “I can…,” he paused as Nev shifted with discomfort. Wyatt looked at her and waited for his gaze to catch hers before smiling warmly. He then went back to working on her shoulder. “I can close it again, but you really, really need to take it easy for at least the next few days,” he suggested firmly but lovingly.

  Nev nodded before whispering, “I will.”

  Wyatt looked up at her and placed a hand on her cheek. He rubbed his fingers gently along the other wound he had recently mended. “I mean it, Nev,” he repeated earnestly.

  “I know. Me too,” Nev replied, her voice hushed and sincere.

  Wyatt’s sincerity in his request settled heavily in Nev’s heart. She could tell he was truly worried about her shoulder. Beyond that, he was also becoming increasingly concerned about her. Nev had been wrestling with the same thought ever since she faced Sagrine. She had not expected it to be an easy fight, but she didn’t think she would be so outmatched. Since then, she’d tried to convince herself that she had done well enough to hold her ground at all. She knew the truth of it, how
ever. Had Wyatt not done whatever it was he’d done to save her, then she and he would be dead or worse right now. She watched Wyatt work and made a vow to herself and him. I will make it right, but we will also be careful, she promised.

  “Alright. Well, try not to wiggle too much. You really did a number on it this time. I don’t suppose you have some plant stowed away that would help with your shoulder or know where we can find some, do you?” Wyatt asked, hoping she had just forgotten she had something tucked away.

  “No. I don’t have anything. I had been looking for some elder root to make a salve, but with the rain… it’s practically impossible to find,” Nev answered, lost in thought. Her inability to find it and her wound’s severity had been what pushed her to Serenity Falls. To Wyatt. Nev suddenly found herself feeling strangely appreciative of the unrelenting rain.

  “Well, it was worth a shot. Hmm… it occurs to me that once your shoulder heals a little more, I should find you a proper shirt. You know, one with two sleeves,” Wyatt suggested smiling. Once he finished closing and bandaging Nev’s shoulder, he rinsed his hands off in the lake water and gave the remaining supplies back to Addi to put away. Then, rather than attempting to put Nev’s chainmail shirt back on her, he carefully folded it and put it away in her pack. As he moved to untie the fabric Nev had left on his pillow, he felt her hand on his.

  “Keep it, please,” Nev requested softly.

  “Are you sure?” Wyatt asked, scanning her for reassurance.

  “Yes, very. I want you to have it,” she assured, smiling at him.

  “Very well, my lady,” he replied, leaning in to kiss her forehead.