by Megg Jensen
A man sat atop the horse’s strong back, his legs grasping tight to the horse’s barrel, reminding Tressa of her own legs wrapped around Bastian a few short hours ago.
A blush spread across her face. It wasn’t shame; it was anticipation for what lie ahead.
Bastian drew his sword, his other arm hovering in front of Tressa.
Tressa eyed the man. He didn’t wear all black like the soldiers who’d taken and killed Connor. His dark hair was cut short. A mustache graced his upper lip and a friendly twinkle sparkled in his eyes. No, he wasn’t here to harm them. A simple passerby, perhaps.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said, his voice steady and non-threatening.
A shape swooped from above and landed on Tressa’s shoulder. “Nerak!” She reached up and ruffled the owl’s feathers.
The man chuckled and slipped off his horse. Bastian still hadn’t lowered his weapon, his muscles as tense as ever.
Tressa rested a hand on his arm. “If he’s with Nerak, I’m sure he’s okay.”
“You don’t know that,” Bastian said. “She may have led us out of the fog, but she also took us straight toward Stacia’s army.”
A shadow fell across the man’s face. “Stacia is our enemy. She may be the queen,” his eyes were downcast, but filled with fire, “but she’s had us under her thumb for too long. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Nerak dug into Tressa’s shoulder. “You have the wrong people,” she said. “We’ve only recently arrived here. We’re not from this land.”
“I’d know my own daughter anywhere.” He reached out his hand.
Before he could connect with her trembling cheek, Bastian’s arm shot out, blocking him.
“Don’t touch her,” he warned.
The man pulled his hand back, unruffled. “Are the two of you coupled?” The man lowered his eyes to their partially dressed bodies. He’d managed to avoid making their lack of clothes an issue until that moment.
“Yes,” Bastian said, “since she first pulled my ribbon from the basket.”
The man nodded. “Congratulations, Tressa, for finding a man who cares for you. It’s unusual when marriage is left to fate and reproduction.”
Tressa’s mouth hung, slack. He knew her name.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Bastian whispered in her ear. “He could have been sent by Stacia.”
Tressa ignored his breath on her cheek, giving her full attention to the man in front of her. She didn’t remember her father. He’d left when she was only a babe, leaving her to Granna’s care. He knew disappearing into the fog was a death sentence. No one ever returned. No one lived.
She, Bastian, and Connor had proven them wrong. There was life beyond the fog. If they could survive, why couldn’t her father?
Nerak’s talons dug into her again. Truth. Believe.
But if he lived, why didn’t he ever come back for her and Granna? Her heart tugged at the thought. It was the same decision Bastian made. To stay with her. Not to run back the first chance he got.
“I couldn’t find my way back,” the man said, answering her unasked question. Her father, if she believed him. “I tried. I failed. And I wasn’t the first. There’s a small community of us in the forest.”
“And Stacia lets you live?”
He sighed and looked over his shoulder. “She doesn’t know we’re there. Unlike Hutton’s Bridge, which everyone knows about, she doesn’t realize some of us escaped. We remain hidden.”
“We should at least go to his village,” Tressa said, despite her trepidation. “Where else can we go, Bastian?”
Bastian’s eyes narrowed. She knew he didn’t believe a word the man said. She wasn’t sure she did either. They had no options other than to wander.
The man shook his head. “You’re Bastian? Incredible! Your mother, Jayne, lives in the community.” He laughed. “I should have seen the resemblance. You have the same eyes.”
Bastian swung his gaze to the man. “My mother is dead.”
“No, she’s not. She left six years after I did. I know because I found her bloodied at the edge of the forest, alone. The other two people with her died in the fog. By some miracle, she found her way out. Do you remember her?”
Bastian nodded slowly. Tressa could only image the pain flooding through him. She’d never known her father. He was but another story of Granna’s. Bastian was a small child when his mother was chosen. Tressa remembered the way he clung to the edge of her skirt, weeping, begging her not to go.
She had patted him on the head, urging him to be brave. She promised she’d see him again. For the first year he stood at the edge of the fog every spare moment, waiting for her to come back. When she didn’t, he withdrew into himself even more. He shunned everyone but Tressa and Connor, leaving the rest of the village behind before he’d ever had the chance to cross the fog.
“We will follow you,” Bastian finally said. “If you’re lying, I’ll gut you.”
“Fair enough,” the man said. He looked at Tressa. “Would you like to ride?”
The beast huffed a warm breath out its nostrils and pawed the ground with its hooves. She shook her head. “I think I’ll walk.”
“We all will.” He took the lead in his hand. “Follow me. We must hurry before day breaks and Stacia’s people find us.”
They walked in silence for a few moments when he spoke again. “I’m sorry about your friend.”
“How do you know about Connor?” Tressa asked. Bastian stalked silently next to her, lost in his thoughts.
“I was in town when they called for everyone to repent. I saw the whole thing. The two of you were obviously not from the town. Your hair, your clothes, everything was wrong. It’s not unusual for Stacia to bring in outsiders. Her riders frequently catch people from other kingdoms near our borders. But I knew that was not the case with the two of you.”
“How?” she asked.
“Because when I saw you, I thought I was looking at the wife I had who’d died in childbirth. You could be her twin, Tressa.” He sniffled tears back. Whether it was from manly pride or good self-control, Tressa didn’t know, but she was glad he did. Enough tears had been spilled.
Bastian stalked ahead of them, mumbling something about scouting. Tressa let him go. Typical Bastian. He would need time to sort through his feelings, ones he likely would repress until he could see the woman the man claimed was Bastian’s mother.
“Why did you say you’d been looking for us?” The word “father” had been on the tip of her tongue. She didn’t dare utter it. Not yet. There was more proving to be done before she’d allow herself.
“Every year, on the day three are sent into the fog, we send out a scouting party. We wait five days, no more, no less for survivors. I wasn’t looking for you, specifically. I never hoped to see you again.”
Tressa glowered at him.
He held up his free hand. “Before you judge, hear me out. I know about the horrors in the fog. I lived through them, by some miracle. I never wanted you to face them, Tressa. I hoped for a long, happy life in Hutton’s Bridge with a husband you could tolerate, and maybe love, and many children.”
The pit in her heart grew wider at the mention of children. Being barren was a black mark on her value as a human in Hutton’s Bridge. But now, with Bastian in this new place, where success didn’t depend fully on the fertility of each woman, Tressa hoped the chasm would heal itself.
“Speaking of children, if you are coupled and bonded, where are your children?” His eyebrows crinkled together. “They never send a couple out to the fog. The leaders were never so cruel. Why are the two of you here? What became of your family?”
“It is only the two of us,” Tressa said, her voice low and steady. She didn’t know him, or have any measure of his compassion to their situation. Nor did she particularly want to explain it to him. What lay between her heart and Bastian’s was theirs alone. It was too precious to give it over to a veritable stranger for judgment.
“I’m sorry.” He patted her arm. “I know what it is like to lose someone I love.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I left you behind. I was grief-stricken when your mother died.”
“Granna raised me just fine.” Tressa couldn’t imagine another upbringing. Granna had loved her completely and she in return. She’d wondered about her father, but never missed him.
“How is my grandmother?” he asked, laughing. “She was so spirited, I swore she’d never die.”
Tressa’s voice lowered. “She died only a few days ago. There’s a plague overtaking the village.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“Now you know why we must find our way through the fog and back to the village as soon as possible.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that.”
“What? Then why search for survivors each year?” She was confused. “Have you given up on Hutton’s Bridge?”
“All will be explained when we arrive at the village. I promise, what we have to tell you will make sense. Just give us a chance.”
Tressa looked ahead for Bastian. His red hair stood out among the tall, green grass. She wanted to go back for her people. She wasn’t sure Bastian would agree.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Before the sun lit the tops of the trees, they arrived in the village. Bastian kept his hand on the pommel of his sword, still convinced treachery might await them. The man knew too much and exactly how to leash their hearts to his will. Despite wanting to kill him and move on with Tressa, the boy in Bastian had to know the truth.
Was his mother still alive? Had she kept her promise to see him again? And would he even recognize the woman who’d been elevated to ultimate perfection in his mind?
Despite the law not to bear arms, for years he’d trained with the sword in private. It had been his goal to go into the fog and find his mother. Bring her back. Everyone thought he belonged in the forge because of his strength. Little did they know the strength came from the secret training, driven by only one goal.
When he began to look at Tressa as more than just a playmate and friend, his focus shifted to protecting her. The lengths he went to save her from the fog were successful, until the last choosing. Someone thwarted his efforts, rigged the game. He swore if he ever found out who, they’d die by his hand. Slowly. Painfully.
He volunteered to go with her, only to be with her in the moment she died. He never suspected, not for a moment, that they’d take another breath in the fog. It was a death sentence. If it wasn’t, his mother would have come back for him. Wouldn’t she?
Inside a thick copse of trees far away from the road stood four cottages. Crudely constructed, but his sharp eye told him they were more solid than they appeared. A trick for the casual onlooker. In fact, the entire settlement appeared abandoned. The stones surrounding the fire pit listed to the side, sloppy and forlorn. Bastian sauntered over to it. Just as he suspected – the fire had been put out with water, ashes scattered. It looked old. It was only another well-constructed illusion.
“The trees block the firelight in the evening. At least most of it. We’re very cautious.”
Bastian didn’t turn around to see whose voice it was. He already knew. It was the same one that had sung to him every night before bed when he was afraid of monsters lurking in dark corners. The same voice that had soothed him when he tripped and skinned his knee. The same voice that had promised she would be back for him.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Light as a feather, but weighted with so many bittersweet memories and unresolved expectations.
“Mother,” he said, turning around.
“You used to call me Mama.” A tentative smile graced her face. She’d once had a full head of red hair. Now silver strands of hair reflected the sunlight. A few more wrinkles than he remembered had settled around her eyes. Other than that, she was the same woman whose skirts he hid behind when kids more clever and quick of tongue teased him.
“You didn’t come back.” Childish? Perhaps. What else was to be expected around his mother? “I don’t know you as I once did.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to get back. After what I went through in the fog, nearly losing my life half a dozen times to beasts I couldn’t see…” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t even remember how I ended up outside the fog. Fenn, Tressa’s father, he found me and carried me here. I woke up in that cottage,” she pointed to the first one on the left, “and began life anew. It was months before I could use my arm again. Even now it’s not as it was.” She shrugged, a smile on her face. “It’s enough, though. It’s far better than being dead.”
Bastian reached out, pulling his mother into his arms. The last time he’d seen her, he fit into her embrace, but now it was the opposite. He held her as if she were the child and he the adult. Her small stature surprised him. She’d always seemed like such a giant, her personality more boisterous than anyone else. Now he knew it was to make up for her petite size.
“I missed you, Mama.” Bastian rested his chin on her head. “I waited for you. Every day for years.”
She rubbed his back. “I know. I thought of you every day, too. I still do. Even this morning, I woke up and said a prayer for your safety and happiness.”
He pulled back, releasing her from his embrace, and becoming an adult again. “Do you remember Flora? She had a son named Connor?”
His mother nodded. “Of course. You two played together as babies.”
“He was captured after we emerged from the fog. Taken to the city and sacrificed to what we believe was a dragon.”
Her hands flew to her mouth, trembling. “Not another.”
Bastian’s eyebrows furrowed. “Another? This is a common occurrence?”
She shook her head. “Every year, they sacrifice a man to the beast. We don’t know why. We’ve been attempting to find out, but no one knows unless they are in the queen’s inner circle.” Jayne put her hand on Bastian’s back. “Come, let’s join the others by the fire. They will tell you more. I’m a relative newcomer to the village.”
“But you’ve been here for close to fifteen years.”
Her eyes sought out the grass in front of them. The scent of the fire beckoned them closer. Bastian’s mouth watered at the thought of a hot meal. All they’d managed to eat was what had been left in their packs after leaving Hutton’s Bridge.
“There aren’t many of us, Bastian. Only a handful. We haven’t seen a survivor from our village in ten years. To find you alive was more than we could have ever hoped for.”
“Thanks to that little owl.” Bastian pointed at Tressa. She’d already relaxed around her father, warming to him quickly. Tressa was always like that, even though she insisted she was a shy girl. Bastian envied her social skills. He didn’t particularly like talking to people – mainly because he didn’t like most people. Even if Tressa didn’t like someone, she could still put them at ease. “When she sits on Tressa, her eyes glow purple.”
His mother looked at him in surprise. “Whose eyes?”
“Tressa’s.” He glanced back her. She looked over her shoulder and waved. A year ago he would have killed for her to acknowledge him even once. Now she was his again. Or at least she was last night. There were no guarantees anymore.
“Really? That’s odd.” His mother looked at the owl again.
Bastian held back a laugh. “Do you really expect her to respond?”
“No,” Jayne laughed. “Of course not.”
Bastian waved his hand in the air. “The owl saved our lives. I didn’t trust her, but now,” he looked around again at the small village, “I’m convinced.”
“I’m sorry Stacia got to you first.” His mother laid a hand on his arm. “We were watching, but it was too late.”
Bastian was going to respond that it wasn’t her fault until Tressa waved to him, motioning them over to the fire. She held a bread bowl in her hands and took a giant slurp from it. “It’s vegetable stew. Your favorite!”
Had she forgotten anything from their time together? He still knew the cut of her underthings and the little noise she made when he nipped at her neck. Also that freesia was her favorite scent. But her favorite food? He was hard pressed to remember. She always seemed to like everything he brought her.
Tressa scooted on the log, patting the spot next to her. Bastian swung a leg over and straddled the log next to her. He slid in, wrapping an arm around her waist. She didn’t flinch like he’d feared. Instead she snuggled closer and raised the bread bowl to his lips. “Have some,” she whispered.
The warm liquid streamed down his throat, filling his stomach.
Fenn laughed. “Even after a few years together, they act like a newly coupled pair.”
Bastian looked at Tressa out of the corner of his eye. She didn’t deny it, so neither would he. Instead, Tressa laid a heavy kiss on his cheek. “We’ve loved each other since we were children. I hope our feelings never change.”
“I saw that, even when you were very young. The two of you always had a special connection. Perhaps Sophia manipulated the Coupling. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Jayne winked at Fenn. “I seem to remember you ending up with the one you wanted as well.”
A haunted smile fell over Fenn’s face. “It’s true. I’m sure my grandmother had a hand in our chance to couple. I’m just lucky we were able to conceive.” He glanced at Tressa. “It wasn’t until our last night together that your mother became pregnant with you. The day before she was to choose another ribbon, three months to the day of our last time together, it was confirmed that she was pregnant.” He let out a deep sigh. “I just wish she would have lived long enough to see you smile the first time.”
“I’m sorry, Papa.” Tressa tasted the sweet word on her lips for the first time. She reached over and patted his arm. “Granna always told me how hard it was for you after she died. It was as if a part of you died too.”
