Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 65

"You didn't answer my question, you know," she sighed.

He didn't. Jai wanted to avoid it at all costs, but that didn't seem like it would work with this fierce woman in front of him, strong in her own unique way.

"I didn't, did I?" He shook his head. "No doubt Lyv will try everything in her power to save him, but he already knows nothing will work. She's stubborn, though."

"Damn right, she is," Merek snorted...and then quickly looked down at the half-asleep Balian who he held to make sure he didn't hear and start repeating the curse.

The little boy wiggled in his hold, wrapping his arms tight around Merek's neck. "Daddy, can we go to bed now?"

Evelien lifted a hand to rub up and down Balian's back before kissing the side of his head. "You go to sleep, my love, and have the sweetest of dreams. I will see you in the morning, all right?" As he nodded, Evelien leaned in to give Merek a kiss. "I'm going to stay out here a while longer. I'll be inside in a little bit with Imrie."

Merek nodded to his wife and then to Jai as he stuck out his hand. "We'll talk more tomorrow about what's to come."

Jai grasped it tight, shaking it. "Of course."

As Merek disappeared with Balian inside their tent, Evelien shifted little Imrie in her arms and sat down on some canvas covered supplies that were stacked just a few feet away. She patted the place next to her and Jai let out a sigh before joining her. Imrie let out a small cry as her eyes opened and landed on her mother, who quickly got her to quiet.

"My heart aches for Lyv, Ada, Sora, and Rhea," Evelien said quietly to him then. "For everyone in the royal family...you included. What's happening to Bence, how it happened..." She shook her head. "I hate it for them. I hate that it's come to this."

"Bence knew what would happen once Guinevere and Corliss finally made it to the capital. He was prepared...but didn't want anyone to mourn over him when he was still well and whole. But now..."

"Now they're going to try everything in their power to cure him, even with the inevitable," she finished for him. "He's still not going to make it, is he?"

Jai's silence was answer enough for her.

The two of them were quiet for a few minutes, listening to the shouts and demands from the ship's captain and crew, the water hitting the sides of it as they continued forward, and the slapping of the sails above them. The day was quickly heading toward night, though they still had at least a few more hours of daylight. And now that they were out from under the shadowed skies of Escarral, they were finally able to see the sun and the blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. Something that should have allowed them to have at least some happy thoughts, but hardly did.

"So, how was the journey to the coast?" Jai asked then, wanting to make conversation that would take his mind somewhere else.

Evelien smiled and laughed slightly. "No run-ins with anything, thank the gods. But still, traveling with children is always eventful, even if it's just an hour long. But we're here now, aren't we?"

"We are...and you're heading to a land none of you have set foot on."

"But it's a land that is welcoming us in and giving us safety and comfort when our own has been lost to us," Evelien said after a long pause. She sniffled and looked up at Jai with a grateful smile. "Thank you for this, Jai. For helping to get as many people out of Escarral as you could. I don't know how we're ever going to repay not only you, but the people of Dalcaine for opening their home and hearts to us all."