The blazing sun was entirely too much to bear. It'd been nearly an hour of dragging themselves up this damn road. Emery's feet were blistered and sore. She hated this.
A blue van zoomed past them, making Emery even madder at their situation. She stopped, kicked her bike's stand down, and angrily smacked away the sweaty hair that'd stuck on her face.
"This is dumb, let's just rent a fucking car already," she nagged. She tied her hair back into a messy bun, only to have half the strands fall out of it from being too short.
Lila, who was just a few feet ahead, stopped and sighed. "I told you, we can't rent a car. It's better to have something that can't be tracked down."
"What if it's months? Are you really willing to take an hour-long bike ride every week for six measly bags of groceries? Because I'm not!" She waved at the basket of her bike, where three bags were full to the brim of drinking water and canned goods.
"We're almost to the house anyway, come on." The blonde resumed pushing the bike up the hill, then took a left toward a small dirt road.
'House' . . . Sure . . .
They walked past a few overgrown bushes, and tall grass, until a small cabin came into view. A one-room cottage with barely a bathroom and half a kitchen.
There was a mattress and a sofa. After an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Emery would keep the couch. The strain in Emery's lower back, a result of a loose spring under the mattresses less than comfy cushions, was driving her crazy.
It's safe to say she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"I'm just saying . . ." she continued.
"And never stop saying. . . ."
"Poppy called to say she visited Bellenau a few days ago. Theo hasn't been anywhere near the town, nor the army you keep saying he'll bring. It's been nearly two weeks already. He's not going to invade."
"Or maybe he's hiding out until we come back."
"Or maybe he's looking for us, to join us, and has no idea where we went."
Lila sighed and grabbed the bags from her basket as well as Emery's. "Let's give it one more week, then we'll call Mave and Mel. We'll consider going back then."
Yes! A win! She knew if she'd break eventually. Emery jumped in joy and ran to open the door for her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Don't thank me yet. It's just a maybe," Lila tried to put a dander on her mood, but she wasn't having it.
She waited until Lila walked in and then leaned on the weak, wooden railing the shack had on its porch. The wood groaned under the pressure of her palms, so she eased away a bit. A small jay flew by, landing merely a foot away from Emery. It seemed to study her for a second before taking flight once more, disappearing through the thick branches of oak trees.
Her mouth stretched into a grin and she closed her eyes. The wind caressed her hot cheeks and dried her hair. She took a big, breath to fill her lungs with the woodsy air. Before this moment, the humidity and lack of noise made Emery restless, but now that there was a possibility of leaving, she let herself enjoy it.
"Finally," a baritone voice said. It startled Emery, making her gasp and put more weight on the frail wood than she should've. It splintered under her and made her slip forward. Emery pinched her eyes tighter as dust and chips of moldy wood flew about her. Two hands caught her by the waist and settled her down gently. She felt her bun fall loose, the hairs fell in front of her face. The hands moved to gently stroke the hairs away from her face.
"Found you."
Emery opened one eye first and stared up at familiar sea-green eyes. It made her heart unsettled and frantic. He's here. He's actually here!
Raising herself on the very tips of her toes, Emery looked over his shoulder. There was no army. No ambush. No attack. The only thing behind Theo was a large black bag that was swung over his shoulder.
She let out a big breath and lowered herself back down. Though she felt relief, her heart wouldn't settle.
"What took you so long?" she asked Theo.
He tilted his head, a small smile appearing on his lips. "You weren't exactly easy to track down. It took me a whole week to find my only lead."
Emery furrowed her brows together. "What was that?"
"A man named Asher. Sherriff Lila had given him clues to your coordinates, in case of emergency. I wasted a day or two on wrong guesses . . . until today."
The small bird returned to the porch, wrapping its claws around a thin piece of broken bark. Theo nudged his head toward it before saying, "I also had a bit of help."
She flinched, her gaze flashing toward the bird, then back at him. Just as she was about to freak out and ask how she could control animals, another question popped into her head. With a raised eyebrow, she crossed her arms and asked, "Wait . . . Asher just told you that he had clues and gave them to you?"
"Not willingly. . . ."
Not will— What?!
"Calm down. I give you my word. No morons were hurt while getting that information." He raised his shoulders nonchalantly, before shrugging the large bag off his shoulder and holding it in front of her. "As promised: my proof."
Her eyes flashed to the bag, then back to him. "What is it?"
"I'll have to explain inside."
Desperate to get this thing over with, Emery snatched the bag away and yelled, "Lila! You might want to call Mave and Mel now!"
⤝◈◈◈◈◈⤞
All eyes were on Theo as he stretched a large map on the floor of the cabin. It was so big they had to move Emery's sofa to make space for it. Red and blue dots were scattered around its different continents. In some places, same-colored dots stuck close together. In others, they were few and sparse.
Emery noticed a red dot right over Bellenau.
Her eyes traveled to the other members to see if they shared her confusion or curiosity. They all seemed torn between looking at the map and keeping a wary eye on Theo. Melinda even kept Emery tucked by her side, close to the door, in case the need arose to run. While Lila kept her hand rested on her gun holster.
Though Emery had managed to convince them not to lock Theo up until he explained—and he promised to comply with their every instruction—they didn't yet trust him.
Despite the fact that there was nothing but hostility in that room, Theo started, "Before beginning his hunt for the Songs, Vareus spent his first few years on Earth traveling and gathering numbers for his cause. The blue marks are Vareus' active factions. You'll find about twenty to fifty members in each location. I doubt they know I've betrayed them, so you'll be able to catch most of them if you attack soon.
"If you find that any faction is particularly empty," Theo stopped to grab a tall stack of folders he'd set aside. "You should find a brief profile on each of the members here."
Poppy curiously inched toward the stack and opened the first manila folder. Her eyes scanned its contents quickly before she closed it and picked up another. "They seem legit." She sat, eyes never leaving the pages, and continued to pick apart each one.
Emery returned her attention to the map. There had to be more than a hundred blue dots on this map. They could've crushed us if they wanted to. Theo only had to reveal Emery's location to them, and they would've had her Song by now.
Mave took a few steps closer to Theo. Emery saw Melinda raise a hand to stop her and then pull it back. It was clear she was also mesmerized by the information at their feet.
"And the red ones?" Mave asked, raising her staff above the red dot on Bellenau.
"Places known to be against Vareus' ideals. In other words, they're places dangerous to us. We have large numbers now, but they're mostly weak and untrained. The last few years were spent trying to remedy that. We planned to be ready to face the House of Earth in a year."
"But, the House of Fire is so small. If these numbers are correct, you could've invaded us years ago," Poppy noted. She'd placed the folders aside and was now analyzing the map, tapping a finger against her tan chin.
"But you had no gatekeeper then. What would've been the point of invading? It was better to wait," he explained. "Now, you see this big blue star. . . ."
Theo squatted at the north of the map and pointed at the coast of Canada. "This is our headquarters. Right now, you'll find the members confined in several shipping containers near the north entrance. When given the choice, only 5 members decided to follow me, instead of sticking to Vareus' ideals. They're the ones keeping guard of the prisoners and keeping them alive. When you get there, they have orders to give you custody of the sixty-seven members apprehended there."
"Sixty-se—" Lila gawked, Emery could see her making calculations in her head. "How did you manage to lock them all up?"
"Only one person escaped me . . ." Theo continued without answering her question. He stood up to reach for his bag once more and pulled up a single folder. After grabbing the first sheet of paper inside, he placed it down on the middle of the map. "Her name is Aurora."
The portrait of a blonde woman with an eyepatch over her right eye was printed on the paper. There was space for a written profile next to the picture. Emery took the moment to memorize her age (25), her height (6'2"), her years active as one of Vareus' followers (25), as well as the notes about her physical description.
But . . . There were also many things left blank.
"She doesn't have a last name?" Emery asked, kneeling and stroking her finger on the empty spaces next to 'Aurora'. There was no place of birth, either. No family history. No residency. No contact. It was like she came out of nowhere.
Theo shook his head slowly, throwing an expectant gaze at Emery. "No. I don't have one either."
She had a hunch at what he meant but looked back to the papers to confirm it.
Aurora was twenty-five, just a year older than Theo if she remembered correctly. Neither of them had last names. Their features were strikingly similar, except for Aurora's light hair and darker eyes.
"She's your sister?" she asked.
"Yes."
"You mean to tell me there's another heir we have to worry about?!" Melinda blew a fuse, her cheeks flooding red from anger.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Lila followed, snatching Aurora's profile from the floor to gawk at it. Melinda looked over the cop's shoulder to glance at the paper as well.
"She can't be an heir," Theo whispered. "She's unblessed."
A very audible gasp escaped Poppy before the room fell eerily silent. A different kind of tension now weighed on Emery's shoulder.
She watched as Mave held a hand toward her mouth in shock. "Izoven's grandchild? Unblessed?"
Emery still around the room, watching as their expressions ranged from fear to pity. "What does that mean?"
Poppy's bright eyes turned to look at the floor. "It means she has no magic. When a child is born unblessed, it means their parents have committed grave sin."
Lila clicked her tongue, lowering the paper to her side. "Nonsense. That's just an old wives' tale. Being unblessed is a matter of shit luck."
"But Vareus did commit g—" Poppy stopped herself, throwing an uncomfortable glance at Theo.
He didn't seem fazed, instead, he agreed. "Yes . . . Grave sin . . . but we can't think about that now. He's gone; Aurora remains. Though she can't take the throne, she's still a threat. She can mobilize the troops. . . ."
"And she can produce an heir," Emery realized, like her mother, though unblessed, had given birth to her.
"Exactly."
The room turned quiet again. An unsettling feeling crept up Emery's bones. Just when she thought her troubles would be over, a new threat emerged.
Her eyes traveled to Theo, who was already looking at her. His lips twitched up before he said, "That's all the information I have. I don't mind being locked up until you confirm it's true. You could visit the closest faction; it's only a day away if you go by car."
"I don't think you'll have to wait, Theodore," Mave told him, her gaze flashing toward Melinda, who gave them an encouraging smile. "We believe you."
"I believe you too," Poppy chimed in, her mouth softening into a smile.
Their eyes moved to Lila, who rested against the back wall, her eyes still glued to Aurora's profile. After a couple more seconds, she lowered the paper and sighed, "I believe him."
Her shoulders relaxed and a breath of relief finally escaped her lungs. A warm sensation filled Emery's chest. It melted away the previous tension she'd felt. There was still so much to do, but they had Theo now. It was a victory. A big one.
"Good. Then we're agreed," Mave announced, her full lips stretching into a brilliantly white smile. She stretched a hand, inviting him to shake it.
Theo let out a shaky breath before taking it. It seemed he'd been nervous too, though he did a better job at hiding it than Emery. After letting go of their hands, Mave pointed her staff at the scattered documents on the floor. "Let's pick this all up and head back to Bellenau, shall we? We must get to work as soon as possible."
"We should call the other Houses," Melinda spoke, as she stared at the map. "There's no way we could deal with this on our own."
"Then let that be the first step toward clearing Theo's name: a myriad of heretics brought to justice." Mave nodded at Theo before heading outside.
Lila nodded, before stacking the folders and putting them in the bag once more. "Let's get going then. Poppy, grab the map for me, will you?"
"On it," she responded quickly, but not before stopping in front of Theo bowing her head quickly and saying, "I'm sorry it took a while for me to believe you. From now on, I'll help you in whatever way I can."
Theo was clearly not used to this. He scrunched up his nose awkwardly and looked out the window instead. "It's alright. Thank you."
The small girl smiled at him before kneeling next to the map and folding it carefully.
It wasn't until Theo's gaze landed on her that she realized she was staring, instead of packing her things. So, she rushed toward the small cabinet at the edge of the cabin and pulled out her suitcase.
From the edge of her eye, she saw Theo approach. As usual, his hands were shoved in his pockets. She pretended not to notice him near her and threw in the handful of garments and things she'd used back in the suitcase.
That was all she had to pack, she realized. She hadn't bothered unpacking her things in the first place.
With nothing more to do, and everyone else busy with the other chores, Emery had to stand up and face the Prince.
Now, what? Emery thought to herself. He was now officially an heir to the throne. Was she supposed to act a sudden way around him? She felt like she had to bow.
She hesitantly lowered her head as Poppy had done, earning a low chuckle from him.
"What're you doing? Aren't you going to congratulate me?" Theo bent over to meet her gaze.
"Congrats," she told him, extending a hand in between them. Is this better? She had no idea.
His eyes looked at it and then back up at her, a teasing smile playing on his lips. He slipped his hand into her grip and tightened his fingers around her palm. "I'm glad we'll see more of each other now."
She slipped her hand away and cleared her throat. "Right . . . Well, there's a lot of work to do. We should. . . ."
As she began to step away, he called, "Wright."
With a look over her shoulder, she asked, "What?"
Theo pursed his lips and glared at the ceiling. It was almost like it pained him to say, "Thanks. Wouldn't be here without you."
"Guess that means you owe me one." She grinned, feeling more relaxed.
"Well, I already saved your life. I thought we were even, but . . . I'll give you a freebie." He winked at her, making her stomach feel fluttery and light. She didn't like it.
"Well, um . . . I— Uh, thanks," she struggled to get a single word out. It made Theo chuckle. Emery turned back around to meet the others by the truck. As she was past the doorway, she smiled, turned around once more, and told him, "Welcome to the House of Fire, Prince Theodore."
⤝◈◈The End◈◈⤞