Page 79 of The Stolen Throne
34
A New
Understanding
The watery sun crawls across the sky and sets again on what is our third day in the Shadowood. Or maybe fourth? I’m starting to lose track. With each darkening second, the forest looms in on me, and over me, a weight of…something…hangs in the air. Except, I seem to be the only one bothered.
Not a single blink or furtive glance among the lot, and believe me, I’ve been watching for anyone else to show a sign that they feel odd. I’d even be relieved if Pella said something.
Instead, they’ve all been going about their business as if nothing is strange. We’ve done nothing but search the tomes. We’ve barely broken for meals—Tziah, Cain, and Hakan hunt and cook for us—and our break to eat or sleep is the only time we leave the library.
Nothing bad has happened beyond my being creeped out, so for now I’m keeping it to myself. We don’t have time for more worries.
Words swim on the page before me. My eyes are aching, my sight turning bleary. Especially since we can’t have too many candles burning in here. Books are highly flammable. Dominions have lost entire libraries to a single spark.
Meanwhile, paranoia has started sinking in. Did I miss something? Should I have someone else check the books I’ve gone through to make sure? Do we even have time for that? Even with four of us skimming to go faster, we’ve barely made a dent in the pile.
Across the room, Reven sits with a book in his lap, but he’s not reading. He’s staring at nothing, head cocked, almost like he’s listening. My heart picks up pace. Is he hearing something, too? Or is he lost in thought?
Then he rolls his shoulders and goes back to reading like nothing happened.
Goddess grant me… I’m not even sure what to ask for.
I should just tell him I’m hearing things. Or, rather, heard things. It was only the one time the first night. He’s been doing a bang-up job making sure we’re never alone together, though, and I don’t want to worry anyone else.
Reven flicks a sudden glance my way. I pretend I was looking up to stretch, tipping my head back and rolling it side to side. It really is stiff. I miss the tables in the library in the palace. Much more comfortable than the floor.
He drops his gaze back to keep reading.
I lower my own to the book in my lap, fighting the twang of disappointment that strikes. It’s always there, this sense that it shouldn’t be this way with us. Worse here, because this is where we truly found each other, where we gave each other everything. The little bit of heaven we found here hurts too much to give up on. The wish that he’d suddenly wrap me up in his arms and tell me he can’t go on this way, that he needs me, too, just won’t go away.
Tziah sticks her head in the door and waves.
“Is dinner ready?” Vos asks, not bothering to hide his relief as he snaps the book he was reading closed and stands up in a hurry.
Not that I blame him. The pace we’re pushing ourselves at is brutal, even if it is only sitting and reading. She waves again, this time indicating we should all come with her, but I lower my head, determined to finish. I’m close to the end.
When no one moves, I sigh. “Go ahead. Seriously. I’ll be right behind you.”
The others seem to take this at face value and file out behind Tziah.
I feel more than see Reven climb to his feet. “You’ve hardly eaten, Meren.”
“I’m fine. I’m not the only one who hasn’t been eating well,” I point out, and I can’t help the stubborn jut of my chin.
Reven sighs. “You’re right. We should all be keeping up our strength in case something happens.”
Something like Eidolon tracking us down, no doubt. And he’s right, too.
“Just a few more pages.”
Reven crouches in front of me. Not touching, but he dips his head to catch my eye. “They’ll still be there after dinner.”
“I know. But if I lose my place now, it’ll slow me down when I start again later. Okay?”
“You realize we might not find anything,” he says. “It’s even likely.”
I wrinkle my nose at him. “The goblet is always half empty with you.”
