Page 71 of The Half King
The goddess had rewarded her.
Just as she reached for the runes, the goddess surprised her with a second reward. A cool kiss of rain misted down from the heavens, glittering in the sunlight and filling the air with colorful prisms. Cerise spread her arms wide to soak in the mist. She beamed with joy as moisture blurred her vision. She didn’t need the Sight to understand that the goddess was singing back to her. She felt it in her very soul, and the warmth that glowed within her chest was more beautiful than she ever could have imagined.
She had been found worthy. Even after her lapse of control with Kian in the tent, the goddess had known what was in her heart.
Pure faith.
When Cerise retrieved the sunset runes and turned toward the group waiting for her below, she discovered that the king had reappeared. Kian stood at the base of the rocks, wearing nothing but a pair of linen pants and a smile filled with so much adoration and pride that Cerise’s throat thickened with fresh emotion. Beside him, General Petros placed a hand over his heart, and Nero seemed to be pretending to fish a speck of dust out of his eye. Even Father Padron grinned up at her, though his gaze held an unspokenI told you so—a reminder of the lecture he had given her that morning about the risk of forsaking her divine purpose.
Blue was the first one to greet her when she descended to the base of the rocks. Close behind him was Daerick, whose eyes shone with welling tears.
“You did it,” Daerick told her. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you actually made one good thing happen on this mountain.”
Cerise returned his smile as she opened her palm to show him the sunset runes. “Now let’s make it two.”
18
The sunset runes hadn’t come with a set of instructions, but according to what Cerise had learned from Daerick, she was meant to cast the dice at twilight, and then the corresponding runes would indicate how far to travel and in what direction for the following day.
She glanced at the position of the midday sun. With roughly five hours until sunset, there was no way of knowing which direction the caravan should go from the summit. Any time they spent in the saddle might be wasted.
“We have the runes,” she said to the group. “Now what?”
Kian thumbed behind him at the steep trail they had scaled earlier that day. “Let’s go back to the clearing where we made camp last night. We know it’s more or less protected, and the ride is short enough that we can make it there before dark. The altitude has been hard on the horses. They need rest.”
“And water,” Nero said, nodding in agreement. “There’s a spring near the camp. And I reset all of my traps before we left. We should have a kill for supper, even if it’s only jackrabbit.”
“Then that clinches it,” Kian told the group. “We’ll retrace our steps back to the clearing and cast the runes at sunset to plan tomorrow’s journey.”
With that decided, the six of them descended the steep summit path to the thicket where they had tethered their horses and left the wagon. Then they turned around and followed the same packed dirt trail that they had traversed earlier in the day. By late afternoon, they arrived at their previous camp and divided the tasks of pitching tents, building a fire, feeding and watering the horses, and preparing dinner. Nero took Blue with him to check his traps, and they returned with several jackrabbits, which Nero cleaned and roasted on a spit.
Even though jackrabbit was Cerise’s least favorite food, she was so famished from the day’s ride that her mouth watered the entire time the meat roasted. She slid a jealous glance at Blue, who didn’t have to wait for his meal to cook. As Blue gobbled up his raw rabbit, Cerise noticed he had grown again. The sweet puppy she had once cradled in the palm of her hand was now as tall as a mule deer, and he required so much food that she had to let him go hunting alone throughout the day. She wondered when he would reach his full size. The wrinkles on his hide told her he still had yet to grow. If he continued developing at this rate, she might return to the palace on Blue’s back instead of Ash’s.
As the sun slid closer to the horizon, Cerise and the others gathered around the fire and ate a dinner of roasted potatoes, oatcakes, and seared rabbit. All except for Father Padron, who had elected to fast inside his tent. Nero and General Petros devoured their food wordlessly while Cerise sat in between Kian and Daerick, examining the markings on the sunset runes.
“Can you read these symbols?” Cerise asked Daerick.
Daerick’s mouth was full, so he shot her a look of insult.
“Of course you can,” she said. “Forgive me.”
But there was still one problem. The time to cast the dice was fast approaching, and so was the hour of Kian’s nightly disappearance into the shadows. If Cerise wanted to try to follow Kian through the portal again, she would have to fall asleep before sunset. She couldn’t be simultaneously awake to cast the runes and asleep to follow Kian into the underworld.
She glanced at the low position of the sun. Perhaps she could cast the runes now. “It’s almost twilight,” she announced to no one in particular. “The timing is close enough, don’t you agree?”
Nero and General Petros shrugged.
“I see no harm in trying,” Kian said and looked to Daerick. “Do you?”
“None that I can think of.” Daerick swept a permissive hand. “Even if it is too soon to cast the runes, I doubt they’ll explode in your face.”
“All right. Here we go.” Cerise brushed aside the dust from the ground in front of her. “Mother Shiera, mistress of worlds, please guide our path.” She tossed the dice gently, careful not to cast them too close to the fire. The dice tumbled forward, but instead of stopping, they reversed direction and rolled back into her hand.
She frowned. Maybe it was too soon.
Nero pointed at her as he paused to swallow a bite of food. “Tell the dice what you seek and then try again.”
Cerise lifted the runes to her lips and whispered, “Mother Shiera, mistress of worlds, please take me to the hiding place of the Petros Blade.” She cast the dice once again, and this time they tumbled forward and landed firmly in place. “I think it worked!”
