Page 52 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
As if sensing I’d lost myself to my own mind, Noctis approached on heavy-leaden feet.
“My Bound is loyal,” he said with confidence as he overlooked the harbor. “They deserve so much more than me.”
“Sometimes we say they didn’t deserve us to make leaving easier. I’m sure you didn’t take the choice lightly.”
I knew the feeling of losing it all, even though my losses dealt from a hand not of my own. I recognized the quiet, hollow ache of being unloved by those who were meant to love me most. Maybe he and I did have something in common.
Noctis huffed. “I’ve never regretted it a day.” And he walked down the gangplank toward the harbor market.
I jogged to catch up, sucking the tangy juice from an orange I snagged from the breakfast spread on the ship as we walked through Corvenwald Isle. Noctis led the way like he knew the streets in his dreams. Perhaps he did, as the very isle we stood on housed the entrance to his own Bound.
“Any revelations since the last time I asked? Memories?”
I shook my head. “If you’re waiting for me to remember you, I’m afraid it isn’t going to happen.”
“Afraid? Sounds like you’ve beensearchingfor the memories of us.” He smiled over at me, and my heartbeat quickened under his smirk. “I was honestly hoping you’d remember someone else… well, something else, really.”
My eyebrows lifted as I scoured my mind for any recollection of something missing in my life, except it offered nothing. Then, something popped into my head.
Shit…
"Are we married?" I gasped, the words tumbling out before I could catch them, wild with confusion and the sharp edge of fear.
Noctis’s laugh cracked open, loud and raw, like it had punched straight through his composure. He doubled over, clenching his stomach. I slapped the back of my hand into his bicep.
“I don’t like this reaction,” I murmured uncomfortably.
The god straightened, a smirk still uncontrollably plastered to his face.
“No, we are not married. However, I’m quite offended you seem terrified of that possibility. Marrying a god is not as simple as seeing a high priestess and far more than a Blood Tie that we already share.”
“How does one marry a god, then?”
Noctis stopped walking and met my confused gaze. His head cocked to the side, studying me with pure intent. “I could demonstrate the process for you if you’d like to see it firsthand. With me.”
“No, no. There’s no need for that.” I replied, flustered by the heat that slowly radiated through my cheeks and body. Cocky, indeed. “What is it you are wanting me to remember?”
“I can show you on the way to the Aetherkin gates if you don’t mind,” the god offered.
I agreed, though I wasn’t sure what I’d just signed up for, and he spun on his heel like the matter was already settled, continuing our trek.
We walked the market streets for half an hour before I realized my steps met the rhythm of the music flitting through the breeze. Somehow the island eased my mind, only a trace of fear inkling through. The joy radiating through the air was electric, and I forced myself to focus on the scent of metal. If the Oricaans attacked, I would be prepared.
Market stalls dispersed the further we walked from the harbor, the music fading as we approached inland.
Noctis veered off and stopped before a shop that sat nestled in the forked street. Its wooden walls held firm, clearly built by a skilled craftsman. Two barred windows opened outward and allowed the wind to blow the soft lilac curtains inside.
The god knocked six times, each hit evenly spaced apart. Only seconds passed before the door swung open.
I didn’t see it coming; the tackle dropped me, and everything went black. Wetness streaked my face, lapping at my skin roughly, and my body shook under the warm mass above me. No pain harmed me, but shock paralyzed all senses until I recognized the musky, slobbering mutt.
A dog.
He flopped his tanned, curly haired head atop my chest, his massive paws at each of my shoulders, and panted in my face. He shook feverishly in excitement, awaiting a scratch. I laughed and ran my nails down the fluffy beast’s back. He relished in the feeling and kicked up his back leg.
“His name is—”
“Raven.” I interrupted underneath the mass and fur of the animal.
