Page 40 of Tanglewood Magic (The Three Sisters 2)
“Room enough for two?” Circe asked from the hall.
He pulled her inside and into his arms. “They keep the men separate from the women here. You’re breaking the rules.” He grinned at her. “I thought you hated to break the rules.”
“It’s growing on me. Practically becoming a habit.”
He cupped her face and kissed her with all the passion he’d had bottled up since the night before. It took everything he had to pull away from her. “As much as I’d love to take you to bed and do more of that, we should actually rest. Big day tomorrow.”
“That’s what I came to tell you,” she said. “We found a place to go.”
He guided her to the bed and slid in beside her. “To go… permanently? Where? How?”
“A new world. Daluk saw it in the goddess’s tears. He’s helping Medea with a few arrangements. We have to leave the golden grimoire here, or Hera will find us. And Medea wanted a grave for Tavyss. Some other things as well.” She looked away from him. “I just left them.”
“Tell me about this new world.”
“There’s an island off the coast of Everfield called Aeaea. Daluk says if we sail past the island, we can cross through a portal to another dimension. It’s a secret but known to the scribes here from ancient days. There’s a world there. A different world from Ouros, where we’ll be safe.”
Rhys shook his head, his muscles tensing. “What do you mean a different… world?”
Circe placed her hands, palms together, under her cheek. “It’s like how we came from the Garden of the Hesperides. That place was not of this world. It does not exist in Ouros, and this place we will go, it’s also a different… dimension. Think of rivers running side by side. Each one contains different water. Each flows at a different rate. When I came here, I jumped from one river into another, and if we sail past this island, we will jump into yet another.”
Rhys closed his eyes. A differentworld. Could that really be the answer? His heart pounded. He was not a man prone to anxiety, but his palms grew sweaty as he pondered the idea. She may have come from a different world, but Ouros was all he’d ever known. His parents were buried here. June was buried here.
“I don’t think I can do it,” he said.
“Hmm?”
“I love you, Circe, but I can’t go with you.”
“Why not?” She sat up and stared down at him from above. “You can’t go back to Darnuith. Zelaria knows it was you who broke us out of the dungeon.”
“I know. I know I can’t go back to Darnuith. I’ll petition the High Lord to stay in Rogos, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll take a position in Everfield. Fairies always need apothecaries. Very few have magic. Have your sisters thought of settling in Everfield?”
Circe shook her head, her stomach tucked as if he’d punched her in the gut. “We can’t go to Everfield, Rhys. The goddess showed us in her tears where we must go if we are to survive. My sisters and I…” She toyed with the edge of the blanket. “We see things. We see the future. You have to believe me that this is what we are meant to do.”
He swallowed. He loved her. Goddess, he did. But moving to a newworld…it was insane. It was…unnatural. And if he was being honest, the very idea of it horrified him.
“I… can’t,” he said honestly. He closed his eyes, unable to watch the disappointment on her face.
She tossed back the covers and stood. “I understand.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to my room.”
He reached for her. “This could be the last night we have to spend together.”
She smiled sadly at him. “And if that’s your choice, then it’s best we spend it apart.”
ChapterTwenty
The next morning, Circe woke early and dressed in the clothing Daluk had provided for her. She met her sisters in the dining hall for breakfast. Rhys joined them as well, but she carefully kept her eyes on her porridge rather than engage with him. It didn’t stop him from trying.
“Circe…” His voice was soft in her ear.
“We should get going,” she said. She scooped the last bite of porridge into her mouth and abandoned her empty bowl on the table. She could feel her sisters’ eyes on her back as she donned the pack the elves had prepared for her and made her way out the door.
They were taken by carriage to the border, where they started their hike toward Franwise Farm. Soon, they were all ankle deep in the poisonous gila vine. “You’re sure this won’t hurt us?” Isis asked Rhys.
