Bound by Darkness (Bound By Series)

27. White Lies

Chapter 27

White Lies

THALIA

My hands tugged at the thin white fabric as I stretched it over the narrow cot. Fin’s chest remained bare except for the white gauze Aline had wrapped tightly around his waist, hiding the stitches below. My neck strained as I studied the wound, making sure not an ounce of red seeped through the layers.

“If you stare hard enough, you’ll eventually see red,” Fin mused, his arms resting behind his head.

A bit of tension released in the room at his playful antics—the behavior I had missed dearly. I’d never tell him out loud, though.

Poking his leg, I earned a grin from him. “I was checking to make sure everything was okay,” I lied.

“Aline does that enough. Sure, I enjoy two ladies fawning over me, but a little room to move would be nice.”

I scoffed, leaning back on the chair I’d planted beside his cot. “A few weeks ago, you were barely breathing.”

His eyes softened. “Thalia, I’m fine.”

“Yes, but it’s my fault you were injured. They were after me. I should have been?—”

“But you weren’t,” he stated. “Reliving the past leads to resentment. There’s not a thing you could have done differently.”

I stared at the dirt flooring, a few tufts of grass peeking through the ground’s layers. Relentless. Life seemed to find a way to puncture through the muck and dirt. An endless cycle I found myself being thrust into often.

“I’m serious, Thalia. There’s no use sulking in the past,” he said. “Besides, I’ve already had three medics catch my eye.” He winked, both to myself, and the male medic observing him from the back as his face flushed red. Fin’s smile widened.

The medic’s face grew brighter before he tilted his head back to observe his fingers. He tediously stitched a gray-headed woman’s arm as she yelled curses every time the needle punctured her flesh.

I grimaced as Fin leaned back further, his body on display as the medic glanced up, the needle tumbling to the floor. Fumbling over his words, the woman screeched louder as he nodded his head in apologies.

“You’re ridiculous,” I mused.

He grinned, but it was quickly replaced by the furrowing of his brows. His eyes lingered on the tent flaps for a moment before his lips parted. “How… how are things going outside?”

“Okay,” I stated, running my fingers over my shirt collar. “The citizens are slowly rebuilding under Chiron’s supervision.” My eyes flicked to his as I asked the question circling my mind. “You keep asking about Laias. Why are you so hellbent on this place? Even at your house, you freaked out at the mention of an attack here.”

Fin blew out a breath as he leaned back against the white sheets. “Laias is... was my home,” he corrected. “I used to be a solider for King Hywell, but I couldn’t do it anymore. The killing, the unquestionable devotion to him. I ran away as one of his guards and Laias was the only place I could seek refuge in.” His hand ran over the metal railing. “They accepted me, despite my past. I became a soldier for them, fighting to keep this place safe until I ran away from here, too.”

His head dipped as he avoided my gaze, his hand wrapping around iron. “I’m a coward, Thalia. I’ve run away from every job I’ve ever been given because I don’t want to die. I’m scared of it. It’s why Ivan and I fought that day in my house, because I’d abandoned him. I’d abandoned this city—our friends during a previous attack from the rebels. I couldn’t handle the screams, the way my comrades dropped to the ground lifeless.”

My eyes softened as I grabbed his hand, offering it a gentle squeeze. “You came back when they needed it the most. A coward wouldn’t do that.”

A small smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

“What you did before doesn’t define you. Everyone is scared of something. What matters is what you do after,” I said, the words hot as they left my lips.

“Careful, Thalia. One more word and I might fall for you,” he teased, a bit of warmth clinging to his cheeks again.

I smiled, letting go of his hand as I leaned against metal. “So that’s how you two met. Was he also a soldier for Laias?”

Fin’s gaze flicked to the ceiling. “Yes and no. It’s complicated,” he said. “Ivan should be the one to tell you. His history isn’t as simple as mine.”

“Oh come on. I’m sure whatever it is he wouldn’t mind.”

Fin stayed silent, his gaze distant and cold before his lips parted. “Ask Ivan. I’m not the one to tell his story,” he said flatly. “Besides, I wanted to ask you if you had any news on Asa.”

Conversation change—noted. I guess I’d have to ask Ivan later. Shaking my head, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Nope. No one has found her.”

“Not even her body?”

“Yeah. It’s like she’s simply vanished.”

Fin’s eyes widened. “What if she has?”

“I’m not following.”

He sat up, the crinkling of the cot’s mat loud in my ears. “If no one has found her alive or dead, then she isn’t here at Laias. The next plausible solution would be that the rebels took her when they’d invaded.”

My lungs froze. “Why would they want to take her?” I breathed, waiting for his reply.

“Because of her casting abilities. Imagine a healer on the battlefield. How unstoppable the rebels would be with that level of power working with them.”

I shot to my feet. “That’s a bold claim, Fin.”

“Think about it. It’s the most logical explanation. It explains why they needed to break into Laias and why they chose her. She’s defenseless, and wouldn’t be able to fight back.”

“What about the caster in the forest? He used some new pressure to lock me to the ground.” No other logical explanation existed for what the man had used to bind me against him.

As far as I knew, my sister and I were the only ones born with elemental casting. The first in centuries, but even that wasn’t public knowledge. My family had hidden Yeva’s casting far greater than mine, but for there to be people with original casting not from the Four Houses? Casting like mine?

“I don’t know what he had, but I know for certain healing casting has remained exclusively in the Laias bloodline. The rebels wouldn’t have a healer amongst them.”

“Then,” I said, my head swimming, “we’ve been wasting our time searching for a dead body when we should have been searching for the rebels.”

Fin nodded, his face grim. “Ivan needs to know.” Reaching over, he scribbled something on a scrap of paper beside his bed, folding it neatly in half before extending it to me. “Before you go, be a doll and slip this to the medic.”

“Seriously? I thought you were writing information for Ivan, not a love letter,” I hissed.

“I’m bedridden until Aline clears me. Do it for me, please?”

Frowning, I snatched it from his hand. “Fine,” I grumbled. “Be glad I like you.”

He grinned. “Thanks, love.”

I sent Fin a quick wave, displeasure written over my face before I slipped the medic the note.

Morning turned to afternoon, and my legs grew weary as I rested against the broken fountain. My legs swung against the large stone.

I’d searched everywhere. The gardens, construction, kitchens, and outside the city walls where we had last met. There was no sign of him.

Glancing around, wooden beams were already sprouting from the ground, the citizens hard at work as they made the city theirs again. Most of the wreckage in the middle of the city had been removed and cleared.

Horses clopped against the paved streets as they dragged carriages filled with supplies across the makeshift town square. I waved to a few citizens driving the carriages, their smiles bringing one to my own.

The city began to reset, to breathe again. Even the sprites had returned, their lights filling the streets. Kicking a pebble against the fountain, it rolled down the street, stopping in front of an unmarked tent.

A man exited it in a leather vest I knew far too well as Ivan squinted under the faelight, long sleeves jutting out from underneath the black material.

Another figure I didn’t recognize exited the tent, cloaked in black. It concealed their features as they darted into the main square, blending into the crowd seamlessly.

My feet moved as I called out to him, his gaze flicking to mine. He didn’t smile as I stepped closer.

“Who was that? I’ve been searching for you all day. I have news I need to?—”

His hands gripped my arm as he yanked me into the tent. The flaps tickled my skin as darkness enveloped us both. An oil lamp lit the area as he led me further in, twisting me until the curve of my lower back rested against the oval table in the middle.

His body pressed against mine as his jaw clenched, his hands gripping the table’s edge. “I thought you trusted me.”

My brows furrowed as I willed my racing heart to still at the close proximity. “What? I do.”

“You’re lying.”

My hands pressed against his chest, the feeling of his muscles rippling beneath the pads of my fingers. “I’m not. You’re freaking me out, Ivan. Tell me?—”

“Then what are these?” he asked as his arm reached over my shoulder, the sound of papers shuffling.

Twisting my body, my eyes raked over the pages tossed over the table. It was the pages I’d stolen from the library.

“How did you get these?”

“Does that matter? You hid this from me, Thalia.” His voice echoed in the space. “I thought—I thought you trusted me. Has everything been a lie?” His words echoed as he took a step back.

“Ivan, it’s not?—”

“It’s exactly what it is.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We agreed to figure out your casting together! Do you hate me that much?”

“No!” I yelled, my voice cracking. “No, that’s not?—”

“Then what is it? Why hide this from me?”

“I thought I was going to get in trouble!” I shouted, my hands wringing together. “I thought it might get you in trouble, because I stole those pages from a hidden library.”

Ivan’s hand paused over the pages.

“I thought hiding them from you would protect you from what I’d done. I stole pages from an illegal book which is punishable by death. I didn’t... I didn’t want any harm coming to you!” I yelled.

“Is that all?” he said as he took a step forward.

“Is that all?” I repeated. “Of course, that’s all! Figuring out why I have this casting is my burden.”

His hand curled a page, his eyes softening. “It’s my burden too.”

“Why?” I pointed to the pictures, then to him. “Why is it also your burden?” I swallowed, my footsteps light as I moved closer.

He took a step, that stoic expression faltering. “Because your life is tied to Cethales,” he whispered. “That’s why it’s my burden. Your life is tied to mine… to everyone in this country.”

My balance faltered, my hand catching the edge of the table as I gripped it tight.

Ivan ran a hand through his hair, his pacing increasing in the dimly lit space. “I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want… I didn’t want to cause you fear when you’d already experienced so much in your life.”

He walked over to the pages, a finger gently resting against the shadowy creature. “There’s an old, long forgotten prophecy. One created the day the gods fled. It spoke of two sisters born with the ability to wield light and dark.”

When two sisters, born in winter, should claim the power from Mother Nature

“When these sisters were finally born, the curse would light anew to intertwine their fate with Cethales.”

Born of Light, and born of Dark, twist together to unwind Cethales’ heart

“These sisters would be the key to ending the curse. The curse of mortality and dying land.”

To unlock Mother’s hold on all those who fold to higher beings, cruel and old

Ivan stepped closer. “It’s you, Thalia. You’re the key to breaking the curse. Your fate has been set since the moment of your birth. It’s why the rebels want you. Why King Hywell kept you locked away for years. He wanted to break you, manipulate you so when it was time to act, you’d have no willpower left. But the thing is, you never gave up. He kept you locked away to break you, and yet, you never did.”

My legs threatened to collapse. The witch had warned me about my fate and I’d missed it completely. “Have you known this whole time?” I whispered, my eyes scanning his for any deception.

“Yes.” Ivan said softly as he took another step. “It’s why I rescued you from the prison. Why I’m adamant about keeping an eye on you, because your fate determines the fate of all.”

There was no deception to his words. He meant it. Just as the witch had told me in the tent. It was why the blood stone pulsed in my pocket now. It made sense… and it terrified me.

I took a step back. “I can’t… I can’t believe you hid this from me. Does Fin know?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t told him, but I think he knows. He’s smarter than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“You mentioned sisters. My… my sister was a part of this?”

“Yes. Her death ignited the curse further. It’s why the Unclaimed lands are spreading.”

“Her death increased the curse?” My legs faltered, plummeting me to the ground as my hands held my head. “Why? Why would the King kill her if he needed her?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, his voice a steady beacon as my world slowly crashed around me.

The King had murdered her and kept me alive for his sick plans. He’d killed my family for a prophecy. A fate I had no control over.

Heat boiled my blood, rattling the cage beneath.

You know the truth, caster. Release me so we may plague the land. Release me and I will kill the very man who sits on that throne.

My hands pushed against my temples as that voice reverberated in my mind.

“Thalia?” Ivan’s voice echoed around me.

“I can’t?—”

The voice screamed again, mine following after. It pierced every crevice in my mind, shattering the holds I’d put into place as night crept through me.

Dark wisps filled the room.

“Help,” I whispered, my eyes struggling to find his.

The darkness was taking over.

Whatever this casting was, it wanted me to consume and feed until nothing existed. It was evil, and wanted me gone.

Ivan dropped to his knees, his hands grabbing my cheeks tightly as my eyes met silver. “I’m sorry,” he whispered before his lips touched mine.