*In this installment, Saravia says goodnight and leaves the boys. This marks the beginning of the final stretch of their journey. As always enjoy! *
That night Saravia made sure they were full, had bathed, and were tucked in; she’d rented the nicest room at the inn for them. It boasted to have the softest bed in all of Dali—she’d have to ask Snowpea, an expert on mattresses, about that.
“You’ve got water, and extra blankets…do you need anything else before Sorrel and I take our leave?”
Cara could feel Peter nervously plucking at the sheets of the bed. He didn’t want her to leave them but was pretending to be brave. Cara sat up and said what Peter wanted to say but couldn’t, “Will you sing to us?” It was what a good friend did, no?
Saravia smiled, knowing what Cara was up to, but played along. “Wouldn’t you rather a heroic story?”
“Your songs are stories.” Cara knew Peter had always been curious about the cradle songs he’d never been privy to.
Saravia hummed the first song she’d given to her little brother Coi at the day of his making. It was a soft tune that went up and down hills like a smooth traveler’s caravan. And then she sang the songs that had been Damian’s, the ones he sang to her when his heart was broken yet again. Next: the melodies that she welcomed Sleeping Echo into the world with. Songs for Ralph and his angels. Songs for the dragons and the soldiers.
In the next room, Ean leaned against the wall, listening to her voice move with ease, to the soft cooing of his daughter, to the gentle sleeping breaths of the boys. What magic was there to keep this moment from ending…to have a part in this moment?
Her songs, her scent, her presence so close, reminded him of the days he held no magic and she loved him. Even when he fought her, she loved him. And now? Did she only come around because of this game? If he kept the game going, she wouldn’t leave his side, no? Surely, she would keep loving him.
Pressing his face against the wall, he knew he had the power to walk through the brick and into the next room, to go to her. He could even open the door and meet her in the hall. Meet Sorrel. He shut his eyes tight. Ignored the chuckle coming from the mirror on the other side of the room. He would not allow the False King to look into his eyes.
Instead, he remained clawing the wall quietly. He listened as she left the room. Her voice was a whisper as she spoke to the serving girl about the morning. And then she paused at his door. Sometimes it is the unlocked doors that are the hardest to open.
After a few minutes, Saravia walked away and Ean turned to the small desk in the room away from the window so as to better attend to his magic.
jaedawson 