Curse Breaker (2)

29

He looks just as he appears in my nightmares.

Age lines his face, gray hairs spotting his head. I once let this man tend to my wounds, prod my thoughts and emotions, under the guise that he was simply a harmless, warm, healer.

Now, lying on my back on the edge of a wooden pier with a raging ocean metres below, I cannot imagine a time when I was not afraid of him.

The chord wraps around my ankles has weights attached to the end, making it near impossible to wriggle free of the tangle. That doesn't stop me from trying as Ereon takes calm, slow steps towards me, his guards merely inches behind.

My mind screams in alarm as I stare up at him. Away from the shelter of the buildings, the wind whips around us. His lavish, black cape ripples in the air at his feet, creating a shadow around his frame. I shuffle backwards, stopping abruptly when the pier gives way beneath my elbow.

I let out a cry, eyes darting to the viscous sea smashing against the pier legs.

Ereon stops several feet away, his eyes raking over me in a torturously slow movement. His lips quirk up at the ends, as if mocking my predicament.

"You didn't think you could escape the country unnoticed, did you?" he taunts. "You don't think I have spies at the docks of our neighbours? Both Ayrith and Llyn. Your friends won't go far."

I stare at him, my breath in short, sharp rasps. "But that does not seem to worry you." He narrows his gaze at me, speculative. Then, something else settles across his face--a mixture of shock and confusion. "Because you weren't going to either of those places, were you?"

My heart skips a beat. This was supposed to be our easy escape. Once we left Elel, Ereon wasn't supposed to be something we had to think about. Surviving Torrine was a challenge in itself. But if Ereon even gets a whiff of our travel plans, he will surely question why of all places, we would risk our lives going to Torinne.

He knows about the hyacertie. He asked me about it when I was held captive at the Palace. But he doesn't know where it is. Yet.

That grin stretches wider, making my stomach sink. "You were going to Torinne."

I spit at his feet.

The mocking grin darkens. His eyes flash, and he starts forward.

Thud. The pier quivers with the weight of the body dropping down between us. Tension rolls through my shoulders as I struggle to keep my shoulders from sliding over the edge. But my heart goes wild when I register the body standing between Ereon and me.

Killian.

He holds tightly onto a thin, whethered rope that, when I follow its length, I see is attached to one of the flagpoles at the end of the cliff parallel to the Pier. King Ereon seems to dumbfounded to move.

"You'll have to excuse me," Killian says. I can hear the smirk in his voice. "But I'm going to have to cut this reunion short."

At his words, Ereon barks an order. The guards start towards us, but Killian is too quick. Swooping down, he scoops an arm around my waist and pulls me to his body.

"Hold on."

In one breath, he leaps off the end of the pier.

***

Suspended in air, time moves at the speed of a snail. The rope Killian holds swings us far out, away from the pier. Wind whips my hair around my face. Killian releases the rope.

We fly through the air. The release of the rope propels me from his grip. I tumble for what feels like an eternity, up or down, I can't tell. I struggle to keep my body upright, unable to balance my weight due to the weights on the ankles at my feet. But I feel the moment where I stop gaining distance and start to tumble towards the raging ocean. I brace for impact just in time to take a gulp of air.