The Way We Fall

Chapter 121 (Roche)

It should have been illegal to fall in love so quickly and have that same love torn away. Roche held onto that thought as the days flowed by her in a haze. The first few days were agonising. It was hard to look at Tigris and not see her plunging her sword into Medea's chest. Even worse, Finn spoke to her stiffly, like she was a stranger she didn't know.

She didn't blame them. They had done what they had thought was right. But that didn't make it any easier to bear.

It took a few weeks until the haze of grief cleared from her mind. Tigris acted as if nothing changed but Roche caught her staring a few times with something akin to respect and understanding in her eyes. Through the numb weight of her grief, she appreciated the attempt to help her maintain a sense of normalcy.

Even with Verita, Leinos, and Tigris' quiet support, Roche only truly found peace when she was able to sneak into the forest to visit Medea's tree. So far, none of Tigris' patrols had come across it. Roche was fairly certain that the place was protected by the inkblood that had been in Medea's veins. Just to be safe, she added her own enchantment to the area to keep away strangers. She would spend her few afternoons off lying by the tree, pretending that she was laying her head on Medea's shoulder rather than the gnarled roots of the gorgeous tree.

It provided little comfort, but eventually Roche made it through the day without thinking of Medea. Then two days without dreaming of her body burning with Roche's flame. The sticky residue of grief still clung to her soul, but Roche found it ebbing as the days passed.

Kai and the princes seemed to notice her sullenness, but Tigris must have warned them not to press her because they remained nonchalant. Kai spoke to her regularly, trying to keep her spirits up even though he didn't know what was troubling her.

"Read anything interesting recently?" he asked as they scrubbed their lord and lady's laundry. Roche stood, her back cracking as she did so.

"A few," she admitted, glancing at Kai eagerly, "Why? Want to read some?"

Kai chuckled. "No, I just wanted to bring back a story for Finn. He's getting restless again."

Roche tried to hide her discomfort as she turned back to the laundry, scrubbing one of the gowns harder than she should have. It had been a long time since she and Finn had spoken. They'd drifted even further apart after the gorgon incident. Evidently, the prince still blamed her for hiding Medea. Roche wondered how much of the truth he'd seen, if he knew that she hadn't known Medea was the gorgon until the last day.

Roche bit her lip. "I have a couple of books Verita won't miss. I can hand them off to you when we finish up here, just make sure the guards don't see."

Kai's face fell. "Sorry, I can't take the books today. I need to get Finn ready for dinner this evening." he explained apologetically.

Roche smacked her forehead. "Uh oh."

"Roche," Kai's eyes rounded fearfully, "Please tell me you didn't forget about the very important dinner that only happens once every five years with the Tselts. The dinner that Tigris needs to be present and dressed for."

"Uh..."

"Roche," Kai groaned, wringing out Finn's jerkin. He splashed her with some of the suds.

Roche yelped, wiping the spray off her face. "I think I finished all the preparations last night. I just forgot about it this morning."

"You think?" Kai's voice was shrill enough that Roche cringed. "The king is going to kill you if Tigris isn't ready!"

She held out her hands placatingly.

"It's fine, it's all fine. I just need to be in Tigris' chamber three hours after midday. I think I've got time." she said quickly, grabbing a wad of soaked fabric from her basin. Kai stopped her quickly, his eyes as large as saucers as a thought seemed to strike him.