The Shadow Tide

CHAPTER 24 - Collision

From the throne room's doors unfolded a grand corridor. To one side, stone arches peered over the gardens. Brethen dashed toward the stairs, eyes sweeping the green expanse two levels below. Luckily, it didn't take long to find what she was looking for: a vivid red and white speck meandering through the gardens, heading for the bridge that spanned the river, concealing the secret passage beneath. He was alone. In the waning light of early evening, Arian nearly melded with the landscape.

Though some guests lingered in small clusters, exchanging hushed conversations, they paused to watch as Brethen sprinted. In the distance, Arian strolled calmly. The bridge lay beneath his feet by the time she was close enough to shout his name.

Arian stopped where he was, in the middle of the bridge, and waited for Brethen to cross the remaining distance to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as if he had no clue of why she seemed so worried.

Brethen leaned on the bridge's balustrade, slightly out of breath.

"You can't just leave like that!"

"Brethen, did you forget about the amulet?" he retrieved the coin from beneath his shirt.

Indeed, she had forgotten. If Arian were in danger, the amulet would have warned her, much like it did on the night of the ball.

"Will it give me a heads-up if I decide to toss you off this bridge for giving me a scare like that?"

Arian chuckled, propping himself against the bridge's edge, gazing at the water below. He had removed the crown, holding it with the hand not confined by the sling.

Since his father's death, Arian no longer wore the simple diadem that had accompanied him since adolescence, but, not yet crowned king, he couldn't wear the piece that belonged to his father and several ancestors before him. Instead, he wore an intermediate crown, less adorned than the royal one, indicating that he was no longer just a prince.

"I just needed some fresh air," Arian said. He had also removed his gloves, which peeked out of the front pocket of his vest. "This whole day has been... suffocating."

Brethen leaned on the balustrade beside him.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked.

"No, please." The urgency in his voice did not go unnoticed.

So Brethen stayed, and they watched the river flow, leaning on each other's shoulders. It wasn't a very wide or fast-flowing river, but its volume was higher than usual due to the recent weeks' rains, and the sound of the water was comforting, as was the silence between the two.

With arms crossed over the parapet, Brethen felt something touch her hand. It was the gentle brush of cold fingers. Arian wasn't looking at the river, as Brethen imagined; instead, he was looking at the place where their hands touched.

Brethen retraced that moment, just days before, near the window in her room. The memory lingered—the way all the air seemed to dissipate around her when Arian locked eyes with her, an intensity that left a scorching imprint on her skin. But now his eyes didn't resemble those, not when he stared at the entwined fingers, nor when he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

Arian seemed about to say something. Yet, as had become his pattern, he changed his mind. Then, he shifted slightly from the balustrade, not moving away from Brethen. In silence, he delicately positioned his crown atop her head.

Brethen was speechless. She felt the weight of the gold in her hair and, more than that, the weight of Arian's equally golden gaze. So many unspoken words in that look.

"This doesn't feel quite appropriate," Brethen whispered and immediately felt foolish.

"I just wanted to dream, for a moment," Arian held her face with one hand, the other still firm in the sling and occupying the small space between them, "that you are my queen."