White Shadows

Chapter 6

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Peter met me at the docks the next morning as the sun began its daily climb into the sky. As promised, he'd arranged for a boat to take us to shore.

A small wooden boat floated in the water near the docks. Three unfamiliar men waited nearby, each equipped with an oar. They nodded their heads to me when I arrived. I returned the gesture.

"Thank you again for agreeing to come with me," I told Peter with a grateful smile. I looped my arm through his and he cringed away from my touch as he had the day before, but this time it was different. His eyes told me it wasn't guilt that caused him to act like this. I cocked my head at him.

"There's something I need to--" he began, but his eyes left mine and fell onto something behind me before he could finish his sentence. He scowled, and I didn't need to look to know who stood behind me.

"Peter," Alec said.

My brother nodded, his scowl deepening. "Alexander."

A pause. "Edlyn."

My hand slipped into the pocket of my dress and brushed against the note. It gave me the strength to turn and face him with a smile on my face. "Alec."

My smile soon vanished. I hadn't seen him, not truly, since the wedding. Before that, I hadn't for many long weeks, up until the night before he was married. He looked exhausted then, but it had been the middle of the night. I'd dismissed it. Now, in the morning light, he looked like a corpse. His skin had paled from the golden glow he had when I first met him in the forest. There were dark purple marks under his eyes that seemed like they'd never go away no matter how long he slept, and he'd lost visible weight, even since the wedding.

The sight was too much for me. My eyes dropped to the ground as if my feet were suddenly more interesting than my surroundings. I noticed my hip bones poked out from underneath my dress, and a cold, miserable feeling settled in my stomach. I recalled Allia's words to me in the garden. You're turning to skin and bones.

Both of us were wasting away, too full of sadness to realize how empty we were.

One of the men near the boat stepped toward us, oblivious to the thick silence that wrapped around us. "We're ready to depart whenever you wish," he said. He nodded to Alec. "Your Majesty."

My mouth dropped open.

Peter sighed when I turned my gaze to his. "I meant to tell you earlier, before he arrived. Alec is coming with us."

A nauseating mix of emotions swirled in my stomach. "Why?" I asked Alec, although I kept my eyes on my brother. Peter's eyes held mine, full of apologies.

"I have a family to protect now. If Anabella is truly still alive, I want to personally see her end," he answered. His voice was steady. He was so good at hiding what he was thinking. Or maybe he had nothing to hide--maybe what he said was the truth.