Crave ✔

Chapter 30

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Chapter 30

       One glance over the side of the Cliffs had my stomach churning anxiously. "That is terrifying." I muttered more to myself than Mae, but she nodded in agreement anyway. The sharp, pointed rocks, that seemed to rest thousands of feet below, gleamed as proud as bloody daggers up at us.

       I gulped.

       "Yes, but the Elders were cowards, and frail. They built a passage long ago that leads easily down the cliff and into the cave."

       I embraced the meager relief her words gave me, if only because I knew that would be the only comfort I would feel for a while.

       I followed her carefully around the edge of the cliff, my steps a good three or four feet away from its drop. My stomach seemed to flutter at its height. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

       It wasn't long before she had climbed carefully over a large boulder just at the edge of the cliff, and eased herself down the other side. She made the action look so smooth and effortless, like stepping over a pebble. I frowned but climbed reluctantly after her, though it took twice as long.

       This didn't seem safe at all. But, sure enough, there appeared to be stairs chiseled down the edge of the precipice that led down to its treacherous depths.

       I paused on the top step, my fingers clenching tightly into the edge of my cloak. This was really happening. I was really going to risk the bottom of the Cliffs for some cave I had supposedly been stuck in once.

       My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes grew wide as I scanned the large expanse of the bottom of the cliff. For hundreds of years, I had been trapped here. In this ridiculously cold, dark, deadly place.

       Alone.

       Maybe- maybe I didn't want to know about my past. Maybe I didn't want to remember. I knew the tale of Adranus and his star, knew the heartbreak and turmoil they had both experienced. If that story was real, if I truly was the star, did I really want to remember all that pain?

       I staggered backward uneasily.

       "Emrie?" Mae called a few steps down the cliff, her dark eyes curious as she glanced over her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

       Was I okay? Not really. I was relatively numb in my ignorance, or at least, I thought I was. I could be content like that for a while more. Just believing that I grew up with Mae and Lei, that the King and I were mates and he kept secrets to keep me safe. Believe that one day he would confess he loved me and we would have an actual life together.

       I could be happy with that.

       But if none of it were real, if everything I knew was fake, there would be no point in believing in a happy ending. My life would forever be a lie.

       "I'm okay." I heard myself answer before I lifted my cloak enough to not trip over. I followed her down the small stone steps slowly, my eyes adjusting to the thick fog rolling through the air the further down we traveled.