Grounding the Storm ✓

Chapter 50

We've been riding for hours. My eyes are heavy and my back is sore from the saddle—so sore I can barely turn my neck to study our surroundings. The trail we take is empty for the most part; hardly anyone travels from the mines to the capital, except to deliver prisoners from the dungeons. But no one comes by today. It's only us along the empty dirt trail surrounded by grasslands and scattered trees—the staple to this kingdom.

The taste of the air is different out here. I can take deep breaths and each one is filled with fresh grass and summer flowers swaying in the afternoon breeze. With the gentle lean of the horse and the clop of hooves, peace surrounds us like a bind and I've never loved it more. My heart is full and my nerves have dropped to such a low that I don't feel the pain anymore. I don't think of Silas or the fight in the courtyard or even Celestine's grief when we said goodbye merely hours ago.

All I think about is the surrounding freedom. The happiness, the safety, the distance. Arego is far from here and it will take half as long to arrive in Fosux—we'll stop at night and camp somewhere off the trail. There is no civilization out here except for small farms with sheep, cattle, and the occasional herd of goats. Anyone outside their cottages watches us pass before disappearing again, into the depth of the forgotten trail.

Renit and I haven't spoken except for when he asked if I needed to stop. I didn't, but he had to relieve himself so I figured I should do the same. Otherwise, he hasn't tried to reason with me other than the occasional sigh and clearing of his throat like he wants to speak. There are so many things to say but not a single one of them is perfect for right now, this isn't the right moment.

"Do you need to stop?" Renit asks me again.

I turn to him and shake my head. "No, I'm fine."

"Can we talk then? The silence is boring me." He tips his head back to look at the blue sky, cutting through the trees we pass under on the side of the trail. My back, once sweltering with heat, finally cools off underneath the shade of the trees.

I snort and look back to the trial. "You've never been one for talking, why start now?"

I can tell my attitude is annoying him because he stiffens but forces himself to relax before bursting entirely. A roll of his shoulders is all it takes. If I could just force him that one step further so he stops trying so hard to please me, this could all be out in the open. Every last second of it, and we could break out in a battle right here on this empty trail. At least I think we can until I remember the titanium band around my wrist.

"Because there are things we need to talk about. There are things I need to tell you," he confesses easily. He's never been so forward so I oblige him and usher with a hand for him to continue. With a questioning glance, asking me if he should, he shakes off my raised brow and clears his throat. "I know I haven't been entirely kind and there are reasons. None that are your fault, there are some things in my past that I can't get over."

"Start by telling me the person you lost. That seems to be the main reason you hate me so much."

A pebble skitters from underneath the horse's hoof; kicked to the side. It lands on the side of the trail, in a clump of bright green grass. Celestine would love to tend to the nature out here.

"I don't think that's the best topic, we can save that for later." The hint of irritation in his voice takes over and my lips curl into a small smile. Urging for those answers is exactly what he doesn't want to give. I avoid his eye and stare straight at the trail ahead so there isn't any reason for me to understand the annoyed expression on his face.

I click my tongue against the roof of my mouth. "Then I don't want to talk about this with you."

"Roux, please," he snaps. He reins himself back in before I have the chance to say anything. Renit is trying harder than he ever has before, as hard as I did at the beginning. Still, a wall separates us—a line I don't want to cross. And with his resentment, that line has faded. "Fine, I'll tell you. I just...no one else knows about this other than those in the castle. So forgive me if I—" He doesn't have the chance to finish as something whizzes through the air from a tree and hits him directly in the shoulder.