Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 13 - Rohana - Our List of Why Today Was Shitty

They're idiots. All of them. All fourteen brains put together and they still can't see the obvious answer. It's infuriating.

I want to scream and yell at them, but that'd only give me away. I want to freeze time and draw a big, fat arrow on the ground and write "that way you fucking imbeciles,' but Willa has her orders, and I'm supposed to follow them and blah blah blah...Not to mention that they'd likely dismiss it after an agonizing hour of me squatting in the bush and trying not to jump off the cliff, while they argue about whether it was a sign or a prank.

I have two hours until my shift ends, and having to follow them over the cliff's terrain is a pain in the ass. There was a time when I would come to these cliffs and look westward as if I could see all the way to Thralia. I would've given anything to travel and see the world rather than be stuck under that stupid mountain. Now, I find it ironic how I am now walking the coastline, the salt wind tangling my hair and the sound of seabirds singing above, and all I want is my four stone-wall bedroom that has crickets constantly talking day and night.

Not being able to do something is annoying, but I wasn't entirely mad that I couldn't say anything as I watched them all tumble down a hill. They were too busy moping, that they didn't realize they started walking on a mudslide until one of the blondes was already halfway down the hill. I laughed for a good ten minutes, replaying their faces and loud curses as they tried to hold onto one another for support only to end up plummeting downwards themselves. Fourteen grown men now make camp along the cliffs, every single inch of them caked in slowly drying mud. I don't think any decent inn will take them with the way they smell once they reach the Adaerian capital.

If they wake early and keep up their pace, they should reach Cadorelin by nightfall. And now I want to jump off the cliff again.

Cadorelin. Please. As if Xaxias would ever go to a bustling city full of ritualistic and peppy people who have no regard for personal boundaries, or a care in the world for what the words 'go away' mean. It's a gorgeous place and full of – what you could say – kind people, but I personally dislike everything but the scenery. I don't trust people who don't show some kind of dark side to them. Call me traumatized, but if you're always smiling and always so kind and gentle and the purest at heart, then you're definitely not human. Or at least not a sober one.

The eldest two of the group leave to fetch their dinner, leaving everyone else to try and find wood. Darius walks off, the assassin following at a respectable distance. Every night since they've left the Dearg Forest, Darius and the assassin have trained. They walk far enough that's safe for everyone else in case the elements get the better of him, but close enough for them or the others to reach each other in case something happens. Thanks to me and my sisters, anything or anyone who even thought about it has been misted elsewhere.

I know the assassin's name is Arthur, but something about that name doesn't sound right. Clarice isn't an entirely believable name either, but it makes more sense than a grey-eyed male who looks nothing like an Arthur. When Dawn was still in Thralia, she talked all the time about what she wanted her children to be named, especially after she and Kerrigan were married and crowned. None of her long listings included Clarice or Arthur. Not even as one of the two middle names all Thralians carry.

A tradition since Thralia's establishment. To give your child three names prior to their surname, each carrying a meaning meant to establish either the child's destiny, personality, or a trait their parents wished for them to always carry. Most of us Thralians spend our whole lives trying to live up to our names. Rohana means One who travels a higher path. Ashina, one of two of my middle names, stands for she-wolf. An animal of loyalty and intelligence. My third name, Avyana, means strong, powerful, and beautiful. All names my mother chose because my father couldn't care what I was called. He used to tell me how he never cared because he was just happy to have me. His first and only child. Though I think he compromised with my mother seeing as his surname became my own. Nicoletti. The name of a nobleman who grew up on scraps and refused to take no for an answer. He always inspired me more than my name's meaning did, but for the sake of both my parents, I worked hard to fulfill what name they bestowed upon me. Sometimes I think back and wonder if I fulfilled it a little too much in some areas.