Lux [h.s]

twenty-three

It was a day later that everything fell apart.

Harry tried to slip away early in the morning as usual, but Cora stopped him with a single sentence.

"Has Aster come back?" Her voice rang out in the wagon, so quiet they could've heard a pin drop.

He paused and glanced at her over his shoulder. "Not yet."

Cora sat up, frowning. Her hair fell over her shoulders in waves. "Why did—"

"Aster has his way of doing things," Harry interrupted her. "You shouldn't bother trying to find a reason."

"And where is Skat?"

He tensed up. "Not here. She'll come back."

"And why—"

"I didn't expect to be hit with a thousand questions before noon."

Cora glared at him. "I want to know why we risked our life at Count Watillon's house. I deserve to know. You said you'd tell me."

Harry put on his blue coat and secured his dagger to his belt with quick, stiff motions. "I did say that, didn't I?" He sighed and moved the curtain aside to glance at the early-morning clearing. "Thalia heard he got his hands on a fay." He spoke quickly, lowly, as if he feared someone else other than Cora would hear. "He was planning to send her out as a gift to a duke overseas. We couldn't allow that to happen."

"You freed her?"

He hummed. "I had Skat upset the horses. The guards keeping watch over her came to help. Thalia stepped in, stole the servants' key to her room and gave it to her. She promised she'd wait a couple of days before escaping, so we should be hearing of it soon." He sent her a look. "Happy now?"

Cora clenched her teeth. "And where's Aster?"

Harry sent another glance outside, growing restless. "I had him look into something for me. He'll come back as soon as he loses his tail."

"His tail?!"

He silenced her with a single look. "If that's all..." He opened the door and went out.

Cora stared at the spot where he'd been for a long moment. Then, she jumped off bed and threw her clothes on, only stopping to grab her wool cloak on the way out. "Wait!" she exclaimed, running after Harry.

He'd made it to the end of the clearing, but he halted before dipping into the trees and turned around.

It was a cold end-of-autumn morning, and the grass under her feet was wet even though it hadn't rained. Cora's breath left her mouth in clouds, but running warmed up her muscles.

When she reached Harry, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulders. It took her a moment to recover from the aching in her lungs.

"Take me with you," she breathed out when she felt like she could surrender any of the air inside her body to the world outside without risking to pass out.

He raised an eyebrow. But he didn't leave, and it was enough for her to know she had to go on if she wanted a chance.

"I don't know my place here. I don't know what to do, I don't understand anything. You leave me here in the morning and I only see you again at lunch or dinner, and I'm lost. There's nothing for me to do here." Maybe she should've let Harry drop her off at one of the cities closer to the coast where she wouldn't be found and made a living there. There was nothing for her at the Fair. She missed the feeling of knowing her place.

Harry still didn't say a word.

"Take me with you," Cora repeated. "You're the only one I know here. Please just take me with you—I don't care what you do, I just want to have something to do."