It’s a possibility I had not yet considered, but one that would have great value. If they know anything about the Guardians, it would help me complete my mission more quickly so I could finally return to the Council and become a Shade…
But why doesn’t that excite me like it used to?
“Fine,” I say, backing away from his bedside to sit on a stool nearby. “If that’s what you want, we stay.”
While Acari and his sister catch up like two excited squirrel kits, I try ignoring them and sinking into my own thoughts, but it’s of no use. Every time Acari mentions our journey to save her, I can’t help but notice the prideful and heroic ways in which he recalls it. Valiantly, I fought off the royal guard, I protected him from a pack of starving wolves, and when it came to stepping over the barrier and into the bandit encampment, I did so bravely, unwilling to let him continue the journey without me.
I wish I felt as heroic and selfless as he saw me. Instead, I feel nothing more than a traitor. My mission is going exactly as planned. I befriended the prince and now I have his blind trust. Together we will seek a Guardian, I will report back to Veltuur, and then I will be sent to claim the princess’ life. I should feel triumphant and clever. Instead, I feel like I have just stepped out of a lagoon and I can’t rid myself of its slimy waters.
I remember having friends before I became a Reaper; I thought about them while I killed my attacker. But that was the friendship of children, of carefree joy and limitless imagination. Acari’s friendship is something more. He has seen me in my most vulnerable moments, and I have seen his as well. When the Council sent me into the mortal realm, I viewed this conquest like a game, like something to be won. It no longer feels like a game though. To betray Acari means to lose his friendship, and to my surprise that feels an awful lot like losing. But if I don’t complete my task, I will have the Council to answer to, and that too will be a great loss.
Once we find a Guardian, once I return to the Council and my contract is reinstated, I will have a very difficult decision to make.
Silence pierces my ears and I realize their conversation has ended. I peer over to find Gem has snuggled up beside her brother and is already fast asleep.
When Acari sees me staring, he clears his throat.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?” I dare ask.
“For everything. For getting me here. For not killing my sister,” he adds with a soft chuckle.
Feeling more cynical than ever, I retort, “It wasn’t by choice, you know. You hit me over the head and the Council took her contract away from me. I would have claimed her life, otherwise.”
Acari’s lips purse together and he stares up at the thatched ceiling. “Maybe you would’ve then, but you’re not now. So, thank you for not trying to kill her now.”
I don’t remind him that I am without my Reaper powers for the time being and therefore he does not know what I will do. He should not trust me, someone who has been deceiving him all this time. I am not worthy of his faith.
“After my mother and brothe—” He pauses and sighs the heaviness away, before running his fingers through the princess’ crow-black hair. “Gem’s all I have.”
It stings to hear him say it, but I know it’s the truth. Though we’ve come to know each other, this partnership will end. One way or another. A Reaper has no place in the mortal world, and a mortal has no interest in a Reaper as a friend.
“What happened to the rest of your family?” I ask before my thoughts can spiral further.
Acari’s eyes tighten, wrinkles appearing at their sides. The pause that follows is one of grief and longing. I’m about to tell him not to worry about telling me anything, to rest instead so that he’ll have the energy he needs for when we leave the camp, but his eyes open.
“They were traveling to a royal ball in Ghamaya to represent our family. My father was ill, and I was too frightened to go with them—I never really liked the idea of having to travel outside the safety of our palace, let alone our kingdom. I even worried about what it would be like to be high up in the mountains and wondered what we’d do if there was an avalanche. I was distraught, as you can imagine. So, they let me stay in Oakfall.”
It is all too easy to believe. I imagine there are many things that terrify the anxious prince. Spiders, grime, bandits, wolves—and those are just the things we have encountered during our short time together. The list is probably in the hundreds.
“The wheel of their carriage was apparently in need of repair, and so they were forced to make an unexpected stop along the path, in between towns on the outskirts of Oakfall. While they waited for the wheel to be replaced, my brother decided to take a stroll through the woods. He came across an aacsi nest. We don’t have them in Oakfall—well, at least we didn’t—so Rikeet didn’t know how dangerous they were, or how to avoid them.”
They are not unknown to me. I remember hearing about them recently. The Council had received a request to enact genocide on the creatures, which was denied. Not only does Veltuur have stipulations for the lives it
