The Fifth Star - Chapter 5 (2/2) - Broken Vow

“Hey, now,” Darius crooned, a hand moving to her back and rubbing softly in an effort to comfort her, “it’s going to be okay. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Forcing herself to swallow her tears, she looked up at him, squinting through puffy eyes. I must look a fright, she thought. “Without knowing all the history between us, it won’t make much sense, but once, long ago, we were more than close,” Sparrow found herself telling the mage more than she would have under different circumstances, but now that the memories came, the flood couldn’t be stopped and she continued, “We would have been lovers if it weren’t for our age, and Mistress Raven’s claim to my maidenhood. Then he was conscripted. He made me a promise before he left; when he returned from his service, we would find a way to be together.

“But that never came to be. Rhin didn’t come home after three years, nor after six. I heard nothing of him, and took him for dead, or moved on. I had to relinquish the childish ideal of love I carried to be able to tolerate the work the Mistress demanded of me. I haven’t laid eyes on him for seven years until tonight… and now that I have, I wish he’d left well enough alone.”

“What did he want from you?”

She scoffed, a cover for ache in her heart. “Just to gloat, essentially. It seems Raven told him I have some secret lover. He told me about his knighting, and how I’d have ‘wanted for nothing’ if I hadn’t given myself to someone else. But he wouldn’t accept that it was all a lie on her part.”

“I’m sorry,” he told her, and he sounded as if he truly meant it. More than Rhin had when he’d used the same words.

Tears rose again but she blinked rapidly to dispel them. He’s not worth this. You managed without him this long, she told herself as she did. “I just don’t understand,” she groaned, “Raven knew I loved him. Why would she do this?”

“Only your Mistress could tell you for certain,” he responded softly, “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time on this earth… you must remember to be more cynical of others’ intentions. People will always put their own interests above your own.”

She fixed him with a quizzical look. “So what is your concern for me about, then? What do you want from me?”

“To get you safely to the College, as I’ve been ordered.” His answer was quick – too quick. She allowed herself a wry smirk at him. “If that were all you cared of, you’d have given me the aethribane and been gone already. Not to mention you’ve been far kinder than can be expected from a Valterian.”

Darius looked at her for an excruciatingly long, silent time. It felt as though he bored into her very soul with those oceanic eyes of his, his gaze was so intense, but she met it stubbornly and refused to be the first to break it. Eventually he cast a glance to the neighbouring cells, their occupants in the midst of sleep, then to the guard to ensure he did not encroach too closely. Only then did he lean closer, reducing the distance between them to mere inches.

“I will tell you… but I cannot emphasize enough how critical your silence is if I do,” he whispered just beside her ear. “It will mean both our heads if you don’t heed me in this.”

“I swear to keep quiet,” she agreed, curiosity forcing her grief aside for the moment.

He sighed softly, warm breath tickling her skin. “You won’t be going to the College, if my plan works.”

Sparrow’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “You… want to rescue me?” she whispered back hurriedly, “But- why? You don’t even know me. Why would you risk throwing your entire lifestyle – if not your life – away for a stranger?”

“There’s not enough time right now,” he replied, his words far quicker than just a moment before. “I promise, once we escape, if we escape, I’ll explain everything. Already I’ve been in this cell with you too long. Just – be ready. When I come for you, make sure you’re prepared to leave Lothan, likely for good. Can you do that?”

Too bewildered to manage anything else, Sparrow nodded emphatically, an action that prompted Darius to lean back on his heels with a smile.

“Good,” he pulled the familiar leaves out of his pocket and she ate them immediately. “I’ll see you shortly.”

He took his leave of her cell, stopping on his way out of the dungeon to confer quietly with the jailor. She overheard a comment about ‘caterwauling women’, but she ignored it. Now she had something to look forward to. Her body, perhaps sensing she was not so morose as before, urged her to rest. If she were to escape, she’d be of no use to anybody exhausted.

Sparrow stretched out the best she was able in the corner, but she was still cramped so as not to touch the worst of the filth. It didn’t matter. She’d been awake for so long now that once given the slightest opportunity, her instincts overwhelmed her and quieted her thoughts, eased the gnawing worry in her belly that had started, and forced her to sleep. She didn’t fight its pull, welcoming the darkness and what she could only pray would follow after.