The Reader - Chapter 26

Chapter 26 

“We’ll be there any minute!” someone called out and Emmeline jolted awake, yawning. 

It had been two and a half days since Emmeline, Beckett, Newt, and Clara had left for the secret bedroom bunker, and they were finally arriving. 

Emmeline and Newt had taken turns driving, mostly Emmeline and night where she could think and was less likely to be recognized by villagers. They avoided people for the most part, but the carriage had to stay on trails unlike the horses and there were always travellers. 

Clara grabbed Emmeline’s shoulders, shaking her fully awake. “Didn’t you hear me?” 

“I heard you,” Emmeline groaned, yawning again before sitting up completely. 

“We have to stop the carriage here.” Newt threw open the door and popped his head inside. “I can’t get any closer without risking getting stuck. We have a short walk.” 

“Sounds good,” Emmeline sighed, dreading the walk. Of course, her legs were grateful that she didn’t have to be sitting again. Rusty Bob and Void also seemed thankful for a slight rest. Emmeline climbed out of the carriage, stretching her sore limbs. 

“It’s this way,” Newt said, pointing to a grove of trees. 

“I’m so excited!” Clara exclaimed. “I think I could burst!” 

“Please don’t,” Beckett advised. Clara stuck her tongue out at him and Beckett chased after her. The two dashed in circles around Emmeline and Newt who slowly made their way to the bunker room. 

Newt was the one to find the door and the ladder leading down to the room. Emmeline stayed out of the hole with Beckett and Clara, watching from above. 

“Should I knock?” Newt asked. “I’d prefer not to be skewered by a sword or arrow.” 

“Here, I’ll knock,” Clara offered. She and Newt switched places. “The Sprite Hunters have a special knock that we did, so they’ll know it’s either me or someone who tortured me.” 

Clara didn’t wait for a response, she rapped her knuckles against the door in a quick succession. Emmeline couldn’t replicate the pattern, but Clara seemed to know what she was doing. There was a click of a lock and the door opened just a crack. 

“Who is it?” a voice hissed. 

“Clara?” the door flew open entirely and Coral burst into the tiny hole, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. “I thought that Baelle had captured you!” 

“We thought the silver Kingdom captured you!” Clara exclaimed. 

“They did,” Coral admitted. “Come in, come in. We have loads to tell you guys.” 

Emmeline, Newt, and Beckett climbed down the ladder, following Coral and Clara inside. The room looked relatively the same, but Beckett was intrigued by all of it. 

It was obvious that Coral and Forrest had spent time as prisoners. Coral’s dark hair was lopped off at her shoulders when it used to hang to her waist. She had an unhealed cut on her cheek, and her teal eyes looked exhausted. 

Forrest’s jet-black hair was missing in chunks and his face was a mess of half-healed cuts and scars. Emmeline felt her throat filling with emotion. Baelle had been willing to do almost anything to get Coral on her side, including injure Forrest. But if Forrest was hurt, that had to mean…. 

“Yes,” Coral sighed, catching Emmeline’s eyes. “I lost my Blessing. I’m a normal girl now, nothing special at all.” 

“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Newt suggested. 

Forrest shook his head, and Coral stared at him for a moment. “He wants you to go first.” Newt nodded and took a seat on the floor, everyone but Beckett copying his movement. 

While Forrest’s quiet nature normally meant he didn’t speak much, Emmeline thought there was something different about him. Besides his looks, he gingerly sat like something deep inside still pained him. They had all changed, of course, but Forrest seemed … still harmed. 

Newt explained everything, recounting the details from the very moment Coral and Forrest had left the tower ruins. Emmeline summarized what she had witnessed alone with Baelle, but apart from that Newt did the talking. Clara added her experience of escaping the soldiers taking them to Viridi, telling about how she had led the small army to a victory. 

Coral and Forrest both beamed at her, Coral praising the girl for doing so well. Clara positively radiated her pride, and she voiced her concerns for Coral and Forrest’s wellbeing. 

“Your turn,” Newt said at least, finishing his story with the arrival of their carriages in Faroshin. 

“You can’t just dump that on us all at once,” Coral protested. “I want to ask a question - why?” She turned to Emmeline. “You could’ve just given in to Baelle and she probably would’ve let you live, maybe even made you her sidekick or something. And yet you chose to die over being on her side.” 

Emmeline shrugged, heat rising to her cheeks. “I don’t know. I guess I was worried about all of you - she wouldn’t let all of us live.” 

What Emmeline didn’t say was how the image of Newt’s bloody face had sparked rage inside of her. She didn’t say how she wanted to do almost anything to protect him. Those were still feelings that Emmeline wondered if they had even happened. The whole castle predicament seemed like a crazy nightmare. 

“That’s the difference between you and I, I guess,” Coral sniffed. “If I had been in your position I don’t know what I would have done.” 

“So how did you escape?” Clara interrupted. “Actually, how did you get captured in the first place?”

Coral and Forrest shared a look. “We were on the way to Nelith,” Coral began. “I don’t know where exactly we were, but we asked for directions at every village to make sure that we were going the right way. Maybe we were at the border of Argenti or something, but a group of soldiers came charging at us. I think they were tipped off. 

“Anyways, Forrest fought against them but I surrendered. All it took was once hit and my Blessing would be gone. Well Forrest didn’t understand what I was trying to do and his Curse took over. He attacked most of the soldiers and we almost made it out but one of the guards stabbed him in the arm. I passed out, but next thing I knew I was in the dungeons of the Silver Castle. 

“There was a Rogue as a queen, but she didn’t tell me her name. She brought Forrest into the cell beside me and tortured him until I agreed to help Baelle.” Coral’s voice broke and a small tear trickled down her face. “But apparently she had been torturing him when I wasn’t awake too, as a punishment for saying no in the first place. She ordered a carriage and we were on our way to Viridi when the lead soldier pulled over the carriage for a bathroom break. 

“I knew it would be one of my only chances for escape so I waited until I was out of the carriage until I kicked the soldier holding me. It led to a brawl but Forrest’s Curse took over again and this time he won. We ran through the forest until we found this place.” Coral looked at Forrest again, her eyes seeming more hurt than ever before. “And we’ve been here ever since.” Coral fell silent, her eyes meeting Emmeline’s. The other girl seemed so much more mature than Emmeline. 

Forrest tapped Coral’s shoulder, and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah!” Coral exclaimed. “We found the Sprite Hunters!” 

“What?!” Clara basically screamed. “Where are they? Is Gwen alive? Are they all alive?” 

“Most of them are still there,” Coral explained. “When Forrest and I were on the way to Nelith we met them in Ibeni. Gwen was leading them to the Wanderling Woods, so we split ways. But as far as I know, they’re still there. We can go find them or send a messenger.” 

“I can’t wait!” Clara said, the biggest smile Emmeline had ever seen on her face. Clara seemed to remember Newt and Emmeline were there too, and she blushed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude. But the Sprite Hunters are basically my family and I haven’t seen them in forever.” 

“It’s fine,” Emmeline said, waving it off. She was glad that Clara would get to meet her friends again. And Emmeline was looking forward to seeing Gwen as well as the other Sprite Hunters. 

“Anyways, um,” Clara interjected. “I don’t know how to put this. But why isn’t Forrest speaking? Did we offend him or…” 

“It’s nothing like that,” Coral cut in, her eyebrows knitting together. 

Emmeline had noticed Forrest’s odd quiet earlier, but now she realized he hadn’t said a word since their arrival. Yes, he was normally more silent than the others, but now he seemed entirely mute. 

Coral and Forrest shared a look that seemed to share a thousand unspoken words. Coral finally sighed and looked back at Newt, Emmeline, and Clara. “You see, he hasn’t said a word since the Rogue tortured him. I thought maybe she took his voice but he assured me he can talk, he just doesn’t want to. Like I said, we’re changed people.” 

“That’s fine,” Emmeline said quietly. She wished she had thought of becoming mute before everyone asked her to speak of her death. 

But Emmeline remembered that it had taken an immense amount of bravery to speak of a subject so touchy. Not that Forrest was a coward, he was strong in his own ways. Maybe the Rogue had broken him in ways he didn’t want to admit. 

Clara didn’t say a word, but a silent tear streaked down her face. She wrapped her arms around Forrest’s neck, burying her face into his hair and whispering something into his ear. 

Forrest smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth pulling upwards just a bit. 

Clara smiled too, though there was a sadness hidden behind the grin. 

It reminded Emmeline that they had all changed. She had faced Baelle herself, and she felt like she could face anything. She wasn’t scared anymore. 

Newt seemed to stand a little taller now that he had survived torture. 

Clara had grown more mature after becoming a healer for an injured army. 

Beckett was learning how to be a normal person, but he was also accepting the price of the crown. 

Coral seemed less … emotional and more fractured now. 

And Forrest was broken. Gone. He had always been the strong fighter in the group, but that confident part of him was gone now. 

Emmeline’s thoughts were interrupted by Beckett yelping like he’d been burned. 

She leapt to her feet, immediately spinning and ready to face any danger. Instead, she saw Beckett standing by the wardrobe with the dress, a smaller hidden cabinet revealed in the back of the wood. And inside … 

“Beautiful,” Clara breathed. 

Inside the cabinet was a golden crown, a mixture of emeralds and opals lining the rim. Beckett was staring at with wonder, his fingers grazed the jewels, stroking them. 

“What did you do? We didn’t see that last time,” Newt said softly. 

“I touched the wood because I thought that there was something wrong with it. The wood just swung open, and the crown was inside,” Beckett protested like someone would yell at him. Emmeline was too distracted by the crown to speak. 

Who would have left it here? Possibly Gray and Persephone, but why then would it have a mixture of the gems? The crown would have to be specially forged, and by a rebel. 

“Put it on,” Clara encouraged him. 

Beckett looked at Emmeline and she shrugged. He lifted the crown out of the cabinet and placed it on his head. It sagged, falling loose around his forehead. “It’s a bit big,” he mumbled as he pushed it upwards. 

“You’ll grow into it,” Clara assured him. 

“Look,” Newt said, pointing into the cabinet. “There’s a piece of parchment.” 

Beckett sat the crown back in the cabinet, lifting the parchment to the light. “Dearest Beckett,” he read, his voice welling with emotion. “I know this is you - you’re the only one who can open this compartment. This crown is something your father and I made for you. We had you Read as a baby, we know what lies ahead. We know we can’t be here to experience life with you, so I offer you the first and last gift ever given to you by your parents. Make me proud, darling. With love, Mom.” 

Beckett sniffed, clutching the parchment in his hand. His eyes met Emmeline’s. “You heard my mother, let’s make her proud.” 

He placed the ill-fitting crown back on his head, tucking the parchment into his pocket. 

Then he left the room and began to climb the ladder. Emmeline and the others followed him, knowing fully to let him brood alone. 

The carriage ride back seemed to take less time, but perhaps it was the way the room always seemed full of life. Clara taught Beckett some of the games she had been taught with the Sprite Hunters while Coral beat both of them. 

Emmeline told stories of heroes and villains based mainly off of some of the Readings she had experienced. 

Newt and Forrest mainly drove the carriage, but Coral and Emmeline each took one shift. Forrest had to be forced back into the cabin where he would curl up on the trunks of food and supplies and sleep until his next shift. When Newt was in the cabin he added to Emmeline’s stories but also tried to work on his “death magic”. 

His Curse or Blessing - whichever it was - did not work well in a carriage and was quickly nixxed by both Emmeline and Coral after he had attempted to bring back Clara’s ancestors and instead brought back a bloodthirsty king spirit that beared no resemblance to the girl. 

Emmeline had lost count of how many days they had journeyed, but the air grew frigid and any spare cloaks were welcomed. Faroshin was approaching. 

They arrived in the small village during the middle of the night, snow swirling around them. Coral was amazed by the sight of the fluffy flakes spiraling to the ground, and tried to manipulate them due to their water base. Too late she realized she no longer was Blessed and excused herself to get some sleep. 

Emmeline didn’t know where Coral and Forrest bunked, but they disappeared quickly leaving Newt, Clara, and Beckett alone in the lobby of the inn. 

Finally, after a long moment of silence Emmeline excused herself to get some sleep too and Clara followed her. The pair trudged up the steps, discarding their snowy boots on the mat of their door. 

Clara snuggled into the covers in her thin nightdress and fell asleep almost immediately. 

Emmeline had more trouble, her thoughts resembling the relentless snowstorm outside the inn. She tried to think of happy things, but everything spiraled back to Baelle. 

The demigoddess was still out there - or the Goddess now, thanks to Emmeline. And she was probably livid about the whole burning down the castle thing. Emmeline knew she should have been scared. 

But the thing was, she wasn't afraid of Baelle anymore. 

The situation didn’t seem so frightening for some reason. Emmeline had escaped once, she could do it again. But if she was given the chance, she would kill Baelle before she had time to react. 

By the time Emmeline finally drifted off to sleep she had decided that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill Baelle. She had to be strong, she had to have courage, but most of all she needed to be ready. Emmeline would do everything in her power to make sure the Goddess didn’t harm innocent people anymore.