Chapter 9
No Rest
When the sun rose the next morning, Rosaline rolled over and hid her face under a blanket. It was the memories of the previous night that jolted her awake a few seconds later.
“Good morning, our star healer,” Faith was flipping through a book. “You seemed to have slept quite well.”
“Yes, I did. Thank you. How did you sleep?”
“Like a rock.” Faith put the book down. “He’s still out, but he’s definitely going to be alright.”
“Ignacio?” Rosaline asked as she pushed the covers away.
“No,” Faith laughed, “Haiden. I think that Ignacio did watch him all night, though. Hardly necessary after what you did. I think he felt bad that you ended up doing everything.”
“But I—”
Before Rosaline could finish, Dulce pulled open a flap on their little enclosure. “Good morning.”
Faith gave her friend one look and rolled her eyes, “Working out the poison, I see.”
“You’re just jealous.”
The two bantered, leaving Rosaline confused and curious. She followed them to the water to wash up. Someone always stayed with Haiden, but they couldn’t make any progress on their goal while he remained unconscious.
The afternoon after he appeared in their camp, Dulce and Draven disappeared, which was expected. However, their return less than an hour later startled everyone. They explained how they had found a time hole not too far away, and the seers and champions immediately began to discuss trying to rescue Harmony themselves.
Ignacio avoided listening to their discussion, but Rosaline was drawn into the debate because too often the group was talking over itself. Dulce alone sat to the side, a defiant look on her face.
“You cannot expect me to sit back and wait for her to be found.” Though she was pouting, Dulce’s voice was anything but cute as she looked at Draven.
“I understand your concern, Dulce, but you charging in is about the worst thing that you could do. Obviously, you aren’t thinking things through.” Draven was exasperated, but more tame than Faith and Benettio, who both felt that the risk was too high to go after her at all.
Rosaline walked over to the group. “I’m sorry, Dulce, but he is right. If you still have poison in your system, you are going to make it easy to add to their heart. It is almost a death sentence to both you and Harmony. You won’t leave her, she won’t leave you. Draven will die trying to get both of you out, and then we will be down more allies.”
Dulce’s eyes narrowed, “You are not going to guilt me into staying behind.”
“Why would you feel guilty about not doing something stupid?” Rosaline tilted her head to the side, trying to figure out what Dulce meant. “There are other options. Right now, I think that Haiden is our best option. If he can wake up within the next three days, he has the proper motivation to find her and bring her back.”
“Three days!” Dulce stood up. “They could have her merged into a heart in that amount of time!”
Rosaline shook her head, “Right now they are looking for Miracle.”
The small group looked at each other. Draven looked up at her, “They aren’t those kind of believers. They don’t look for miracles.”
“No, they aren’t looking for a miracle. They are looking for the Miracle in the prophecy. It was issued the night that Haiden appeared. It was so clear it almost gave me a headache.”
Draven stood up, “What prophecy?”
“Miracle’s prophecy. She had been fighting them for a very long time. Longer than any of us have been alive. Longer than all of us have been combined. But she met him,” she pointed to Haiden, “and Harmony. Harmony named her Miracle, and then sacrificed herself to make sure they didn’t find Miracle. She didn’t know that Miracle is much, much older, but I don’t think that she had a name before. Maverick took her, but I didn’t follow him because of Caspian and—” Rosaline stopped talking and she turned to look at Ignacio. She immediately shut her mouth.
Ignacio was watching her without any discernable expression on his face. She recognized that look.
“Rosaline!” Her head whipped back around and she stepped back when she realized that Benettio was standing directly in front of her. His clear yellow eyes were pretty, but they were not friendly at that moment. “How do you know this?
“I’m a druid,” she said and began to pull at her lip.
Before anyone could say anything, Ignacio materialized beside her. “I believe her. She’s been training to become a high priestess, so she is much more sensitive to the world than we are. Although,” he turned to look at her, an eyebrow arched, “it would have been nice if she would have told us sooner.”
“I didn’t know if it was important. We are protecting Dulce, so we couldn't go after Harmony, too. She has a lot more poison in her system.”
Dulce seemed to swoon. Draven was by her side helping her sit down. “It’s okay, Dulce. Everything will be alright.”
Rosaline spoke up, “If it will make you feel better, if he isn’t awake within three days, I will go look for Harmony.”
The group fell silent.
“You can’t do that, Rosaline,” Ignacio’s voice was low. “You cannot go walking into—”
“I will take Ignacio because I can tell you all trust him, even if he is an assassin. You don’t think of him as one, so you trust him. If Haiden doesn’t wake up, we will make sure she comes back safely.”
The group looked at each other and started to nod. Dulce looked up at her, “Thank you, Rosaline, but I don’t think that we can let you go. Your powers are far too great, so we can’t let you walk into trouble.”
“But you can’t go, either.”
Ignacio held his hands up, “I will communicate the need to a few people who might be able to help and will have them be on standby for when Haiden wakes. As for the group, I think we will need to get to the destination as quickly as possible and then disband. Maverick will not be joining us now, and the four of you, though incredibly capable, you don’t have a healer among you.”
“Sorry, Ignacio.” Dulce looked at him with a guilty smile, “It looks like we are relying on your druid a little too much.”
He waved his hands, “If she is offering to go into the Unwashed den, then clearly she has enjoyed her time here, even if she doesn’t know how to show it.” He looked at Rosaline for a second with a forced smile, “She has been trained to be careful and unemotional. If I didn’t drag her back, she would probably do everything she could for the betterment of all.”
As he said it, Rosaline felt a little pain in her heart, mostly because she knew it was true. The way he said it made her feel like he did not agree with her following what was expected of her.
Ignacio leaned over, “The priestesses would never approve of you walking into an Unwashed nest.”
Without another word, he walked off into the forest. Faith broke the silence, “I don’t care if he is an assassin, if that shifter were interested in me, I would not turn him down.”
Dulce laughed, “Forget it, Faith. His heart is more closed off than Caspian’s, he just won’t play with your heart before breaking it.”
Rosaline turned to look at where Ignacio once stood. Without thinking, she moved over to Haiden and began to tend to him.
The next day passed without any changes, but the following morning, Haiden woke up. Rosaline noticed him moving around and talking with Ignacio, who was cooking up some fish that they had caught. Everyone else was down at the creek. At one point, Ignacio had a pained expression on his face as he looked over at her. She gave a little wave, but he looked away. Moments later, Dulce noticed that Haiden was awake. Running out of the water, she headed straight for him. Since listening to Ignacio after he had purged the poison from his system, Rosaline had been trying to fit in a little better. She ran after Dulce and Faith, and threw her arms around them as they hugged Haiden. After all of the time she had spent taking care of him, it felt nice when he hugged her back. A sincere smile spread across her face, and she squeezed him a little harder.
As happy as he was to see everyone, Haiden had no intention of remaining, especially after he learned about the time hole. Ignacio pulled him aside for a few minutes. When Haiden returned, he was smiling. “Ready, Dulce? Draven?”
“You look awfully happy for a fool rushing in.” Draven did not look amused.
“Well, I'm not going to go running in, sword swinging, the way you would for Dulce because I want their deaths to come as a complete surprise. A sweet, nasty surprise.” His eyes narrowed, and for a second Haiden looked almost terrifying. He shifted and a few seconds later he, Dulce, and Draven were heading toward the time hole.
Less than two days later, the group began to split. Faith and Benettio left a few miles from the destination. Once it was just the four of them, Ignacio removed the last of Dulce and Draven’s things from his little storage area and placed them on a table while people were saying goodbye.
There was a soft smile on his face as he pulled Dulce into a tight hug. “I think that you need to stay here, in safety, until the rest of the poison is out of your system. I know that you want to help, but if you have to travel in packs, that should tell you everything you need to know about how risky it is.”
“I know you are right, Ignacio,” she squeezed him. “But you also know that I hate doing nothing.”
“Staying safe isn’t doing nothing. But I promise that I will find a way to let you be useful without having to walk into danger.” He pulled away from her and held her at arm’s length. “Is that good enough?”
Dulce sighed and shook her head, “If you promise, then yes it is. You have one month to figure out how to use me.”
“Deal. And you two focus on the poison. I am not going to want to deal with that again.” He gave them a meaningful look.
Dulce giggled as Draven wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Jealous?”
“Of course.” His smile spread to his eyes as he looked at them. “You really do look great together, just remember how happy you feel right now because tough times are coming.”
“I would argue that the worst is behind me,” Dulce said.
“Hey!” Draven moved so that he could look into her eyes.
Her beautiful laugh rang around the room, “I didn’t mean you. I meant the year before I met you. Facing everything on my own, and remembering….” She shivered.
Draven pulled her closer to him. His face lowered near hers, “I am here to make sure you never suffer through that again.”
Dulce spun around in his arms, “That is exactly why I said that the worst is behind me. Now that I have you—” Draven stopped her from talking with a passionate kiss.
Ignacio looked away. “Never mind. Forget I said anything. You don’t need me reminding you of anything besides remembering to breathe. Rosaline, let’s get you home.”
Rosaline stood rooted to the spot, her mind trying to process the open display of affection. A whispered voice in her ear said, “Don’t stare. It’s impolite.” Rosaline nodded, her face red as she finally looked away. The couple did not even realize that Ignacio and Rosaline had left.
The trip back to Marlyon did not take long as Ignacio insisted on carrying Rosaline back. He didn’t sleep for several days. As much as Rosaline wanted to encourage him to take care of himself, she knew that he was anxious to get her home. He had been acting a little different ever since she had offered to go after Harmony.
Things were just as hectic after they returned. The mystic queen, Freya, had asked for help, and the druids were debating whether they should send someone. As soon as she learned this, Rosaline immediately began to speak out about the importance of working with them. Between her and Itzel, there was no rest for the druids, and they eventually agreed that one of them could go. Haiden and Harmony arrived around the same time as Rosaline and Ignacio returned as well. Harmony was in really rough shape, but she was expected to live. There was a considerable amount of poison in her system, and Ignacio had no desire to tell the druids about the only proven way to remove it. He simply said Haiden knew what to do and to let them work it out between them.
Not long after they returned, he disappeared, though nobody seemed able to tell Rosaline when she asked.
To her surprise, Haiden was selected to represent the champions in the discussion with the queen. Eager to be of assistance, she had offered to help work the poison out of Harmony’s system while he was away. Haiden’s speechless response quickly turned into nervous laughter as he tried to hint at how the poison was removed. He had to bluntly explain that the only method that seemed to work was sex—he could draw the poison out of her. As Rosaline tried to find a scientific reason behind what he was suggesting, her face beet-red, he cut her off saying that he didn’t care why it worked, he was just glad it did.
“But—but—you aren’t together! You aren’t the same species!”
Haiden gave her a strange look, “I thought you and…” He twisted his mouth and his eyes went to the window, “Oh, he didn’t say anything. Dammit. He always makes things so much harder on himself, like he thinks he still needs to prove himself.” Haiden shook his head and looked into Rosaline’s eyes. “I love Harmony. It doesn’t matter that she isn’t a jaguar shifter to me, I can’t imagine being with anyone else now.”
“But that makes no sense!”
“It doesn’t have to make sense. There are male humans burning up magic users’ lives trying to find immortality and power. We don’t live in a world that make sense. The world has never made sense. That is what makes life worth living. You have to find your reason to live, whether it is your path in life, a worthwhile cause, or love. I have lived long enough to know that what Harmony and I have is not common, and it is fragile. I almost lost her. I almost lost her, Rosaline. Maybe you don’t understand how much that hurts, but I think you will. If you are honest with yourself.”
“I don’t understand!” Rosaline put her head in her hands.
A hand patted her on the shoulder, “I think you don’t want to understand. That is the best I can do to help you after everything you have done for me. And if you figure it out, I can repay him for a fraction of what he has done for us.” Haiden gave her a smile, then closed the door.
Rosaline was pondering his words back in her room when someone knocked on her door. She rose and walked to the door. One of the priestesses was waiting on the other side. “The high priestesses are summoning you.”
“Oh, right.” Rosaline had not met with them since she had returned. “I completely forgot!”
“We know, and they are very disappointed.”
Rosaline held up a finger, “Give me a minute. I need to do something first.”
“No, Rosaline. They will not wait any longer. We don’t know what you have been doing, but you are not acting the way you should.”
Rosaline paused, then looked at the priestess. “You are right. I understand and will follow you.”
The high priestesses expressed their disappointment and anger for over two hours. They suppressed her powers and put her on probation, not only because she did not come see them (and was incredibly difficult to find), but they did not like the information that she presented to them. She had saved a champion, which was fine, but she had done so in the open, put Ignacio at risk by asking him to withdraw the poison, failed to return home after the events that had happened in the woods, and she had expressed far too much emotion as she spoke.
Rosaline hung her head as she left. A part of her wondered if she should have mentioned that Orion and Caspian had been in the woods, or if she should have brought up the prophecy she had heard, but she was glad she didn’t. The way the women had treated her was wrong. Rosaline had been there, experienced events, and she had reacted in a way that she thought was best for everyone involved.
She sought a place to reflect, and found herself in the small garden where Ignacio had brought her after the last mission. Sitting on the bench, she felt miserable. Something wet hit her hand, and she looked up to the sky to see if it was now going to make things worse by raining on her.
Something soft pressed against her cheek. Startled, Rosaline looked to the side. Sitting beside her was Ignacio. “Your eyes are raining.” He patted her cheek.
Without thinking, Rosaline threw her arms around him. For a moment he was shocked, but then he slid his arms around her. “Go ahead and cry. I won’t tell anyone.”
She cried into his shoulder for what felt like an eternity and no time at all. Suddenly, he stood up. He slipped the soft cloth that he had used to dab her tears into Rosaline’s hand and moved to the door.
“She is reflecting now. Can I get word to her?”
Rosaline looked up and realized that someone was looking for her. Hiding her face, she tried to look like she was concentrating.
“I know that you just got back, Ignacio, but something has come up.” Orion’s voice sounded strained, “Legend’s prophecy happened, Ignacio. Right in front of me, I watched him die. Then I watched him be brought back to life. That shouldn’t be possible. It shouldn’t be possible for anyone, and no prophecy should be undone, either.”
Rosaline peeked over at Ignacio and saw him leaning against the wall. His eyes looked at Orion’s. “So, he’s not dead.”
Orion shook his head, “Not anymore. But that’s not the worst thing. I found out what happened to Kendra. They killed her, Ignacio, they killed Kendra.”
Ignacio sank to the ground. “Not possible. No human could kill her. She was—”
“I know. And I know that Rosaline wanted to go talk to Freya, but given her abilities, we need her help somewhere else right now.”
“What do you need me to do?”
Ignacio looked up at her, his head shaking vigorously, “No. No. I won’t—you can’t go.”
Orion stepped toward her, ignoring Ignacio. “Itzel is good, but I think that it would be best if she dealt with Freya so that you can help determine the physical limits to the far west. We need to know how far into Marlyon the Unwashed have made it, but clearly they have penetrated even into our lands.”
“I don’t understand how that is possible,” Rosaline said.
“Absolutely not. She is not leaving here again. Orion, she was crying just now.” Ignacio’s words were uttered in a hissed whisper. “She is not in a state—”
“Good.” Orion’s words cut across whatever his mentee was going to say. “The more connected she is with the here and now, the better her abilities will be.”
Ignacio stood between Orion and Rosaline. “No. She is reeling from not one, but two very trying missions. You even said yourself that she had no business going on the last one. But you let her, and now—”
“Who was the one that insisted she go?”
“Darius, but—”
“And this time, both Darius and I insist that she go.”
Rosaline couldn’t see his face, but Ignacio’s voice was little more than a growl, “I won’t let you send her—”
“Ignacio, you will go with her. Darius will go with Itzel—”
“He’ll never agree to leave.”
“He’s already insisted on it, much to everyone else’s shock. You should have seen the look on Itzel’s face.”
“But Darius doesn’t think that anyone should go to talk to Freya.”
“Of course he doesn’t. He’s going to try to talk her out of it, and good luck to him with that futile endeavor,” Orion muttered. “Caspian is gods know where, I have to—oh gods, this is such a mess. Look, Ignacio, I know it is a terrible idea, but do you really want to find out about the Unwashed being in our lands the way that they did in Ishtar? Freya and her lot still don’t realize they have been invaded. How can we say anything if we have also been compromised? Please. I know that it is risky. I know that you need a break because you have put yourself through far too much over the last few months. But that is true of so many of us. I would say we can send another assassin with her—”
“Not happening.” Ignacio’s voice was a growl.
“Then we agree, you should go.”
“No, no, I do not agree that it needs to be her. There are so many druids here, it can be any of them.”
Orion’s voice was low, but there was a fatherly tone as he placed a hand on Ignacio’s shoulder, “We both know why that isn’t true.”
Ignacio shook his head, “It’s too much. Orion, it’s too much for her, and you know it.”
“I do. But I trust you. Almost as much as Darius.” There was a feeble smile on the older assassin’s face. “I know you won’t let anything happen to her. No matter what.”
Ignacio’s head dropped forward and he nodded, “Okay. I will take her, and I will send you the report.”
“It would be best if you send them to Darius.”
“It would be easier for you if I sent them to Darius, but he will be gone for at least six weeks. He won’t be able to do anything.”
“This is so messed up and out of control. Alright. Send them to me, and I will do what I can. But you have to swear you won’t die.”
“I can’t. You know that I can’t.”
“Then you promise me you won’t let him die.” Orion moved Ignacio out of the way. “Rosaline, swear to me that you won’t let him die.”
“You can’t put that on her!”
“I swear, Orion. He will be safe with me.”
He nodded at her, “I will hold you to that.” Orion took a deep breath, “May we meet again soon, happy, whole, and safe.” He moved to the wall and slipped over.
“He could have left through the door,” Rosaline said, looking at where Orion had gone.
“No, he couldn’t. He has even less time than we do.” Ignacio turned to Rosaline, “Are you going to ask for permission?”
She shook her head, “They won’t give it if I do.”
Ignacio nodded. “They locked your magic, too?”
“It’s just suppressed right now.”
He nodded again, “I can work with that.” Ignacio picked her up before she could say anything. The next thing she knew, they were over the wall. Ignacio shifted. She climbed on his back and they ran toward the eastern edge of Marlyon.