Crowned (Beholder #4)(46)

In this way, we all passed through another night. It was still dark out when Jicho broke the quiet. “We’re close.”

I shifted to peep over the edge of the vessel. Sure enough, the jungle outside the boat was changing. Along the shoreline, random clumps of vines now took on a more linear edge. All that natural greenery was covering up something made by humans. Over the past hours, I was starting to suspect that Nan and Mrefu at least knew the name of the temple, but had promised Jicho not to tell me. I decided to test out that theory now.

“That’s a wall,” I said. “We must be getting closer to the temple of—"

I waited for someone to complete the phrase, but Jicho, Nan, and Mrefu merely exchanged sad glances.

That had been happening more and more lately.

I straightened my shoulders. So what did it matter if an awful fate awaited me? I’d faced down my share of evil, and the best approach was simply to get it over with. I turned to my shipmates.

“What’s the fastest way to the temple?” I asked.

No one answered.

I shifted my gaze between Nan and Mrefu. “Come on. I know you both are aware of this place somehow.”

“It’s a sacred spot to the Zaidi,” said Mrefu. “I brought Nan here soon after I owed her my life. It’s where she was tested.”

“Up ahead, there’s a place where we can tie up,” said Nan. “After that, the temple is a short walk away.”

Nan was talking again, so I decided to push for more information. I was nothing if not persistent. “What was your testing like?”

Nan couldn’t meet my gaze. “Not easy.” She exhaled a long breath. “You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”

Along the riverside, the ferns and vines receded, revealing a low wall made of brown stone. Heavy loops of bronze had been hammered into the rock, creating many places for vessels to tie up. At one point, this must have been a busy spot. However, those days were long gone. Based on all the overgrowth blocking the river, no one had been here for ages.

Jicho secured the vessel to the pier with loops of heavy rope. From the corner of my eye, I saw a face in the recesses of the jungle. My body froze with excitement.

It was Rowan.

And nothing less than a miracle was taking place, because Rowan was looking right at me while smiling his lopsided grin. My souls felt so light it was as if I could soar to the clouds.

On reflex, I leapt off the boat and onto the muddy shore. Some small part of me thought it was strange that Nan, Jicho, and Mrefu didn’t comment about my running off. In fact, they didn’t even seem surprised that Rowan was here. My three shipmates simply watched me leave, despair dimming their eyes.

I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

“Listen, Elea—” Jicho started to call to me, but Nan shushed him. Normally, I’d stop and ask Jicho what he meant. However this situation was anything but normal. At long last, my mate had recognized me again. Had the Lady returned his memory? A girl could hope.

Still smiling, Rowan waved me toward him. Then he paused, turned, and ran off into the jungle. My mate hadn’t said anything, but the message was clear all the same.

I love you, Elea.

Come follow me.

I took off into the darkened jungle at a run.





Chapter Twenty-Three




I rushed off into the jungle. Long branches tugged at my robes, pulling me backward. Wet earth sloshed around my feet, slowing my every step. From above, thin tendrils of vines snagged my hair. All around, everything seemed focused on a single purpose: keeping me from my pursuit of Rowan.

It wouldn’t work. The more I was impeded, the harder I pushed myself to run. Still, it didn’t matter how quickly I sped forward. Rowan always remained too far ahead to touch.

Even so, I didn’t mind.

This was my love.

And he was smiling.

Some small corner of my mind cried out that this was all an illusion. The sense of magick was thick in the air. Plus, the edges of Rowan’s body shimmered, like this wasn’t his true self so much as his soul. Even so, my heart was too thrilled to bother with reality. And let’s not forget the Lady! She had untold powers. Perhaps she gifted me with the sight of Rowan’s soul for her own purposes.

Whatever the reason, these few moments of magick and love might be all the happiness I had left to share with Rowan.

I was taking them.

Laughing, I kept running after my mate. Each time he glanced over his shoulder and beamed, I soaked up that crooked grin as if it were the last time I’d ever see it.

It very well might be.

The jungle receded around us. I hardly noticed the change. Soon, great walls made of brown brick rose up on either side of me. The muddy earth under my feet gave way to a checkerboard pattern of stone. None of that mattered. All I knew was that as the jungle receded, I could see more of my mate.

We reached a large chamber. Statues lined the walls, all of them life-sized and incredibly detailed, having been made of bronze, wood, and stone. Hundreds of Dolly-mechs lined the floor, all of them standing in groups of three. In each case, there was a man and a woman kneeling before a standing figure whose face was covered with a drawn hood. Behind the dolly-mechs, the chamber walls were filled with arches that were also made of stone, bronze, and wood. I thought back to the Meadow of Many Gateways. This space reminded me of that spot—from the checkerboard ground to the many gateways—but that’s where the similarities ended. There certainly hadn’t been any statues.