CHAPTER 19

Edmund

I know where I'm going. And I'm going there with Bianca's hand in mine. Nothing in the world feels more right than that.

I know that it would have been smarter to do it at night, but I can't wait. Her dream has to mean something. Why else would she have it this night of all nights? Everything happens for a reason. I always believed that. There is even a reason behind why she and I grew so close together, despite our obvious efforts to remain at a distance.

There is a strange force drawing us close to each other, making it impossible for us to remain apart for long. That is how I feel right now. There is no one else I would rather be here with, than her. She is the only one I want to share this moment with. Not even Kano's presence would have provided me with such peace of mind as she does.

"Stop here," she suddenly pulls me over. I do as she tells me. "I have a strange feeling."

"Strange how?" I wonder.

"My stomach…" she says, rubbing her lower abdomen, making faces as if she's in pain. "Slight nausea."

"Do you want to sit down?" I ask, looking around. There isn't anything she can sit on, apart from grass, but in need, anything will do.

"I'm OK," she assures me, her voice interrupted by short, cutting breaths. "Just… a weird feeling, that's all."

She lets go of my hand, then she bends over, breathing heavily.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I ask again, beginning to worry this time.

I think to myself that maybe I shouldn't have forced her to come with me, although I wouldn't trade her company for anyone else's. Still, if she's sick, I wouldn't want someone to drag me places either.

"I think it's just the stress and the fact that I haven't been eating well," she reveals.

I see a stump to our right and take her there. "Sit here," I suggest.

For a moment, I think she might fight me on this one, as she usually does, but surprisingly, she obeys. That assures me that she must be in more pain than she's willing to admit.

"Do you want to go back?" I ask her.

To be honest, I don't want to go back. I'm too eager to keep going and see that cherry tree, to see whether she will recognize it, and most importantly, if that is the place we've been looking for all along. But I don't want to drag her along if she's feeling sick, which she obviously is.

"No," she shakes her head.

I'm glad to hear her say that, but at the same time, I'm feeling guilty. This isn't her fight. This isn't her war, and I dragged her into it. I should have just allowed her to leave this place and go live with the humans. After all, that is where she belongs. Not here. Not with me.

I don't know if she's somehow able to read my mind or like any other woman, she manages to sense something, she gets up and walks over to me.

"I want to keep going," she reassures me. "I promised you I would help, and that is what I intend on doing."

"I don't want to cause you any more pain than you're already in," I tell her. "I mean, I want to keep going, but you're in no condition to walk. Or maybe you just want me to carry you?" I tried a joke. It works.

She chuckles sweetly. "Yeah. That must be it."

"I knew it," I tease.

"Luckily for you, I don't think we need to walk much longer," she tells me, gesturing in the direction behind me.

I quickly turn around, and there it is. I didn't even see it, because right now, all the cherries are still a yellowish green hue, and you can barely see them from the leaves, and the adjacent tree branches. You can only notice them if you truly take a very good look, which obviously Bianca has done.

"Is that the tree you saw in your dream?" I ask, swallowing heavily.

We're both standing now, staring in that direction. I feel electricity surging through my body, filling me with the kind of energy I've never felt before. This has to be the place. It just has to.

"There should be some scattered stones behind it," she says instead of a reply. "Big ones."

"Then, we go and see if the stones are there," I reply.

We start walking on cue at the same time, led by some inner instinct, almost as if we both are drawn to this place.

She presses her hand to her stomach again and slows down her pace. I do the same. I am suddenly overwhelmed by concern for her. It never even occurred to me that something might happen to her. I promised that I would keep her safe from the shifters, and it is still a promise I intend to keep. As long as she is by my side, nothing will happen to her.

But right now, she is by my side, and she is still in pain. There is nothing I can do about whatever hurts her now. I don't know what is going on and it is killing me that I am so powerless, when all I want is to keep her safe from all harm. It never even occurred to me that something might attack her from which I won't be able to defend her.

Now, that very thing has happened, and the feeling of powerlessness is overwhelming. It shows me something I already knew before, something I have been unwilling to admit all long, and that is the simple fact that, without her, all of this seems pointless. Yes, the well will save me and my clan. It will restore our power, so we will be able to live long, but what is the point of a long life if I don't have anyone to share it with?

Instantly, my mind's eye shows me a glimpse of what it would be like to have Bianca by my side. A million images flash before my eyes as quickly as lightning. Marriage, sex, kisses, hugs, sunsets, mealtimes, our children.

The last thing sticks with me. I can almost see a little girl with the same eyes as Bianca's, sky blue. A little doll to have and to hold by my side, and keep her safe from all harm, just like I want to do with her mom. Then, a little boy. A little warrior like myself. Someone to pass along the family name, someone to become the next king in line, to lead our clan.

I see all of this in one blink of an eye, and I suddenly know everything. It is all clear now.

"Bianca, you really don't seem well," I tell her, my mind completely shifting focus now from the well to her. Nothing else exists but her. The very thought of her being ill, of her being in any sort of pain, makes me enraged with helplessness.

"I don't know what's happening," she says, her voice chopped up from heavy breathing. Her cheeks seem much redder than usual, and I can see a few droplets of sweat on her forehead, when it's not that hot outside at all.

I press my hand to her forehead. I quickly pulled away, stifling a gasp that almost escaped my throat.

"Fucking hell, Bianca, you're burning up," I tell her, shocked at how hot she feels. I wasn't expecting that. "We need to go back immediately and– "

But she doesn't allow me to continue. "Are you crazy?" she asks incredulously. "We need to get to that tree and see if the stones are there."

"The stones will be there when I return on my own and when you're lying down in a bed, keeping this fever under control," I almost ordered her, but that only seems to flare up her defiance. I should have expected that.

"No," she says stubbornly. "We're both here now, and we're both going to see if that well is there or not. If it's not there, then we're really out of ideas." She pauses, lowering her head to her chest, breathing heavily. A few moments pass, then she continues talking. "But you're mistaken if you think that you're going to get all the credit for finding the well."

I can see she's trying to suppress a smile, which means that she's also trying to lighten up the mood. I still don't feel right about making her keep going, but she is obviously the more stubborn of the two of us. There is no reasoning with her.

"Fine," I finally agreed. "We go and see."

"Why are you standing there, yapping all the time then?" she asks, taking the first step in the direction of the cherry tree.

I follow quickly behind, allowing her to remain in the lead. But it doesn't escape my attention that the closer she gets to the tree, the weaker she seems. She is walking more and more slowly, and she looks like she's having trouble keeping herself up on her feet.

We reach the tree, and she leans onto it for support. I'm torn between picking her up in my arms and just returning to the factory and continuing what we started. Again, she seems to read my mind.

"You go and see," she orders me. "I'll wait here."

I do as she tells me this time. I feel like whatever I choose, I would feel guilty for not choosing the other one. But I do what she says. I walk around the tree and there, slightly away, I see the stones. They're lying in no particular order. I wouldn't have even noticed them if she hadn't mentioned dreaming about them.

I approach the closest stone and try to lift it. There is nothing underneath. I do the same with the next three, with the same result. Then, I lift the next one, and I notice something underneath, something that feels like a brick, grown over by grass and moss. I lift the one closest to it, and the same thing is revealed.

I start digging and lifting as much earth as I can, revealing a longer and more intricate brick layer underneath the initial layer of grass.

"Look, Bianca!" I turn around and the moment I do, I notice that she isn't leaning against the tree any longer.

I'm shocked to see what is happening, and for a moment or two, I can't move. I am frozen in place, as if I've traveled out of my body and I can just watch what's going on, without doing anything about it.

When I finally regain my senses, I rush over to Bianca, who is lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably, with a strange light lifting all around her from the ground.