Page 59 of The Sunbound Princess
Iwalked quickly, each step carrying me farther from the men who betrayed me.
Thelatestmen who betrayed me. I’d have to make a list to keep them all straight.
The Dokimasi tugged relentlessly, each yank on my chest a physical reminder of Dain and Nikolas’s treachery. The magic tried to steer me back to Dain, but I clenched my jaw and pushed forward. The magic could pull all it wanted. I wouldn’t return.
Afternoon sun slanted through the trees, casting long shadows across my path. Birds called to one another in the branches overhead, oblivious to my anger. I wiped sweat from my brow and kept walking.
Helios had zipped away shortly after we left the clearing, but now he returned, hovering silently at my shoulder.
“Where did you go?” I asked. His body was dim, the fire atop his head subdued.
“Just making sure we weren’t followed.”
My throat ached with unshed tears. I swallowed them, willing anger to replace my heartache. I’d wasted enough tears in my life. Crying had never eased my childhood loneliness. It hadn’t fixed my father’s indifference. Tears hadn’t blunted theshock of Corvus’s betrayal. I wouldn’t waste any on Nikolas and Dain.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Helios murmured.
The ache in my throat became a burn. “Not yet,” I managed to whisper. I couldn’t bear to hear my failures out loud—even if I was the one reciting them.
He didn’t press, and for the next half hour, we traveled in silence, the only sound my footsteps and the occasional chattering of squirrels as they scurried from tree to tree. The sun swelled overhead, its heat searing my shoulders. The hasty breakfast I’d eaten was a distant memory. Helios would fare just fine with sunlight, but I had no food and no money. And I’d stormed from the clearing without taking a weapon.
One spectacular decision after another.Maybe I didn’t deserve to rule the Summer Court.
Abruptly, the tug of magic in my chest faltered. Slowing, I touched my sternum.
Helios gave me a worried look. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I just—” The magic shuddered like a candle tossed by the wind. Then it faded to almost nothing.
I stopped, shock rooting me to the road. “The Dokimasi is weak. It’s…almost gone, like a stream drying up.” Confusion and fear swirled through me. “I don’t know what it means.”
Helios frowned. “Maybe it’s because you’ve rejected the connection with Dain.”
Both explanations were plausible. Magic was powerful, but so was free will. If the Dokimasi sensed that I’d chosen to complete my quest alone, perhaps it was adapting accordingly. Or maybe it simply weakened because of the distance between us.
“Well,” I said, “it’s a welcome change.” We started forward again, and I ignored the little voice that tried to whisper about a fourth possibility.Maybe Viraxes sent another bounty hunter.
The sun dipped toward the horizon, and shadows formed between the trees. The temperature cooled. An owl hooted, followed by a high-pitched scream.Just an animal, I told myself. But as the sunset faded into twilight, nerves prickled over my nape. I couldn’t walk through the night.
Helios yawned, his body flickering. His spectacles slipped down his nose. Shaking himself, he shoved them back into place.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Totally fine,” he said. “Just a little tired.”
Doubts gathered as I eyed his quavering form. “As soon as we find a suitable place, we’ll stop for the night.”
But another half hour later, we continued to pass nothing but grassy fields and shadowed forests. The sun disappeared below the horizon, taking its heat and light with it. Helios provided enough glow to see the road, but his body dimmed with every step.
He flickered, and he stopped in the road, his head nodding and his eyes sliding shut. He pitched forward slowly, his face on a collision course with the ground.
“Helios!” I cried, grabbing him before he could fall. He roused at once.
“I’m all right,” he insisted.
“Hold onto me,” I said, taking his arm. “Sleep if you need to. I’ll carry you.”
“Not tired,” he mumbled, his eyelids drooping again.
