A Treasonous Ballad
With the horses unable to handle the mountain terrain, we decided to leave them at the village and continue on foot. It was hard saying good-bye to Lorena. She was more than just a horse to me. She’d saved me during countless battles and gotten me through a hundred patrols. But horses would slow us down, and Rochet said she’d personally take care of them, so I gave Lorena a handful of orange peels and kissed her snout, muttering, “I’ll see you soon.” I felt Zach’s gaze on me and remembered when he said he liked oranges as well. Would he later be able to smell the citrus on my hands? Not that I expected him to be close enough to smell them any time soon.
After a day’s walk, we reached the end of the Galedral Forest at the edge of the Wu-Hyll Mountains and came to the base of the monstrosities themselves. There were still some trees here and there, but mostly the ground was covered in stone. It was beautiful, though, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of them. Not only because of how big they were, and how majestic, but the idea that this was where it all began for my ancestor.
The Wu-Hyll Mountains were where it was said the dwarves’ caves had been, where Myriana and Saevalla and Raed had their battle against the dwarf, where the first Kiss had been born. In those caves was where Myriana’s first heir had been taken and turned into the Evil Queen, so it made sense the Sable Dragon egg would be found here. It made me shiver thinking I could be in the very spot where Myriana and her sister had first encountered the huntsman, Raed.
Though I’d never been to these mountains, many of my ancestors had traveled to the caves, rooting out the dwarven clans and exterminating them like ants in their dirt tunnels. Now, only goblins, wraiths, griffins, and trolls wandered these mountains. Dwarves never came here anymore, probably because it reminded them of the slaughter of their ancestors.
The sound of trickling water interrupted my musing, and I followed it to find a fresh stream. It ran along the side of the mountain pass, so we decided to camp there and then make a fresh start into the mountains the next day.
Millennia was very useful. With a flick of her wrist, she started a fire. She was even able to guide water from the stream into our flasks, which was a spectacle in itself. Bromley was amazed to watch the rivulets of water twist and turn in midair as if they flowed down an invisible tube into the open flask.
When she offered to take the first watch, I insisted we do so in pairs. “It’s more dangerous in the mountains, and we can make sure both of us stay awake,” I said, sitting next to Millennia.
But it was only an excuse. I couldn’t forget Gelloren’s words, “You need to stay away from her.” Since I’d already agreed she could accompany us, I could at least keep an eye on her.
Zach raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The last words we’d shared had been him still trying to convince me he’d fallen in love with me.
How do you talk normally after that?
Once Brom and Zach were asleep, I turned to Millennia. “So you’re from Raed?”
Millennia frowned. “How did you know that?”
I’d forgotten that Gelloren had told me, and she hadn’t mentioned it. “Zach said your accent sounded Eastern.”
“Hm. And I thought I hid it pretty well. Yes, I am from Raed.”
“My mother just came from there. She said there’d been a sighting of the Evil Queen.”
The firelight cast a strange glow on her eyes, and her frown deepened. “I wouldn’t put much stock in those sightings.”
“Why? Because they’re from the Legion?”
She didn’t reply, and I wondered if I’d struck a nerve.
I let a few moments of silence pass before I tried again. “I understand why you wouldn’t like the Legion, but we’re honestly trying to win this war, to save everyone, even the Romantica. Why wouldn’t you trust our efforts to get rid of the Evil Queen once and for all?”
Millennia snorted. “I’ll never really trust them, just as I can never forgive them for what they did.”
Fearing the worst, I hugged my cloak tighter. “And what was that?”
Millennia looked back at me and opened her mouth, then her gaze darted to the side, as if she was considering something. “I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this…”
“Tell me what?”
“Do you believe in True Love?”
Odd that two different people asked me that same question within the same number of days.
Remembering the look on Zach’s face, I couldn’t answer.
Luckily, she didn’t wait long. “It’s fine. I didn’t think you would. But I know you feel something.” She glanced over at Zach’s sleeping form, and my face warmed. “Whether or not that something is Love, I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s there.” She kept very still, like her muscles suddenly seized up. “I’m in love. Tarren was my childhood friend. Nothing could compare to the kisses we shared. The ground shook, the stars fell, and the waves of the far-off oceans crashed down on us.
“In Raed, the Romantica and the Royals had an…understanding, I guess you could say. They enjoyed our music and stories. My troupe was especially popular. I wasn’t an entertainer, but Tarren was, and he got invited to the palace to sing. I didn’t want him to go. He’d just proposed to me that very day, and I was worried. But he told me he’d make his song count.”
Millennia took a deep, shuddering breath and lifted her head to look at the stars. “He sang of Love. He told the Romantica tale of Myriana and Saevalla, and the Council was furious. A blasphemous song in their sacred castle? They seized him and took him away to probably labor away at some mine. The next day I was told he’d been taken away in service to the Legion. I tried to break into the castle to look for him, but my earth magic wasn’t strong enough, so that’s when I set off to find a master.” She clenched her fist. “To get stronger.”
“Millennia…I…I’m so sorry.”
I truly was. Even though the punishment was clear for heresy in the Royal Legion…it was just a song.
I remembered Jiaza’s story and how furious I’d been. Now I couldn’t find it in me to care as much. Maybe it was all this confusion about what was right and wrong and beliefs and emotions I didn’t think existed—I just knew the pain in Millennia’s voice made me want to help her. Even if that was treasonous thinking.
Millennia shook her head. “I don’t want your pity, princess.”
“It’s not pity, it’s…regret. I’ve been taught that True Love doesn’t exist. You can surrender to Lust, you can care for someone and develop a bond, but this all-powerful thing called Love doesn’t exist. I mean, it can’t. It’s impossible to give your heart to one person. Our emotions are too fragile to remain constant—it’s why the Legion teaches us to lead and make decisions without them. But then…I listen to you about your Tarren, and to Zach about his parents, and…” I shrugged. Not to mention the fact my own mother wanted to run off with a man whose name I didn’t even know. It was a story I’d never thought much about before, but now…I had to wonder…could Dahlia have thought she’d been in love with that man?
“I just don’t know anymore.”
It was the first time I admitted it out loud. That my faith was wavering, that for the first time in my life, I was confused, curious even, about this illusion in which these Romantica believed so passionately.