Fortuna Sworn by K. J. Sutton

Author:K. J. Sutton [Sutton, K. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Once Upon a Time Books, LLC
Published: 2019-07-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

When I opened my eyes again, I half-expected the scene I’d just fallen asleep to. Collith beside me, a burnt-out candle on the table, a looming dirt ceiling overhead. But this time it had been replaced by the familiar sight of rustling grass and a faraway sea. A content, gentle breeze whispered past. Fading light tinted the world red and yellow.

Finally.

It felt like I hadn’t seen Oliver in weeks, and I didn’t even glance down to see what I was wearing before searching for him. The first direction I looked, of course, was the house. Every window was dark. Since he didn’t sleep, this had become our signal that he was somewhere else. I scanned the surrounding hills and dimming horizon. My gaze latched onto a slim figure standing off in the distance. As always, I broke into a run.

He heard me coming and turned. The moment I was within earshot I demanded, “How did you do it?”

Oliver frowned. The dying sun fell upon his eyes and hair, making strands of blond become glittering gold. “What are you—”

“When you treated my back, Ollie. What you did was still there when I woke up. My blood had been cleaned off and the lashes were covered in ointment.” I reached him then, and Oliver took my elbow to steady me. I wasn’t in any danger of falling; I knew this spot better than any other in the dreamscapes. Oliver had spent so much time here that the ground was bare where he stood. Whenever I imagined him during our time apart, it was exactly as he appeared now.

“Fortuna, take a breath,” Oliver ordered.

“How is that possible?” I insisted, ignoring him. The mystery had bothered me from the moment I woke up in that prison cell. The memory of Zara and Collith’s voices was as clear as the ocean spray reaching toward us.

Someone has already treated her.

Impossible. No one has been down here but the guard.

See for yourself. The wounds are cleaned and covered in a salve of some kind.

I shied away from remembering more. The lingering horror of that cell made me speak without thinking. “Never mind, it had to be something else. You aren’t… I mean, this isn’t…”

Now Oliver gave me a sad, bitter smile. “How did I do it, since I’m not real?” he finished. I drew in a sharp breath. As I fumbled for the right response, my heart ached. That’s not what I meant, I wanted to say, but it would be a lie. Waves pounded against the rocks far below, filling the painful silence between us. “Did you know you could do that?” I asked instead.

“No. I didn’t.” The words were clipped. “Would it be so terrible, Fortuna? If someday, somehow I was there when you woke up?”

“Ollie, no, of course not.” He waited for more, but I was afraid of saying something else that would hurt him. I couldn’t tell him that such a future was impossible or that this was all we’d have. Regardless of whatever new abilities he’d developed, in the other world, Oliver had no body.

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