Songs of Autumn by Lauren Sevier

Author:Lauren Sevier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Climate Crisis, Coming of Age, Princess, Chosen One, Epic, Royalty, Women's empowerment
Publisher: Lauren Sevier
Published: 2020-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“You’re thinking too loudly,” Tia groaned, tossing a pillow at Liz who caught it easily. Liz attempted to smile at her friend but failed. She twisted her fingers through her curls until Tia deigned to drag herself from the sheets, grip her hand, and still her nervous fidgeting. Leaning her cheek into the crook of Liz’s shoulder, Tia whispered lazily against the skin of her neck.

“My head hurts too badly for you to fidget like that. Tell me what bothers you or let me sleep away the lingering effects of the spiced wine from last night.”

Liz sighed, unsure where to even begin. So much of what was said between she and Mat the night before felt personal. Too personal to talk about openly, even with Tia.

“It’s Mat,” she admitted, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “He looks at me and it feels like nothing else matters, but there are so many things that matter. So many things I can’t be distracted from. He’s the knight from my visions and I know he’s going to die... soon. But, why have I been seeing his death over and over again unless it was to stop it? Tia, am I supposed to try and save him or am I supposed to lead him to the mountains?” Tia lifted her heavy head with a sudden clarity in her bleary eyes.

“Have you slept at all?” she asked. Liz shook her head, closing her eyes against welling tears that she refused to let fall. She crossed to the window, and her hands gripped the sill hard enough to bleach her knuckles white.

“What am I doing, Tia?” There was an edge to her voice that she felt all the way down to her toes. “What have I done? People are going to die because I ran away. My people.” Tia’s hand feathered onto Liz’s shoulder; the familiar touch made her recoil instead of comforting her as it normally did.

“I know,” Tia said in quiet resignation. “Ask me why I’m here, Lisbet.” Tia’s face was drawn and tight. Her warm brown eyes were not lit in honeyed delight; instead they were dark and unreadable. Liz swallowed hard past a lump in her throat.

“Why?”

Tia’s eyes shimmered with tears. She gripped Liz’s hand tight and brought it to her mouth, pressing her lips against her palm for a few seconds longer than normal.

“Because I believe in you,” she said, her words broken and raw. “I believe in you more than I believe in the gods. I have watched you, every single day, fighting so hard to wrest your fate from the cruel grip of destiny. You made me realize I am more than the islander refugee they whispered about at court. I would rather starve in an eternal winter and die by your side than to live my entire life a slave to that sorcerer.”

Liz sobbed openly; a weight buoyed from her shoulders by the strength of Tia’s words. They wrapped their arms around each other until their weeping became teary laughter.

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