Page 152 of The Last Guardian

Zaid clenched his jaw, gazing at me for a moment. His eyes softened, but he didn’t let them linger too much. Neither did I.

The general smiled, trying to shake off the tension. “As for Lyra and Dorian, you will be at the stern, fourth floor.”

The opposite direction from my quarters.

“I’ll show you,” Dax finished, gesturing for them to follow.

Lyra followed Dax closely, while Dorian smiled crookedly at Arthur and said, “Perhaps I will ask her to warm my bed tonight, brother.” He followed the other two. Arthur groaned.

That left Arthur, Zaidkiel, and me in an awkward silence.

The sailors were hauling the plank up onto the deck, ready to set the ship off, while others were pulling on the anchor chain, the sound of metal rolling on the wooden floor.

“Anchor up, Cap,” yelled one of them.

From the high-up post, Sam’s voice called out, “Horizon clear!”

Arthur looked at me. A distance had settled between us, a hard silence, an invisible wall I wasn’t sure how we could break. But at some point, we should.

Arthur’s mouth parted for a moment, his throat bobbing—debating whether to say something. But then he averted his eyes, glaring at the commander still behind me, and saying to him with a harsh tone, “I’ll meet you later, Kaenington.”

With that, Arthur turned his back on us as I watched him walk away, his shoulders tensing. At each step from him, my heart broke a little more.

My eyes never left my brother, even when the silence settled between Zaid and me. But once Arthur was out of sight. I moved closer to the railing, leaning against it to gaze at the horizon. Slow footsteps followed me, the scent of cedar and leather tickling my nostrils as Zaid leaned on the railing next to me.

For a moment, neither of us moved nor talked. Our gazes were fixed on the horizon, capturing the sun’s rays reflecting off the water in millions of colorful bursts, sparkling like diamonds.

My eyes drifted to his hands, the ink dancing on his fingers—simple dots on his thumbs, the three points arranged in a triangle on his index fingers, and other symbols I didn’t recognize.

The silence was full of unspoken words, hanging between us—all the things we wished to say, all the things that couldn’t be.

“Are you alright?” Zaid asked at last, glancing my way.

My eyes remained fixed on the horizon, drinking in its vastness, its infinite possibilities, as I replied in a soft whisper, “Everything seems out of reach now.” A deep breath escaped my lips as I finally looked at him. “I don’t know how it could ever return to normal.”

Zaidkiel’s eyes glinted as he took in the sight of me, gleaming in a softer hue. “I apologize,” he whispered, “for not having visited you earlier.”

His words stirred something hidden deep inside my heart—something I tried to hide as much as I could.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “I needed time to work everything out, to think about everything.” I breathed loudly, darting my eyes to the horizon one more time. “Arthur and Dorian, the Threshold⁠—”

My eyes drifted to his before I could finish my sentence. His gaze pinned me in place, and a soft smile curled on his lips. And with the way his eyes sparkled with the sun’s rays, I was sure he had guessed what I was about to say.

For a moment, all the frustration of the last few days melted away as we lost ourselves in each other’s gazes. The moment passed quickly as Zaid cleared his throat, and I looked away from him, turning to face the sea, scanning the horizon together.

His jaw clenched, and he asked in a soft voice, “Did you succeed? With the Threshold?”

I shook my head. “Nothing for now,” I said softly. “I hope to find it in time for Myrh.”

Zaid nodded. “Let me know when you find it,” he said. His finger tapped on the railing in rhythm with my heartbeats. “You should be able to find your memories more freely afterward.”

I paused for a moment, breathing in the salty air as the ship moved, the hull sliding across the waves. And I added, “I was hoping to find out about her death—” I admitted, swallowing hard. Looking at my hands on the railing, I played with my nails. “To know what happened to her, but I’m beginning to wonder if some memories need to stay buried.” My fingers found my charm hanging around my neck. “Maybe there is a reason for this loss. Maybe what I will find out will crush me completely.”

Even if, after weeks of hope, it would break me not to know the truth about her death. But I didn’t voice that.

Zaid lost himself in the sea for a moment, and when the silence became unbearable, I turned to face him. With a deep breath, he said in a whisper, “Some memories are etched in your bones—they will never leave you, no matter what you do or how far you are willing to go to escape the hard truth of reality.” His eyes turned to mine, burning my soul. “A memory can hurt more than any pain. It can haunt you, follow you in every path of your life.”

My gaze fell on his lips for a split second. “And yet, sometimes…” My eyes slowly brushed his face, boring into his. “…memories can be the most precious thing we could ever have.”