“You can’t mean that,” I manage. I reach out to him, but he recoils as though I am a snake.
His face stills. “I’m giving up a lot to be with you. Do you think I like being locked away in that palace like you’ve always been? Do you want me to go back to sea?”
“No, Royce—” I stammer, but he cuts me off.
“Everything you want is right here.” He gestures around himself. “You have your skin back, we can cure your father, and I’m right here.”
“What about Dionysus?” I plead.
“Once we cure your father, what could Dionysus want with any of you? Besides, your father will be strong enough to take care of everything. You won’t have to worry about the kingdom. You can step aside.”
“Step aside? These are my people,” I say. Even if they don’t want me to rule, I am still their ruler. I still need to protect them. “Dionysus was after me. I can’t leave them open to his attacks.”
Royce slowly shakes his head, sending a few blond strands out of place. “Kora, they don’t want you to lead.”
I balk in amazement and blink to fight back tears that have sprung in the corners of my eyes. “You said I was a good leader—” The words are hollow, and they mirror the hollowness spreading inside me.
“Now you might be, since you’re not cursed anymore.” He moves forward and takes one of my hands in his. “I’m telling you we can finally have it all now.”
I withdraw my hand from his. “No”—I shake my head—“we can’t.”
“Kora,” he pleads, “don’t be like this.”
“I’m going back to the water. You can come or not.” I turn on my heels before he can see any tears slip down my cheeks. I march with my shoulders straight back toward the river, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing he’s affected me.
In the distance, I hear his footfalls receding back down the mountain.
I hang my head and wipe a tear from the corner of my eye.
What happened to him? What happened to us?
Is there even an us anymore? The thought slides through me, breaking something loose inside me. I try to stare back down the path, but too many tears clog my vision.
Had I really been unreasonable to ask to inspect the river again? I wipe at my tears and scan the banks, but nothing happens. The rapids rage on, and no signposts appear. Everything else is eerily quiet. No birds chatter. No bugs flit by. Not even the wind blows.
There’s nothing here.
I was foolish to insist on coming back here. And now I’ve lost Royce in the process.
I close my eyes to try and stop the tears, but it doesn’t help. I kick at the rocks at my feet, but as I do, I lose my footing. Rocks shift beneath me. I fight to stay upright. My arms fly outward, but I’m already falling forward. Straight toward the river.
I hit the surface, and icy water swallows me, sending a shock through my body. My skin turns to ice. My lungs seize shut. I can’t breathe. I can’t move.
I try to struggle to the surface, but my arms won’t respond. The current whips me away from the shore, and then it drags me down, down, down, until I can’t even see the surface.
My lungs continue to burn as the rest of my body goes numb.
Inky darkness clouds my vision, and everything goes black.
CHAPTER 6
When I open my eyes, I’m slumped against Royce’s chest.
“You came back for me,” I mumble.
“What?” he says. “We haven’t moved.” His eyebrows scrunch inward, and his eyes scan my face.
The clay cup falls from my hand and smashes into pieces on the rocks. Immediately, the raging river shrinks back down into a crossable stream.
Royce slowly lowers me to the ground.
My body feels frozen.
But not wet.
“What happened?” I ask. I stare down at my arm. My skin is as gold as it ever was.
Royce shakes his head. “You took a sip and collapsed. But you were only out a moment or two.”
“A moment or two?” I puzzle. “But—” I stare down at my golden skin, and I’m relieved that it’s gold once more. Because that’s normal. That’s how it should be.
And as I shake my head to clear away the remnants of the vision, I realize I’m not the same girl who once wanted the golden hue of my skin to fade faster than a sunburn. I’m the girl who wants to save her kingdom. And maybe I don’t understand everything the vision meant, but I at least know that.
“Are you feeling okay?” Royce asks.
The numbness recedes slowly, and I let Royce pull me to my feet.
Where the river had once raged, clear water trickles gently around gray rocks, and larger stones grow out of the water, creating a perfect pathway.
“I feel better than ever,” I finally reply to Royce once I take in this new path. Whatever had happened in that vision, I proved I wasn’t giving up. “Let’s keep going.”
I jump onto the first stone jutting out of the water. I wait to see if the pace of the water quickens or if the river will expand, but nothing happens. Then, I hop across the stones the rest of the way and turn to face Royce on the other side.
He’s standing there with a puzzled look on his face. “Are you sure we should be moving on?” He scrutinizes the sign. “I’m not sure we’ve passed any test yet.”
If I had any doubts I was back in reality, they’re gone now. Because this is the Royce I know. The one who questions and thinks things through. The one who’s always pondering what could be ahead and if we’re prepared to face it. The one who’s always willing to look deeper.
“I—I had a vision,” I say, “after I drank the water. It said—” I look away, not wanting to remember what he’d said to me during it.
“Was it bad?” he asks.
I nod. “Although I think it was supposed to be good. I didn’t have gold skin anymore, and the vision tried to tempt me to go back to the palace.”
“But you didn’t,” Royce says. “And I wouldn’t let you.” He shoots me a smile that makes my heart remember this is my Royce.
After that, he doesn’t hesitate before leaping easily across the rocks.
We continue forward. But we don’t walk far before we find a cave waiting for us. As we near the entrance, two lit torches appear on either side of the jagged opening. The flames snap and crackle.
Something like hope leaps in my chest. Could this be the Oracle? Finally?
But as we get closer, another signpost materializes.
The most valuable thing
You must soon find.
Now figure out what
You can’t leave behind.
I groan. Another test.
Or maybe it’s not a test. Maybe it’s a series of unending obstacles the Oracle created to prevent people from ever making it to her.
Either way, I don’t have a choice. It’s forward or failure.
Royce and I take the torches and venture inside.
Cool dampness surrounds us, reminding me of the smell of earth after it rains. Our shuffling footsteps echoing off the walls is the only sound.
The glow from our torches reflects off giant damp stalagmites and stalactites that grow at odd angles all over the cave. They distort our reflections as we move past. We stick close to one another, and I pray this isn’t some sort of maze. I have no desire to get stuck in these dark depths.