“Stop!” Elder Saga calls out. “There will be no fighting here.”
The crowd was egged on but remains calm now that she spoke. The respect for the Elders is great and not to be underestimated. But they could make … or break a person too. And I wonder what she’s going to do about me. About April. About us.
Is she going to set an example?
Or let us break their rules and risk an uprising?
“Love … now that is a word I never thought I’d hear from an outsider’s mouth. And about one of our fighters too,” Agata says, and the three of them glance at each other like they’re discussing something without saying words.
“But sometimes love happens in the strangest of places,” Elder Elin says. “And when a woman says she loves someone, I will believe it.”
“What are they saying?” April whispers in my ear as she clutches my waist.
I glance at her over my shoulder and say, “Shh.”
Because I think what she just did … changed everything.
Elder Saga slams the cane into the ground again. “Then it is decided.” She looks at both of us. “You have proven to us the worth of your love. It will not be overlooked. An exception can be made for the greatest fighter among us … as long as the love is requited by the woman.”
Everyone looks at her now.
“What?” she murmurs.
I whisper in her ear, “Tell them you love me. They can understand you.”
“Yes! Yes.” A blush spreads on her cheeks. “I love Soren.”
Elder Saga narrows her eyes, but a faint hint of a smile still appears on her face. “Women lead our world. And if a woman has chosen … even if it is against all rules, we must honor it.”
She slams her cane so fiercely it cracks open the ground.
And the guards along with the one who was going to give me my death sentences walk away.
“But,” she adds. “You may not sire an heir on this island. She is not part of our community. The child will not belong. Do you understand?”
I nod and swallow while April grabs my hand and squeezes tight.
The Elders raise their heads in unison. “Then leave,” Agata says. “And never, ever come back. Or we will finish what we started.”
I don’t take their words lightly, and I immediately turn around and walk off through the crowd, dragging April with me.
Just like when I dragged her out of the House.
Only this time, it isn’t me that’s tearing her away from the comfort of her home.
It’s me tearing myself away from mine.
Chapter 46
April
As Soren drags me all the way through the forest, away from the huts, the rain begins to pour down from the skies. We’re getting drenched, but he doesn’t seem fazed at all. And even though I’m happy to get as far away as I can from these people … something doesn’t sit right.
And it finally dawns on me what might be happening.
I couldn’t understand a thing of what they were saying, but I knew it was important, judging from the look on Soren’s face.
And when he dragged me away from that place … all I felt was relief.
But as he clutches my hand and pulls me all the way to the beach, I stop and let my hand slide from his.
“Are we allowed to leave?” I ask him, my lip quivering. “Just like that?”
He nods, but the storm raging in his eyes is hard not to notice.
“It came at a price, didn’t it?” I say, telling myself I’m only shivering because of the rain.
He nods again but then turns around and continues walking toward the boat I just escaped from. I follow in his footsteps, hopping onto the boat as well while he pushes it offshore.
“What was it?” I ask, grasping my bag tight. When he doesn’t answer me, I yell, “Soren! Tell me what it cost us.”
He looks up at me with the rope that kept this boat on this island still in his hand as we slowly drift away.
Raindrops drip down from his beard onto the deck. “I am never allowed back in.”
I suck in a breath, and it hitches in my throat.
He’s been excommunicated.
Ostracized by the people who raised him.
“I … I’m s—”
Suddenly, he smothers me in his chest, his arms enveloping me with warmth.
“Don’t you dare say it,” he growls, looking down at me. “Don’t feel sorry for me.” He tilts my chin to make me look at him, and he swipes away the single tear that dares to cross my cheeks. “You saved me.”
His thumb brushes past my lips as I lean into him, wishing I could make things better. But he’s in this trouble because of me.
“To them, I was merely a fighter who failed.”
“But it’s because of me—”
“I’m alive because of you,” he interrupts, clasping my face with both hands. “You made a choice … And I made mine.”