It was dark. He knew that Alex was sleeping. Octavia was as well. He didn’t know if the badger was watching him, or the mouse. Maybe both.
He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. The guilt was eating him instead. He’d failed Seraphina. He’d failed her miserably.
She’d asked him for one thing; bring her the otherworlders. How hard could it be? It was so easy to manipulate children, as for the big one, he was wrapped around Octavia’s fingers. He would’ve done whatever she said.
Now all she had was a useless girl. He watched the fire, because, like his guilt and shame, the flames rose higher and higher. Someone sat down next to him. He’d heard it from the shuffling noises and the light plop. He knew it was Octavia because of the skirt.
“I thought your brother told you to stay away from me.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to listen, Eddie,” she told him. He sighed. It was strange that she was so nice to him. She had no reason to be. He was the reason that she lost a friend and that she was now officially on the run. “Besides, I know, you’re not dangerous.”
“How do you know that?” he questioned. “What’s stopping me from killing you and your brother and running away?”
“Aside from the fact that you have no weapons,” she started. “Nothing.” but she paused. “But I don’t think you’d do that anyway. You’re not a killer.”
Eddie inhaled. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
She shrugged her shoulders. Even her brother had words for him. He’d been called a stupid kid. And while that may have been right, it didn’t bother him too much. But Octavia’s kindness stumped him. “It’s the right thing to do,” she smiled. “My dad told me that no matter who it is, or what they’ve done, everyone deserves a second chance.” she glanced over to where Alex was sleeping. “And if we’re being completely honest with each other; there are times when Alex thinks he knows everything. And those are typically the times when he’s wrong.” He would’ve laughed if he was in the mood. If he was with Seraphina. “Would you like to tell me about the mage?”
“She has a name,” Eddie stated. “Her name is Seraphina.”
“Sorry,” Octavia apologized sheepishly. “Would you like to tell me about Seraphina?”
He pulled his knees up to his chest and put his chin between them as he watched the fire. He imagined Seraphina emerging from the flames for a second. “She found me,” he started. “Weeks after I got here. I was... I was cold and her sleigh was so fast that it knocked me into the snow.” he shivered at the memory of the cold. “And then her goblin tried to kill me. I think his name was Kiard. She stopped him and invited me onto the sleigh because I looked cold.” he paused. “I was hesitant at first, my mother had always warned me about strangers. But I thought if I didn’t she’d kill me. I never for a second thought that she’d actually like me.” A haunted look entered his eyes. “And now I’ve failed her.”
“How did you fail her?” Octavia asked. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed genuinely curious, but for all he knew it was a trick. But of course, it didn’t matter anyway.
“You heard it the other night,” Eddie stated. “I was supposed to bring you and your brother to her. It was all she asked of me.”
She nodded. “Do you know what her plans were?”
“She was going to make me the heir to her throne,” the boy answered. “Not that I... but... the idea of a throne wasn’t the only reason I did this.”
Octavia pursed her lips, casting away the thoughts of her question. Now overcome with a new question. “Why did you then?”
She watched as something lit up in his eye. Like the thought excited him. There was something special about his bond with Seraphina. Perhaps it was something like what Octavia and Alex shared. Or what the badger and mouse shared. Perhaps something even more powerful.
“Seraphina is... she’s like a spark to a flame,” he explained. “She’s so beautiful that she seems almost like a goddess. But there’s more to her than looks. Her soul is magnetic, she’s so kind, so strong. She makes the hard choices when no one else is willing to.”
“She sounds good,” Octavia spoke. “She almost reminds me of Aria.”
A sad smile breached Octavia’s features causing Eddie to exhale. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your friend.”
“And I’m sorry about Seraphina.”
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