5

Corven has been coming over for a month now. He comes every day. Sometimes earlier than others but always after breakfast as my papa told him. We don't talk to each other. We just exist in each other's space.

Today,he's late,again. Today I chose the library. I choose the place we spend time together and the servants direct him there when he arrives. When I hear the rumble of his monstrosity of a bike,I know he's here.

I keep reading unbothered when I hear him enter the library.

“Anya.”

“Corven.”

I'm sitting on the couch in the library and he sits opposite me. He squirms,picks up a book,drops it after a few seconds. Takes his phone out of his pocket,scrolls through,sighs loudly and ruffles his hair aggressively. 

“Will you be still? If you don't want to be here,you can leave.”

He casts me a cursory glance and goes back to distracting me.

I huff and he looks at me again. The he tips his chin towards the book I'm reading . 

“What is that?”

“A book.”

He doesn't look amused

“I mean what book is that? What are you reading?”

“The history of veltrith Dominion. It's pretty interesting.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh. Do you know the gods appeared only once? Like since the breathed things into existence.”

“Yeah. We were taught in school. They didn't tell us why though.”

“The gods created a veil to separate the divine from the mortal. But someone who was among the people who could draw magic from the veil,performed a ritual to see the true face of the gods. Instead,the person shattered the veil and three scourgeborn crawled out. Magic became violent and chose its weirder,sometimes warping their features. Kingdoms fell. There was Skyfire and blood storms everywhere. Veltrith collapsed temporarily. And that was when the gods appeared. They banished the three scourgeborn into the sea of singing teeth and made a decree. ‘Magic is no longer a gift,but a curse.Mortal hands Shall not hold what divinity casts off.’ And that was when the scourgeborn were born in full,twenty two in number. Their core duty is to enforce the veil and hunt and destroy any human that channels magic. The gods redrew and the noble house rose. Literally. They were allowed to have skyholds and -”

I pause when I see how he's staring at me.

“Sorry,I get carried away when I talk about what I read.”

“It's totally fine,nerd. I was invested the whole time. So the three scourgeborn that were banished are not dead?”

“No,it isn't mentioned anywhere that they died.”

“So they could be alive?”

“Yes,definitely. Everything cast into the sea of singing teeth does not die. They are tormented and changed. Sometimes. You know the sea sings right?”

“Yeah. I heard there's a beast under the sea that controls all that.”

“Well according to hearsay,the scourgeborn sing now. And they're trying to escape and come to the mortal world.”

“Can they?”

“No. But they can if they have help.”

He slumps into the couch.

“You seem so interested in the scourgeborn. Wanna help them out?”

A muscle clenches in his jaw and his face hardens,but he doesn't reply. 

“Are you actually planning on releasing them?”

“What? No. What the hell gave you that idea?”

I shrug

“Something is bothering you and you're weirdly interested in what I have to say.”

“It's not what you say,it's what you read.”

I roll my eyes and go back to reading. 

I keep taking peeks at him,trying to discern what is wrong with him. He's unable to sit still. And he keeps checking his phone. When it rings he jumps up and puts it to his ear,pacing.

He's speaking too low,so I don't hear what he's saying but he keeps tugging on his hair. When he hangs up,he looks pained and he curses under his breath,tugging his hair some more.

“Everything okay?”

“I have to go.”

I stand up, crossing my arms.

“No you dont. We have 3 more hours to spend together.”

He narrows his eyes at me.

“I have work.”

“Work? Fine. I'll tell my papa and he will tell your papa that you left before our time together was up.”

“A While ago,you wanted me to leave. Now I'm leaving and you don't want me to go?”

I shrug, having nothing to say to that.

He stares at me for 30 seconds,then

“What will you have me do? I can't stay,I have to go.”

“Bring me with you.”

I say it like it's the most obvious thing, but his eyes widen as if I just confessed that I'm hiding a body.

“No! Do you even know where I'm going?”

“Wherever it is,your papa is not aware that you're going there since he won't send you there when you're supposed to be here with me.”

“Your father wint let you leave with me,will he?”

“He won't. It's up to you to convince him.”

He sighs in resignation and gestures for me to come with him.

We walk out of the library and head towards my papa's office. I am nervous,but I walk ahead of Corven as if I wasn't sure I would end up not leaving the house.

We knock when we get to the office and enter when my papa says we should.

My papa looks up,surprised to see both of us but he only waits for Corven to speak.

“Lord Arkael. Anya and I are going out to spend the rest of our time together.”

My dad eyes narrow

“No. She's not going anywhere with you.”

“If you're worried about her safety,you don't need to be,I'll take care of her.”

“I'm not worried about that,but she will not leave this place.”

“She will. I was just here to tell you,lord Arkael. I wasn't asking for your permission.”

They glare at each other for a solid minute before my dad finally concedes.

“Fine. But I'll send guards after you.”

“Sure,they're welcome,if they can keep up.”

Then he walks out,leaving me with my papa.

“Anya-”

I cut him off,knowing he wants to convince me to stay.

“I'll be fine,papa.”

Then I walk out after Corven. When we reach the front door,he stops abruptly,cause me to slam into his muscled back. 

“What the fuck?”

I say,rubbing my forehead. The guy is all muscles. All 6’2 of him.

He turns around,looking me up and down.

“You need to change your gown. I know you hate them and you definitely have some pants somewhere. Put those on and meet me at my car.”

He starts to leave, but I grab his arm.

“How sure am I that you're not gonna just leave?”

“I won't. I promise.”

And he doesn't. When I come back,dressed in pant and a hood that I definitely shouldn't own,he's waiting in his car,impatient.

Immediately my seat belt clicks in place,he peels out of the driveway with a hot speed and when we leave my family estate,he looses all the guards that were following in their own cars.

It isn't until we're there that I realise that he's brought us to the districts beneath the skyholds. The dwelling place of the untethered or the commoners. I didn't even realise we were descending. 

Corven doesn't sloe down,he speeds by,passing a lot of overpopulated homes and kids playing in filth. It's heartbreaking . 

He parks in front of an abandoned temple that look like it would collapse any minute. 

“You didn't have to bring me here to kill me,Corven. You might the one to die.”

He ignores me and gets out of the car,walking fast into the crumbling temple. I hurry after him,getting the sense that he wants to leave me behind. But when I enter,he's standing in front of an empty doorway that leads outside. You can clearly see the back of the temple,filled with fallen bricks and dried up grass.

When I reach him,he extends his hand to me.

“Give me your hand.”

I extend it and he grabs me hand,sending a zing through. I try to withdraw my hand,but he only tightens his hand.

“No matter what happens,hold on tight.”

I nod and he nods back. Then he walks through the door vanishing not appearing on the other side,but vanishing. My widen,but before I can process what happened,I am tugged in with him,falling into an abyss.