Chapter 157: The Silence in The Abyss
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Varya stepped out of the medical bay, her breath shallow, her fingers trembling and stained with blood. The sleeves of her tunic were soaked up to her elbows. It wasn’t hers. Lorraine’s blood still clung to her skin like the memory of death refusing to let go.
Cyrin stepped out pf the room, to speak with Kieran about the dwindling wolfsbane supply... about the queen... about everything that could break the fragile thread still holding them all together. But Varya? She needed air, needed to breathe before the walls of that underground hideout crushed her from within.
She climbed the stairs leading up to the surface, each step feeling heavier than the last. The door that once sealed the underground stronghold had been torn off by Kieran days ago. In its place was a makeshift barricade, rough wood and metal welded into something that only just passed for security.
Varya pushed it open with a creak and stepped into the moonless night. The cool air hit her face like a balm, though the ache in her chest refused to be soothed.
That’s when she saw him.
Beneath a lone, skeletal tree not far from the entrance, Felix sat with his back to the trunk, knees pulled up, his arms hanging limply over them. He looked lost in the kind of sorrow that didn’t cry out, but simmered, silent and corrosive. A single tear carved a line down his cheek, catching in the hollow of his jaw.
"Felix?" Varya called softly, uncertain if she should disturb him.
He jolted, startled, and quickly wiped his face with the sleeve of his worn shirt. "Hey," he said with a half hearted smile that didn’t touch his eyes. "Didn’t see you there."
She walked up to him slowly, her boots crunching on the dry leaves scattered around. "Why are you out here?" she asked, her voice gentle.
"Nothing," he replied too quickly. His gaze flickered down to her hands, and the crimson stains that hadn’t dried yet. "The blood," he said quietly, "it’s Lorraine’s, right?"
Varya gave a small nod and sat beside him, her back resting against the same gnarled tree. The silence between them felt loud, but not heavy.