We’d arrived at Nash's family’s home soon after nightfall. I sat on plush pillows on the floor with a steaming mug of tea on the short table before me while Nash talked with his child's mother, Trish, in the other room.

This was a nice house, the kind meant to last a lifetime. There was a kitchen and small living area with two bedrooms attached. Canvas paintings of the valley hung on the walls. Fresh wildflowers fanned from a vase on the table. Enough time had passed for smoke to blacken the wall behind the indoor stove. The Prophet was able to offer people forever homes, with the promise of steady food and protection. No wonder so many served him.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself properly earlier. I'm Trish." She'd quietly entered the room while I gawked at her house. Long hair lay over her shoulders.

“I should apologize. We've interrupted your day.” I stood and bumped into the table. Tea sloshed onto the surface. “Sorry.” I stumbled over my apology as I sopped up the steaming liquid with my shirt.

“Oh, I have towels.” Trish opened a basket over by the stove.

Of course, she did. She wasn’t some barbarian who cleaned up with the clothes she wore. I was a mess. Speaking of which, I looked terrible. Mud and grass stains streaked my dress. There were tiny tears and even specks of blood from the branches I'd hit. I didn't even want to think about my skin or hair.

Trish passed a towel to me even though there was nothing left to clean, except for myself, and I would need a stream or tub for that. Maybe the entire sea.

“My husband is a farmer and a politician," Trish said. "Important business called him away to the Prophet's village. We don't have to worry about him coming home.”

Nash had brought us to the home of a councilman? Was he insane? No wonder Trish and her husband had gotten bound. They weren't just pious but the most loyal to the Prophet.

“I should have mentioned that,” Nash said to me. “He’s always away at this time.”

Interesting. Did Nash come here often when the other man was away? Trish cheating on her husband would be one thing. Betraying the mate she'd bound herself to? I couldn't fathom Nash putting his family in such danger.

Trish clasped her hands in front of her. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I wish Nash would make safer choices for himself, but I’ve sworn to honor him as my daughter’s father, and that means making sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”

“I’m sorry, Trish," Nash said. "I know how you feel.”

“Well… That doesn’t seem to matter to you.”

Nash looked away, jaw tightening. For Trish and Nash to entertain any semblance of feelings for one another, they must not have been able to help it. Trish was betraying not just the man she was bound to but the Prophet they had sworn their eternal souls to by welcoming us. Disgust filled me at the thought of such a vow.

Even if no one ever found out that Trish helped us, surely she believed the gods knew. Protecting Nash was worth the stain on her soul.

Must have been love. Love that could never be. At least, not now that Trish had bound herself to another man.

“Elsie is playing out back,” Trish said to Nash, easing the tension they'd created.

Nash nodded and then hesitated. "Take Elsie to the cabin until I return. Promise me you'll stay there."

Trish's voice tightened. "What will I tell him?"

"Whatever you have to. Soon, we'll all be free of the Prophet, including your husband. I know you both want that."

He walked past her without giving her time to ask more questions and her worried eyes turned to me.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"It'll be okay." I wasn't sure why I said it, because I didn't know that it was true, or that it would even make her feel better.

She sighed quietly and offered a stiff smile before leading me around the house to collect things for our travels. Coin Nash had stashed here, clothes, food, bandages, and jugs of water. I thanked her and then followed her out of the house, ready to be free from the discomfort of not knowing what to say. I was trespassing on their family time.

Nash reclined on the grass beside his daughter where she played. Tight curls of black hair bounced when she hopped on her knees, lifting two dolls up into the air. She had her father’s smile, right down to the dimple. How often had I watched Leif lie on the ground with Rune when he was little and marvel at every move he made?

Pain crawled up my chest to wrap around my throat.

"What's her name?" Nash’s voice was low and gentle. He tapped Elsie’s doll on the head.

"I told you, Daddy. She's Daisy."

Nash smiled. Elsie seemed to forget about him as her doll got caught up in an adventure. He just rested there on the grass with her, watching every move she made.

I remembered that feeling so well. Being a child and the whole world fitting in my patch of grass. My vision blurred. I could see my father's face as it had been back when he was young and unburdened, or at least when I was too young to see it.

I’d broken my father into shards, keeping each piece of him separate so I’d never have to reconcile the different sides of him. If I ever put him back together in my mind again, I might lose the part that had once been my best friend. I tried to only see that side of him, but the rest forced its way in–shapeless, soundless memories lurking somewhere inside as pressure in my chest.

Nash looked up then. He'd caught me watching. My cheeks burned but I forced myself to smile to cover my embarrassment.

He took Elsie’s hand and led her to me. “This is Max. The friend I told you about. Introduce yourself.”

Elsie hopped forward one step. “I’m Elsie. I’m four years old and this is where I live.” She reached a stubby hand back toward her house.

I knelt at Elsie’s level. “It’s nice to meet you, Elsie. Your dad told me so many good things about you.”

“Did he tell you I’m fast?"

“He did.” I winked. Conversation came as easily with her as it always had with Rune. “He told me you’re way faster than him.”

Elsie clasped her hands over her mouth and giggled. “Daddy, did you really say that?”

Light as bright as the sun overhead filled Nash’s eyes as he met his daughter’s gaze. “Maybe we’ll race sometime and see.” He knelt to pick her up and kissed her forehead. “Listen now. Max and I have to go soon, baby.”

Elsie’s smile soured into a frown. And then she buried her face against him.

Nash held her head against his chest and rocked her lightly. “I’ll be back soon. Promise.”

Her voice hitched and she dropped her dolls, reaching her little arms up for his neck, sobbing. “Daddy, don’t go!”

Trish stood up to come over, but Nash shook his head and brushed Elsie’s hair back. He walked with her out toward the field, speaking to her in words I couldn't hear. My chest hurt watching them. Nash wasn’t like my father. He really did love his daughter. Really was a good father. If he was so focused on Elsie, would he really spend time trying to manipulate me?

My soft heart was getting in the way again. Of course, he would, if it meant being with his daughter or protecting her. From what I saw, Nash would do anything for Elsie. His love for her made him a risk to my people. Rune needed us as much as Elsie needed her father. More, because he was in danger. I had to repeat it to myself as I watched Elsie’s tears soften, watched her melt in her dad’s hug and cry herself to sleep as he whispered to her.

None of this meant I should trust Nash. But it did make me. My anger, my suspicion, my fear dissipated. It wasn’t even a fair fight.

I’d always known I would die young. I wouldn't bring a kid into the world only to abandon them. But I liked children. Thought I’d like to have one if I’d had a different fate. Nash and Elsie made me hurt, for the first time in many years, for the children I’d never have. The life I’d never have. Beneath the darkness of the eclipse, I’d always been destined to die, just as beneath the darkness of the eclipse, the child in me had once died by my father’s hands. By my own hands really. My fate had been sealed long ago.

Nash had hit my weakness. That didn't mean he was trustworthy.