The distant frothing of water, which reached him as the encroaching night broadened his senses, was a crystalline salve to Cedric's parched spirits.

He touched Adrian's arm, causing the latter to jump as they were setting up the tent.

"What?" he snapped. The relentless hunger and soul-draining heat of the last week-and-a-half had worn them all down to rawer versions of themselves.

"Water," Cedric said softly, wonderingly. "I've never heard so much of it at once."

Adrian dropped the linen and poles. His face was bright, alive in a way it hadn't been for several days. "The river… You mean the Hadria River, right?"

"It must be." He grinned. "We're in the Summerlands. Crystallinus is close!"

"Bugger the capital! Just bring me those cold, exquisite waters…" Adrian pumped his arms in glee. "How far are we? Could we set off on foot and return later tonight?"

Cedric shook his head. "We should reach the river by midday tomorrow. Then, you can bathe to your heart's content."

"Not only me," Adrian said as they resumed their task. "I've been sharing this tent with you all along. You could use a good scrub yourself."

*

The Hadria River spanned ten times the width of the stream in Methodosia's forest, wider than any body of water that Cedric had ever encountered. But what truly captured his awe was the abundance of green life along its banks: tufts of vibrant grass and moss in lieu of the tough, yellow patches he'd become accustomed to.

"Wasn't it a previous Rhea who created this--" he began to ask, then realized that Adrian had already leapt from the wagon and was whooping his way straight into the water, with Gideon trailing close behind.

Cedric felt a grin nearly split his face in two. He leapt in as well, pausing just long enough to kick off his shoes.

The water was crisp, sweet, and utterly exquisite across his sun-fevered skin. Only when Cedric's last bit of air had depleted did he surface and find Gideon and Adrian nearby, laughing maniacally as they splashed each other.

Along the riverbank from which the three of them had launched themselves, Candra and Yael sat with their bare feet submerged. A surprisingly painful memory of Grace doing the same, seemingly eons ago, flitted through Cedric's mind. Had sickness, drought, and the Blight driven Grace and Finn from their homes in Methodosia as well?

A hearty splash in his eyes wrenched him firmly back to the present. He shot a threatening glare at Adrian and Gideon, who wore identical unapologetic grins, and promptly retaliated in kind.

"Ah, to feel alive again," Adrian sighed a few hours later as they resumed their voyage. They were moving parallel to the bank, and would be guaranteed fresh water for the rest of their journey. Such a prospect had greatly enlivened the company's spirits.

Cedric swept a sheaf of wet hair from his face, and caught Adrian staring at him. "What?"

He blinked, then averted his eyes. "Any new notions on what we'll do upon arrival?"

Cedric's high spirits deflated somewhat, and he shook his head. "Aside from blindly charging into the Citadel? Not particularly."

Adrian blew out his cheeks. "Well, we've come this far. We've always thought of something."

"Pure luck has saved our skins more than once."

"'Luck' is the Goddess making up the difference," Adrian said with an impish grin. "We've got Her on our side, haven't we?"

*

With every subsequent step toward Iridesca's capital city, the air cooled and sweetened. No longer did the days stifle, even at the sun's zenith among cloudless skies. No longer did the nights suffocate and hinder much-needed rest. Nature flourished happily around them, having never been given reason to do otherwise.

Cedric took to night-fishing in the shallows, using his heightened reflexes to snatch his prey barehanded and Candra's expertise to gut them. The first bite of his prize, one of several large trout roasted over a fire that evening, had overwhelmed him with its tender, smoky sweetness. Following a seeming eternity of dried fruit, moldy cheese, and leathery meat, the rest of his company had responded much the same; he could have sworn that Adrian's eyes were filmed with tears as he chewed.

Having secured a steady source of fresh meat, the dwindling supplies no longer weighed upon them. The weather was pleasant, the grass was soft, and bellies were full; they'd practically stepped into a different world.

"But even this--" Adrian said one evening, sweeping his arm around, "--can't be natural, right? Aren't we well into winter by now?"

"Winters have always been short and mild here," Candra replied. "Hence the Summerlands, the most prosperous in the kingdom."

Cedric perused the nearby settlements on their map. "How could that be?"

"If there's an explanation other than the Divine Heirs' holy light, I've not yet heard it."

Adrian rolled his eyes around his portion of eel.

As the river widened, Crystallinus gradually came into view before them. Even from such a distance, it was just as Cedric had seen in Eris' visions: an enormous white city set on an island at the Hadria's widest point, with the soaring Citadel at its heart.

Adrian and Gideon stared, awestruck, while Candra exuded only bitterness.

On the last day of their journey, encampments began to appear along their path. They started out small and sparse: clusters of wagons, carts, roughshod shelters and campfire circles set at a short distance from the riverbank. The inhabitants were common village or townsfolk, driven from their homes by disease and drought even as the people of Borne had been driven from theirs. Those not stricken by the Blight regarded Cedric's company with grim, knowing eyes as they passed.

The encampments grew steadily in density as the afternoon wore on; by nightfall, they were surrounded. Murmurs of countless conversations thickened the evening air. Some folk bathed or fished in the nearby waters while others huddled around campfires scattered throughout the area. Laughing children wove nimbly through the thick masses of activity. When Cedric's company settled down for the final night of their journey, they did so amidst a community of strangers.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"D'you think Darius and the others are here somewhere?" Gideon said that night around their own fire. A pair of trout and an eel cooked over the flames.

"I exchanged words with a few people," Adrian said. "One of them mentioned something about Borne folk further down the river, closer to the capital."

Both Gideon and Yael brightened.

"How many villages' worth has been driven to the Summerlands?" Cedric wondered.

"All of them, given time," Candra said.

"We'd like to seek out our townsmen tomorrow," Yael said. Her hand reached out and found her son's. She raised her head. "Is that all right?"

"Of course," Cedric said.

"Thank you all, again," Yael said. "We can never repay this debt."

"If you tell no one about us, consider it repaid," Adrian said.

She nodded solemnly, as did Gideon.

A little after supper, as the last of daylight faded, Cedric headed to the riverbank to splash his face and neck. He felt Candra approach him, each quiet step rippling the canvas of his senses.

"I never thought I'd come back…" she murmured.

Cedric blinked the chilled water from his eyes and turned to look at her. She was staring past him at the city of Crystallinus, now a mere ten miles down the river from where they stood. The Hadria had widened so dramatically that its far bank was no longer visible, and the island at its center was larger than both Laetera and Faircross combined.

"It's quite a sight," Cedric said. He considered the soaring white walls that bordered the city, the wide arch bridges that connected the banks on either side, the docks lining the island's shores. "What was it like to live there?"

"I'd never known anything else. To me, it was unremarkable." She smiled wryly. "Since then, I've learned that disease is far more common than I assumed, not everyone enjoys fresh meat and fruit on a daily basis, that beauty and pleasure are trifling pursuits reserved only for the spoiled." Her expression sobered. "Regardless of your methods to infiltrate those walls, Cedric, you may not come back out. Whatever closures you still seek in this life, seize them before it's too late."

*

"Tomorrow's the day," Adrian said brightly as Cedric crawled into the tent. "When we break through the gates of the capital and set Ayo and Asha quaking in their silken slippers."

"Hmm," Cedric said distractedly as his heart beat rapidly against his ribs. He had to unleash the pressure that'd been building in his chest ever since his predecessor's memories had opened that strange new door in his being. Candra was right; after tomorrow, he'd likely never get another chance.

Whatever the answer, I'll accept it.

"When this is over," he said, then cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "What will you do?"

"I… what are you talking about?"

"Would you return to Faircross, back to Destrius? He'd be more than glad to take you in. You'd get the life you always wanted."

"That eager to rid yourself of me, are you?" Adrian said after a few stony seconds.

"No, that's not what I--"

"If you don't want me here--"

"Of course I do!" Cedric's brow furrowed. "Why wouldn't I?"

Adrian paused. "Nevermind," he mumbled.

Cedric reached forward in the dark and grasped his shoulder. "Adrian…"

He shrugged him off. "I understand, all right? I'll leave you be as soon as--"

"Understand what?" Cedric felt anger creeping into his voice. This was decidedly not how he anticipated the conversation unfolding.

Adrian pushed up into a sitting position. "That you haven't forgiven me." His tone was resigned, accommodating, and cut at Cedric like a knife.

He sat upright as well. "That's what you think this is about? I've already forgiven you, for all of it! I told you as much in Faircross." Cedric bit back his frustration and reached out for Adrian's shoulders. He wasn't rebuffed this time. "Adrian, I ask because…" He took a deep breath. "I wanted to know about… us."

The air inside the tent seemed to coagulate.

"Us?" Adrian said in a small voice.

"I want to be with you, wherever that may be. If you'll have me."

"And if I want to be a pig farmer?" he croaked.

"Then we'd raise the fattest, happiest pigs in the world."

Adrian laughed, a little shrilly. "King Rava, the Pig Farmer…" He shook his head. "Cedric, think about this. You've only been out in the world a few months, and--and you think the first bar boy you meet is--"

Cedric took the plunge, crossed that invisible boundary, and lifted his hands to cup Adrian's face as he'd longed to do for weeks. Adrian's breath caught.

"I don't even know if it's right, but… I couldn't imagine being somewhere you're not. I… I want us to have what Jana and Alvir had."

He waited, sick with anticipation. Had his former guardians felt the same when they'd taken that final leap, when they'd bared their heart to the mercies of the other?

Adrian's hand slowly reached up to close around Cedric's wrist. "I haven't fallen asleep and dreamt all this up, have I?" he said hoarsely.

"No, why?"

"I never thought you'd… " He swallowed. "With who you are… and what I've…"

Cedric laughed as relief and joy flooded through him. "You feel the same?"

"I--yes. Yes, of course--"

Unable to resist a moment longer, Cedric kissed him. It was desperate, graceless, a clumsy mashing of mouths, but Adrian readily matched his intensity and hunger.

For a blissful eternity, the outside world ceased to matter. Adrian's eager hands found their way through his hair, across his neck and collarbone, down his sides--

A hideous wave of revulsion overtook him, dashing away the warmth and joy like cobwebs by a roaring torrent. Cedric froze in place as terror and disgust petrified his body.

Adrian felt the change and immediately pulled back. "What's wrong?"

Get away, stop, don't touch, GETAWAYFROM--

Cedric shoved Adrian away and fled the tent.

*

Adrian eventually found him standing in the river's waist-high waters. He'd removed his tunic, and the smooth alabaster of his back emitted a gentle glow beneath the moonlight. Only he was in the water at this time of night, and the gentle murmurs of lingering activity at the encampments were well behind them. Adrian approached until his shoes touched the edge of the bank.

Cedric scrubbed feverishly at his arms, as if some terrible uncleanliness lay beneath his skin. He'd no doubt already sensed Adrian's approach, and so the latter simply waited and watched, heart pounding in his ears.

At last, Cedric went still. "I'm sorry," he said without turning around. His voice was hollow, and barely discernible above the rushing water. "I ruined everything."

"You didn't," Adrian said at once, keenly aware of the desperation in his voice. "Please, come back to camp."

"What's worse is that… I can't even remember," Cedric said, as if he hadn't heard him. "Not clearly, at least. But even the husks of memory reduce me to this--this pathetic--" His back bowed in defeat, and he went silent.

Cedric had never spoken of his imprisonment in any detail, and Adrian would have never asked it of him. But the latter had no trouble imagining what a helpless child at the mercy of captors prone to boredom and cruelty could have gone through. Cedric's night terrors, though less frequent than before, were proof enough.

A sudden fury ignited Adrian's heart. He cursed the ugly creatures that'd hurt Cedric so deeply, cursed the bloody Heirs for their part in them. He strode forward into the water.

"You're wrong," he said, with the strongest conviction he'd ever felt. "In a world where you're weak, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east." He stopped behind him, aching to grasp his shoulders and meet his gaze, to force him to be convinced, but Adrian's touch was likely the last thing he needed.

Cedric finally turned, his unsettling blue eyes wide and anguished. "What if I… can't change? What if I'm never capable… of…"

"It'd take more than that to get me to stop pestering you."

Cedric's arms and sides were streaked with red, the skin even torn in some places. Adrian swallowed.

"Come back to camp," he repeated, just shy of begging.

This time, Cedric did so.

They lay beside each other, fingers intertwined, and talked in low murmurs for much of the night. Adrian was determined to keep Cedric's mind occupied with happier matters, and the latter seemed glad for the distraction.

"When did you realize?" Cedric whispered a few hours later. "That you felt…"

Adrian made a noncommittal sound. "You never stopped irritating me, but I suppose at some point I grew fond of the feeling." He pulled in their interlocked hands and pressed his lips to Cedric's fingers. He waited, concerned that even this minor touch would cause distress, but there was no tension in Cedric's body this time.

"Adrian, if I don’t come back…"

His stomach dropped as the reality of the situation, the reason why they were even here at the threshold of the capital, cruelly reacquainted itself. In a matter of weeks or even days, Cedric would be confronting his far-older and more powerful kin. Adrian tightened his grip.

"We were right to do this," Cedric said. "No matter what happens."

"You're going to win, and you're going to come back," he said shortly. "I'll hold you to it. You should have known better than to seduce me with a pig farm."