Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,59

my mind. I was out of my element, but I was free. We would figure this out. Together.

Heart of the Walker

Chapter One

Josiah, Two years ago

I shouldn’t like how Ashleigh blushes whenever I’m near, but some sick part of me does. I can’t help but watch her with morbid fascination as she serves my favorite dinner—roasted chicken and potatoes with caramelized carrots. I suspect she made it because she overheard Father and me fighting again this morning. It was our usual row. He has high expectations for his predecessor, yet I have no desire to follow in his clumsy, corrupt footsteps.

Nothing about Ashleigh is supposed to draw me in. She isn't particularly spectacular in any sense of the word. Her appearance is mostly plain, and her status is definitely beneath mine, but I can't help but feel eager and curious when she exhibits little rebellious displays of affection. Like how she made my favorite dish tonight when Father requested venison.

Ashleigh is supposed to be worth nothing more to me than the flashy furniture in this very dining room. Walkers are only procured by wealthy families seeking to impress equally wealthy enemies; a decorative fixture in our lavish home. Ashleigh is a daily reminder that our family can afford the vaccine that many others can’t. At least, that's what I’ve been conditioned to think, and yet I feel that there's something more to this little Walker.

Over the last year, she stopped seeing me as her childhood hero and started seeing me as something else, and damn—I liked it. The adoration in her smile made me feel uncomfortable and on edge. I hated that I sought out any and every opportunity to steal moments with the hazel-eyed woman with wild hair and a tame heart. My eyes found themselves glued to her whenever she entered the room, and I enjoyed listening to her hum while she baked, the sound a stark bright melody against the hopelessness of the manor. She glows with acceptance and optimism despite her dismal place in this fucked up world. Ashleigh rarely complains, and her complacent moods are frightfully alluring.

When Ashleigh was younger, I politely entertained the worship she so plainly bestowed upon me, but this new development has me conflicted. Her curves and desire to please wholly absorb me into her orbit, and her complete, consuming devotion makes my fascination grow daily.

At best, Ashleigh is a distraction. At worst, she is something Father can use against me. I’ve been groomed as his successor as Governor of the Galla province since I was able to speak, and someone like Ashleigh is exactly what he would force me to stay away from.

I hate him.

Father notices her naive yet addicting allure, too. He leers whenever she bends to serve our dinner, and I notice how his grey eyes seek the plush lift of her chest in the window between her dirty dress and freckled skin. He follows her movements with the intense focus of a predator.

I don’t want him to see or guess just how much Ashleigh has burrowed herself into my existence. This peculiar fascination with my little Walker is disastrous, but I can’t help but feel somewhat attached. Our connection is a burning train destined to derail and destroy us both.

I continue about my dinner in silence, trying to work through how Ashleigh carved out a blackened piece of my dead heart and miraculously pulsed life back through it.

Chapter Two

Ashleigh - Present Day

The General Store was buzzing with chatty and overly curious customers, providing a constant yet monotonous noise in the over-crowded space. It was my first official day, and citizens of the Dormas province were supremely curious about the Walker that warranted a rescue mission from the entire Dormas Leadership Council.

Their curious gazes loomed at me over the wooden, dusty shelves. Not one for being used to attention, I found their nosiness to be endearing but annoying.

Lois and Mark Caverly, the General Store owners, thrived upon the attention they received from hiring me to be the Baker in their quaint store. They resolved to introduce me to every single patron that graced their front steps, even going as far as to wave in walking pedestrians to take a look at the Walker that stumbled into the Dormas Leadership Council’s favored eye.

Lois pointedly told anyone willing to listen that I was the daughter she never had. She even tried marrying me off to at least seven mine workers that stopped by to indulge in a muffin on their morning