by Beth Alvarez
Indral lifted her chin and her mouth took a stern set once more. She folded her hands in her lap. “Because there is another. And so long as she lives and bears the burden of free magic, she will need a mentor.”
Firal’s hand tightened on his. Rune squeezed back.
“I am not here to take her from you,” the woman said. “She is so young, so desperately in need of her parents. But she and the boy are the face of the new generation of the Alda’anan. Their children may inherit the Gift, and they must know our ways, or we will face this calamity all over again. Only this time, there will be none like you to act on our behalf.”
“So you will take her from me,” Firal said, blinking hard. “Not now, but you will.”
“Were there more of us, we could bind her power and free her of these troubles. But I am alone, and alone, I can do nothing.” Indral pressed her palms together, steepled her fingers, and shifted in her seat. “She will need guidance as she grows. So I suggest what I’ve suggested for the boy. When she reaches an age where she can understand, I will take half the year, every year, until she knows all I can teach her. You may come with her if you desire. But there is no other solution. Without control, she is dangerous. Without our ways, she is chaos.”
Firal started to speak but Rune lifted a hand, silencing her. “Once every pent. The years between, Rhyllyn will teach her while he is here. If he cannot convey the ways of the Alda’anan by the time she’s old enough to learn them, then you’re not fit to teach anyone.”
Indral’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. She stared at him in what seemed disbelief, then a smile wreathed across her weathered face. “Fair enough, boy. I suppose you speak the truth.”
Beside him, Firal slumped in relief.
“I have to,” Rune said with a wry smirk. “I have silver in my tongue.”
Indral slapped her leg and crowed with laughter.
Despite himself, Rune laughed too.
The courier arrived the morning the first snow fell, bearing a letter sealed with the official crest Vicamros only used when dealing with matters of the crown.
Rune had spent weeks steeling himself for what was to come, but his heart still sank to his toes when he saw it. He carried the letter through the house, regretting with every step that he hadn’t done more. But Firal was consumed with her own affairs. She struggled through her grief by herself and avoided him in the hallways and kitchen, only sharing his company for meals and occasional playtimes with Lulu.
She sat in the library now, using his favorite pen to write a letter to one of the many people in Aldaan she’d been corresponding with since her arrival. Rune lingered in the doorway and watched her write until she put the pen aside and sat back to rub her eyes.
He tapped the letter against the door frame and she looked up in surprise.
Rune turned the letter so she could see the seal. “Were you going to tell me?”
Firal pushed back her chair and slowly rose. “Did you read that?”
“I didn’t have to.” His chest constricted and he crossed his arms. “It wasn’t hard to figure it out.”
Rosy color blossomed in her cheeks. She bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I know we should have spoken sooner, but with everything—between the refugees and the letters from merchants, Indral’s visit and everything else—I just didn’t know how to bring it up. But I suppose it’s time, isn’t it.”
Rune held out the letter. She took it from his fingertips and it felt for all the world like she took his heart with it, leaving him empty inside.
She cradled the letter to her chest. “I’ve spent so much time agonizing over what was the right thing to do. I never wanted to be a leader, but the world had other plans. I always hoped I made a good impression, that I did what was right for my people. And this is best. I know it’s quick, and I’m sure it’ll be frowned upon, but it is what’s best. I’m so sure of it now.”
He nodded, his brows crumpled with emotion, and stepped backwards into the hall.
Firal straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he replied, though his voice was hoarse. “You’re right. It’s best for you, best for your people. They need this.”
“And that upsets you?”
“No,” he lied. “Vicamros was right to choose you for Aldaan.”
She stared at him for a long time. “For Aldaan?”
“Elenhiise thrived beneath you. I’m sure you’ll make a fine baroness, as well.”
Her brow furrowed. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“I’ve seen the correspondence, Firal. I’ve seen the messages going back and forth, the names of the people you’re writing to, and then Vicamros sends something with his crest? The least you could have done was told me you made your decision.”
“You just said you knew! I thought...” She trailed off and her eyes widened. “You thought I was leaving?”
His heart skipped a beat.
Her shoulders bunched up and her hands curled into fists. “You did, didn’t you? After all I’ve done, all the hours I’ve spent writing orders and letters and telling Tobias everything he needs to know if he’s to lead—”
“Tobias!” Rune cried.
Firal threw up her hands. “What in the world did you think I was doing? Didn’t you read anything I left in that logbook? I wrote to Vicamros to tell him I couldn’t accept his offer. I recommended Tobias take it. This letter is to formally retract the offer of the barony, acknowledging that I’ve relinquished my claim on the people of Elenhiise. Vicamros is granting me citizenship of Roberian. With you, you blighted fool!”
He stared back, unable to speak.
She let out a long, hissing sigh of frustration. “Is that why you’ve been sulking about and avoiding me? If I’d known...”
“I haven’t been avoiding you,” he protested. “You’ve barely spoken to me, I thought—”
“That I’d just leave, after everything you’ve put me through? After all that’s happened, everything we’ve done, everything we’ve lost, I’d walk away?”
“I wasn’t going to make you choose.”
“It was you,” Firal said, tears filling her eyes. “It was always you.”
Rune drew back a step. “But it wasn’t. You don’t have to lie. If we’d come together a year ago, under different circumstances, it wouldn’t have been me. You wouldn’t have left him for me. I never would have expected you to.”
“Which is why it was you.” She moved closer. “Because you made it my choice. You’ve never taken that from me, never pushed me to do anything. It was always my choice. When you asked me to be healer in Core, when you asked me to marry you. Vahn took that from me.”
Tears tumbled over her lashes and he reached out to brush them away before he could stop himself. Her face was so soft, so warm. Cradling her face in his hands, Rune drew the pads of his thumbs over her cheeks.
“He had your letter,” Firal choked. “He knew you lived. And he knew I would have gone back to you if I’d had the chance then. So he hid it from me, hid that he ever knew until the morning he left to try and save you. And it hurts, because I loved him. But everything we had was built on a foundation of control.”
Rune wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry,” he faltered. It was the only thing that seemed right to say.
“Just tell me I’ve not made a mistake,” she moaned, hugging him tight and gulping against sobs. “Tell me you’ll forgive me, that you can learn to love me again.”
“Oh, Firal.” He kissed the top of her head and squeezed his eyes closed. “I never stopped.”
“Well, that’s likely best,” Minna chimed in from behind them. She stood in the hall with a bundle of linens in her arms. “According to our laws, the two of you are still married.”
Firal choked back a laugh and hid her burning face in his chest.
There was no ceremony to reunite them, no celebration shared with family—just long winter nights filled with cautious conversation to mend what had
been left in tatters. After all that had transpired, the last thing Rune wanted to do was rush. When spring came and new leaves covered the trees, they simply donned their old rings again, Firal’s tempered larger, Rune’s cut smaller, the scars on their hearts all that remained to show they’d ever been apart.
Sunlight spilled across the room and drew Rune from the depths of sleep. He opened one eye and nestled closer to the warm body that shared his bed. He buried his face in her ebony hair, breathed deep, and cradled her close. His breath escaped as a long and quiet sigh.
“Hmm?” Firal curved her back against his form and stroked his smooth forearm with gentle fingertips.
“I thought I was waking from a dream,” he murmured.
“Was it a bad dream?” She turned her head to look at him and caressed his face with one hand.
He studied the way the light fell across her face and reached to tuck a curl behind her ear, pausing when the sunlight glittered on the slim golden band that adorned his finger. “No,” he said.
The warmth in her eyes was matched by her smile and her tender touch. The feeling was contagious, and he smiled too as he traced the shape of her brows.
He leaned forward, pressed a tender kiss to her lips and felt his heart swell. “It wasn’t a dream at all.”
Author’s note
Here we are, the end of the road at last. Thank you so much for joining me on this wild ride. This series was what made me want to be a writer and has lived in my head since I was 14 or so. It’s hard to believe it’s finally out in the world.
While the core series is now resolved, there are a few side stories I want to explore, and I hope you’ll join me when I decide to delve into them. If you liked this series, I’d deeply appreciate if you’d take a second to leave a rating or review on this book—or the first, or the second, whichever ones you feel deserve the most attention.
And if you want to see what happens in this world next, I invite you to sign up for my author newsletter, too. It goes out once or twice a month, with information about new releases and peeks at extras like artwork and works-in-progress. You can find it here: http://www.ithilear.com/newsletter
Last of all, this particular book endured four rounds of editing and a round of proofreading, but accidents still happen. If you find any typographical or formatting errors in this book, please let me know so I can fix it for the next reader.
Catch you in the next adventure!
- Beth
About the Author
Beth Alvarez has enjoyed writing since childhood and is a ravenous reader.
A visual arts major, Alvarez has worked as a freelance web designer, graphic designer, illustrator, and video game programmer. When not writing, she enjoys drawing, playing video games, driving, and sewing for her unusual collection of Asian ball-jointed dolls. Her collection can be seen on her YouTube channel, Lomi’s Playground.
Raised in southern Illinois, she now resides in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee with her husband and daughter, their Siberian husky, and a very mean cat.
Books by Beth Alvarez
FANTASY BOOKS
Gale’s Gift
Of Blood and Rain
To Steal the World
To Steal the Crown
To Steal the Queen
Serpent’s Mark
Serpent’s Tears
Serpent’s Bane
Serpent’s Wake
Serpent’s Crown
Serpent’s Blood (Thanks for reading!)
PARANORMAL BOOKS
Keeper’s Finder
Her Midnight Cowboy
Her Midnight Wedding
Her Midnight Hunter
The First Hunt (Newsletter Exclusive)
Death of the Sun
Born of the Moon