“You are not wrong,” Sion replied, looking away. “I am angry. But I also know what I have to do. I have to fight the very thing that tried to take my life, the very thing that killed my mother. Give my life over to helping others fight the very same menace. It’s the only way to add meaning to her life. It’s the only way—”
“You will be able to sleep at night?” Richard finished.
Sion nodded, clearly ashamed of his anger being laid bare. “Thank you, Heliwr, for your help,” he said, reaching out to take Richard’s forearm. “My mother chose well.” Then, nodding to Snedeker, he returned to the home, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Before Richard could say a word to his guide, a pure white butterfly flew about them, its wings glowing like silver in the sunshine. It landed on Snedeker’s wooden arm, flexing its wings in a rhythmic pattern, the insect speaking. The fairy leaned in toward the beautiful flier, listening. Long moments passed. Then it flew off to join its brethren in the meadow and beyond.
“Well, you were right, Rick,” Snedeker said, annoyance lacing every word.
“The end of the Everwinter. Kathidell shared it.”
The fairy nodded.
“I bet saying I was right was difficult,” the knight said, grinning.
“You have no idea.”
Richard breathed in the cooling spring air. The time he had spent with Kathidell Jayn Oldten had left her mark upon his heart, and he was sad he hadn’t been able to know her longer. He remembered thinking life and death came down to a coin flip. He had been wrong about that. Kathidell had gotten no flip. He had gotten to visit with the witch, listen to her needs, discover the truth about her illness, and watch her die. While all death was tragic, death at an age with so many more decades to live was more so. Life could be unfair that way. He thought of his wife then, gone these many years, also tragically taken far too early. The pang within him never went away. Ever. It wouldn’t for the Oldten family either. They would know what he had known for a long time.
It never got any easier.
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living,” Richard quoted, mostly reminding himself.
For once, Snedeker did not argue with the Heliwr.
Richard whistled for Lyrian. He would return to Old World Tales to give Merle the information Snedeker now possessed. Kathidell had given her promise and seen it fulfilled even in death. For now, the Everwinter ruled the hearts and lives of those in Annwn. It would continue until the land had sufficiently healed itself. But spring would come. Many springs would come.
Eventually.
And Kathidell Jayn Oldten would be a part of them.
Acknowledgments
Unfettered II would not exist without some extraordinary people helping in various and different ways. I am indebted to one and all of them.
Richard and Kathy Speakman
Who encouraged a boy to read
Kristin Speakman
Who gives of her heart every day
Soren Speakman
Who gives me something to fight for
Darren and Sherry Lamb
Who give me time
Jeff, Becky, Payton, and Kendall Lawson
Who keep books ready for unknown people
Rachelle Longé McGhee
Who invisibly weaves her magic into these anthologies
Todd Lockwood
Who knew my mother and painted her faithfully
Duane Wilkins
Who sells more books than anyone
My story contributors
Who answer my call ready with words
And finally, the readers
Who meet the magic of stories halfway
Unfettered II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy Page 58