Noah kept his promise with a great deal of determination, and popped up frequently over the next few days. The increased exposure helped lessen Penny’s nerves and she discovered she regarded him as a true friend, but was well aware of his forward affections and unsure of her own feelings on the matter.
During their stay at the castle, Penny had seen very little of Hector. He was present during times when they were needed to speak with the foreign liaisons and barons, but otherwise his absence was notable. Whenever Penny came poking around his room, it was always to find it deserted. If she did chance to run into him, his thoughts seemed elsewhere. He refused to answer any questions about how he was spending his time, which perturbed Penny further. Her curiosity not satisfied, she barged into his room late one night after a long day and found him leaning over his desk, which was almost swallowed by heaping piles of notes and dog-eared books. He jumped at her abrupt entrance.
“Good to see you’re back to normal,” Penny commented as he began grumbling about manners and knocking.
“I’m busy now, can’t you come back later?” Hector requested, keeping his eyes focused on the book before him.
Penny scowled. “No. Where have you been lately? I―I almost sort of miss you,” she stammered, yanking the book from his hand and scanning the pages. It looked complicated, so she closed it and set it aside. Hector sighed, obviously irked that she had lost his place. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his forehead.
“I’ve been working on something. I need some peace and quiet.”
“What is it? What are you working on?” Penny tried to look at his notes, which he hastily covered.
“As it turns out, it’s none of your business, though I expect I shall be finished by tomorrow evening, at which time I shall see fit to tell you.” Hector picked up his stacks of paper, shuffled them and set them on top of a high stack of books.
Penny frowned. “Why, of course, your grace. How rude of me to interrupt,” she said with a mock curtsy.
“Off with you,” Hector pointed to the door, but Penny remained firm.
“Sorry, but I don’t take orders from Professor Arlington anymore. Or should I say…Aín?” she retorted and Hector’s haughtiness deflated. He sighed and turned away with a melancholy smile that almost made Penny sorry she’d brought it up.
“So, you caught that, did you?” he murmured.
Guilt washed over Penny as she saw the sorrow that he attempted to hide with a quivering smile. “Well, yeah…I mean―why’d Della call you that?” she asked in a more delicate manner and Hector cast his gaze to the far window.
“She called me that because it’s my name, or at least it was in Nelvirna. I wasn’t born as Hector Arlington. I picked that name for myself shortly after I came to Earth,” Hector explained.
“I see, that makes sense…but why’d you go with Hector?”
“Well, when I was familiarizing myself with the classic pieces of literature from Earth, I came across The Iliad,” Hector explained, perking up a bit. “I don’t know if you know the story or not, but Hector’s courage was enormous, especially when compared to the cowardice of Paris. It―It made an impression on me. After reading it I decided that I would never allow my courage to fail as Paris’s had…that I would become like Hector. It’s stupid, I know…” Hector stammered, avoiding Penny’s eyes. She offered a sympathetic smile, then stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder when he continued to look away.
“You’ve more than lived up to it…” she told him with affection.
Hector glanced up at Penny, surprise and poignant emotion apparent. Their gazes connected and Penny felt her heart leap and flutter in a way that was almost painful. She tried to look away, but found that she had lost the ability to as she studied the flecks of green and brown in Hector’s eyes. For a brief moment she caught a glimpse of something like guilt in his stare, but she didn’t have time to interpret it as a voice interrupted them.
“Ahh, I thought I heard something steamy going on in here,” Simon sang.
Penny swung around to face Simon, wrenching her hand away from Hector’s shoulder before the magician could make any unnecessary comments.
“What do you want?” Penny asked, blushing.
Simon raised an eyebrow at the mountain of books on Hector’s desk. “I thought it was time we all had a little parley. It’s only a matter of time before we’re sent away from the palace and back to Annette’s house…we need to be certain of our plans for the future,” he suggested, taking a seat on Hector’s bed and grabbing a purple fruit from the bowl on the desk.
Questions arose about the night of the confrontation in Hulver and what exactly had happened. None of them seemed to think that Nestor was gone for good, and they puzzled over the tiny treasure chest that Della had given Penny, wondering when it would open and what would be inside when it did. It seemed to be an unspoken truth that they would all stay together and follow Della’s orders as well as they could―they had to go on and try to find the remaining pieces of Seival that were still lost somewhere across Elydria.
“The eyes, the wings, the heart. That’s five pieces all together,” Simon surmised, stroking his thin mustache.
“It could be as little as three people, as many as five,” Hector said, thinking aloud. “I suppose our best bet would be to look for people with extraordinary talents, something that sets them apart from others―like Annette.”
“Or they could just be gloomy recluses who stay inside reading all day, like you!” Penny added with a roguish smile.
“The heart of Seival―perhaps a person with the capacity to love in a way that humanity has never known! How intriguing.” Simon’s eyes looked unfocused, and Penny could tell his imagination had already begun to elaborate on this possibility.
“Leave it to Simon to fantasize about the dismembered heart of an Angel,” Penny smirked.
Hector laughed and stood up. “I suppose even with the most extensive planning, our efforts would be worth nothing. If I’ve learned one thing from living in Elydria, it’s that trouble has a way of finding us whether we want it to or not,” he said with a finality that seemed to end the conversation.
THE NEXT MORNING Penny got the news that they were going to be released from the palace in two days. From that moment on, everyone rushed to get last minute arrangements in order before their departure. The day was long and arduous and by the time Penny had finished her to-do list, night had fallen.
Penny wandered through the castle after everyone had gone to bed, saying silent goodbyes. Her last visit was to the ballroom. It seemed extraordinarily empty as Penny tiptoed through it in the shade of night, each footstep giving a resounding echo as she crept to the same balcony where she and Noah had talked the night they met. The view of Iverton was as astonishing as ever and it captivated her.
Enjoying the lights that blinked throughout the sprawling city, Penny knew that this calm in the storm would only last for so long, though the idea did not frighten her as much as it would have in the past. Rather, it made her appreciate the serenity of the lull and let her relish the moment of quiet that life allotted to her.
“Penny?” a voice called and she turned to see Hector stepping out onto the balcony. She greeted him with a wide grin, surprised to see him out and about. “Whatever are you doing out here? It’s cold—I expect it’ll begin to snow soon.”
“Just getting one last look before we go. What’s wrong—you look like—”
“I’ve got something I need to tell you,” he stammered, looking down at his feet. She tensed, wondering what it was that Hector had sought her out to say. Hector looked up at Penny with a misty smile.
“I’ve finished what I’ve been working on…” he admitted, looking at her with equal parts joy and rue. She waited with an expectant gaze for him to continue. “I’ve finally figured out how to do it―I can take you home now.”
It took almost half a minute for Hector’s words to sink in.
“You mean…you’r
e saying that…”
“I mean that whenever you wish to return to Earth, you can. It took me this long to figure out how to do it―but somehow, ever since Della told me I could…I just sort of knew how to do it. After I mastered that, it took even longer to work out how to appear at the exact right location, but I think I’ve got it down fairly well. Just say the word and I’ll take you there. I’ll take you home,” Hector said with a small smile as Penny beamed.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go! I can’t wait!” Penny cried, overjoyed at the idea that she might be back in her cozy little house and jumping into her mother’s arm in just a few moments.
Hector looked astonished. “Don’t you―don’t you at least want to say your farewells to everyone? I know Annette will be heartbroken when she finds out you left without saying goodbye, and I’m sure His Majesty would―”
Penny shot him a dangerous look and he stopped. She considered the goodbyes waiting to be said, and it was at that precise moment that the grief hit her. Could she look into Annette’s face, the girl who had come to be her closest friend, the person with whom she had defied death time and time again, and tell her that they were going to have to part ways? Was it going to be possible to try and explain to Simon why she was leaving them? She did not want to look at Gavin’s confused and hurt expression when he heard the news, or see tears gather in his gray eyes, or have to endure Argent pretending he would not miss her in the slightest. Least of all, she didn’t want to lie to Noah when she told him where she would be going.
“I don’t know if I can, Hector,” she murmured, looking down at her shoes as the excitement of the moment ebbed away as quick as it had come. She could not bear to look at Hector’s bewildered expression.
“But don’t you want to take a last look around? Don’t you want to see Humphrey just once more? I know he’s going to be―”
“Look―I’m not that strong, okay?” Penny fought back tears as she thought of Humphrey sitting in the stable waiting for her return, unaware she wouldn’t ever be back. “I can’t sit there and watch as I hurt everyone…I don’t want to live with those memories. I’d much rather remember everyone as they were the last time I was with them―happy, carefree, and together, not when they…” Penny could not bring herself to finish the sentence.
Hector shrugged, a forlorn expression on his face. “Suit yourself. Let’s go get your things,” he said, walking off in the direction of the hall.
Penny trailed after him, forcibly turning her thoughts to consider the fact that she would be stepping through her front door in a matter of moments, where her bed would be waiting, and her mother might have banana muffins sitting on the kitchen counter.
They walked back to her room, where it only took a few moments to gather up the rest of Penny’s things and put them into her bag. Penny handed the miniature treasure chest that Della had given her to Hector.
“You guys are going to need it way more than I will back home,” she explained, and Hector nodded before stowing it in his pocket. Penny sighed and looked around her castle bedroom for a final time. She made a feeble attempt to smile at Hector. “Ok…I think I’m ready.”
“Are you absolutely sure about this? Because if you left anything incomplete or unsaid, you may never get another chance to fix it. I―I probably won’t be coming back to bother you,” Hector reminded her with a stony expression that made Penny’s heart sink even deeper.
“You won’t? Oh. I guess that…makes sense.” Penny hung her head, trying to swallow the sadness that kept threatening to bubble over. Before she could let her emotions get the better of her, she shook her head and gritted her teeth. “Yes. I’m sure, let’s go.”
“All right…remember, hold on tight. I don’t know what’ll happen if you accidently let go and I’m not sure I want to find out, either,” Hector said, opening his arms for Penny. The whirlpool of emotions within her calmed somewhat as Hector laid his hand over her back and gripped Penny tightly to his chest. She smelled his familiar cedar pine scent as he reached out with his other hand.
The world seemed to rip apart at the seams and they were plunged into the raging torrent of soundlessness that Penny remembered in vivid detail from the first time she had traveled between worlds. This time, however, as she passed through the intangible wall between Earth and Elydria, she felt not fear, but sorrow.
A tranquil scene snapped into Hector and Penny’s view, along with the feeling of being spit out of a tube. Penny stumbled away from Hector, feeling dizzy as her eyes attempted to refocus. It took a moment for her eyes to decide to work, and all the breath left her body as Penny beheld her home. She stood still, taking in the image of the house that for so long had seemed like a memory from a faraway dream. Her eyes fell on the spot where she had sat on her last morning here and she could not suppress an emotional, bubbling laugh. Unable to contain herself, Penny raced toward the front door and Hector followed, unlocking it with a wave of his hand and a sparkle of golden runes.
Penny flew inside as the smell of home filled her nose. Though it was wonderfully nostalgic, it seemed different somehow, as if something vital had been altered.
“Mom! It’s me!” Penny hollered at the top of her voice as she ran deeper into her house, her eyes seeking the familiar and comforting sights. The squishy couch, the TV, and her mother’s kitschy figurines in their glass casings were illuminated in the pale lights dotting the ceiling. There was no answer from the second story or anywhere around her, so Penny ran into the kitchen.
“Muffins! Oh, my mom’s muffins! Hector, come here, you’ve gotta try these!” Penny cried, swiping a chocolate one from the counter and shoving it into Hector’s face as he stepped into the kitchen. He removed it from his mouth and gave Penny an amused look.
“Best thing you’ve ever tasted in your entire life, right?” Penny laughed, not waiting for him to answer as she grabbed a muffin for herself, turned a sharp corner and put her foot on the bottom stair. Hector called her name, halting her ascent. A heavy pressure weighed down on her heart as she turned to face him. One look at his expression and Penny knew what he was going to say, and discovered that she adamantly did not want him to go.
“Penelope,” he said softly, stepping across the room and grasping her arms, “I think it’s time.”
Penny tried to hide the fact that her heart felt as if it were splitting in two and smiled at him. She began speaking very fast, feeling that the more she spoke, the more it would fight off the sense of loss threatening to tear her apart. “You’re leaving already? You’ve got to at least stay to help me explain to Mom where I’ve been. Without your magic as proof, she’ll think I’m cr―” Penny stopped herself as she listened to what she was saying. “That’s a complete lie, of course she’ll believe me, but I still thin―”
“Penny, you and I both know that wouldn’t be a very good idea,” Hector interrupted.
Penny’s eyes stung. “B-but…you can’t leave. I―what am I going to do without you?” she murmured, looking away to hide the sudden onslaught of tears. Hector laughed and stroked her hair, a sweet and unexpected gesture. Penny wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him not to leave, but she could not make her body obey.
“You’ll be fine, I know it―goodness knows you’re brave enough,” Hector said and laughed again, but it was an empty sound.
“You―you’re not going to forget about me, are you?” she asked, meaning to sound humorous, and knowing she ended up sounding pathetic.
Hector frowned. “I don’t think it’s possible for someone to forget their dearest friend―and owing to the look of brazen disbelief in your eyes I feel compelled to add that I truly mean that.” He raised his eyebrows, took his hands off Penny and stepped back a few paces.
She turned back toward the stairs, squeezing her eyes shut as she began the climb. “Just go―I don’t want to watch you disappear,” she called back. Not waiting to see if he would speak to her again, Penny climbed up the stairs louder than necessary, making
sure her footsteps blocked out any sort of sound Hector might make as he vanished forever.
Penny meandered through the dark halls of her house, fighting back tears all the way and thinking of the nightmare that had visited her time and again. She stepped in front of the door to her room, half expecting to see it full of filth and dead insects, but when it swung open, Penny saw all of her possessions almost as she had left them. She walked inside with trepidation, surprised to find she felt frightened. Moving past her bed covered in stuffed animals, Penny picked up Murder at Woodrow Manor with a dry laugh. The bookmark was still inside, like her mother had known that someday Penny would return and want to pick up reading from where she left off.
Penny stepped over to her desk and looked over her mismatched oddments and computer, unable to bridle the intense feeling of eeriness weighing down on her. It was as if this room that had once been her sanctuary from the world was now sterile and unwelcoming, and she had no business being here. She almost felt nauseated with bittersweet emotion as she looked at the photos of her and Maddie stacked on the table beside her college books. She backed away from it all, wishing that there had been bugs and dead leaves instead of this unsettling sensation.
What’s wrong with me? I should be overjoyed. I’ve been wanting to come home for months now, I―
It hit her like a punch to the gut. The color drained from her face as she swayed in the center of her room, surrounded by the ghosts of her past. It did not take long before urgency overtook her and she was down the stairs in a heartbeat.
“Hector, Hector! Wait, please! Don’t go!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her heart crashing away in her chest. She had never felt this desperate before, not when she was being assaulted by the merciless vententula plant in the woods outside of Dewthorne, not in the cemetery beside the wraith, nor when she had stolen Deimos’s memories, or even stood up against Nestor on the palace balcony in Hulver.
“Hector! PLEASE!” Penny shouted, hot tears pouring down her face as she landed downstairs and found nobody there.
The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) Page 41