by Rebecca Daff
When Micah mentioned the oracle’s prophecy, how Hannah should have been there, Chris told him her theory and eventually he agreed. It took him a while, though. He didn’t want to think about what must have happened to her after they left Polaris. Neither of them did. Chris proposed that they have a service for her at Nightwell anyway, to honor her memory and to say goodbye.
Chris took one last long look at the Swamplands and wondered if they could even be called that anymore. They were just “lands” now, dry and arid, and full of deep pits where water had once been. Maybe one day archaeologists would come there to excavate the ancient ruins buried far beneath the sand. The mansions of a lost age would be like the pyramids on Earth, an endless source of wonder. But that would be much later. Chris turned her back on the scene and looked toward the south, toward Nightwell Hold, and hopefully her way home.
CHAPTER 29
When they finally approached Nightwell’s gates everyone was already there waiting for them, cheering. Chris wondered how they had known they were coming, then she saw Liza smiling at her from the crowd in the courtyard. Of course.
“Chris! Micah!” Digs raised his hand in greeting then pushed his way through the mass of people to run to his friends and hug them each in turn. He pulled away, trying and failing to hide the look of disgust on his face.
Chris laughed. “I know. We stink. It’s good to see you, too.”
Megland stepped forward in her ever-graceful way and smiled at them both, tears in her eyes. “I knew you would make it. I just knew.”
Morwenna raised her hands, and eventually the cheering stopped. Chris remembered her manners and dipped a low curtsy which felt strange given that she was filthy and in what they considered on Kellet to be her underwear. Micah took her cue and bowed to the queen. Morwenna looked them over somberly and said, “You need never bow to me again. You have done the impossible. I, and all Marked, are forever grateful. Please, rise.”
Morwenna lifted her hand, giving a signal, and several people stepped forward. They were wearing tunics with the star and moon insignia on them. “Please show everyone where they can get tidied up,” she said. “I think a feast is in order.”
* * *
The hall was brimming with food, drink, and music that night. Chris and Micah regaled the queen and her guests with the story of their journey, but Chris left out some of the more personal parts, some things her father and sister had said to her, the things she would try to live by and keep with her all her life.
No one talked about it, but the feast had the feeling of a last hurrah. Chris raised her goblet to her lips, listening to the people around her talking, watching Digs and Megland laughing at something Micah had said, and it felt like Kellet was saying goodbye.
“You look so serious,” Liza said. She was sitting next to Chris, watching the festivities too. Before Chris had even gotten changed for dinner, she’d spoken to Liza about what happened when Toad One had shrunk her. Liza, of course, hadn’t actually put her in a bat’s ear. There was no telling what part of that night’s adventures were real. It didn’t matter to Chris, though. Every terrifying moment of it meant something to her, and she’d keep it with her forever.
Chris put down her goblet. “Why didn’t you tell me the man and girl were my dad and sister?”
“I didn’t know any more than that,” she said. “I told you exactly what I was given.”
Chris wanted to ask what she meant but had a feeling it would lead to a long conversation she just didn’t have the energy to have. Instead, she watched Micah and Digs pull on the ends of a wishbone. Digs won, and as he teased Micah she thought he looked the happiest she had ever seen him. Megland did too.
“Has anyone told you about the rebellions yet?” Liza asked.
Chris turned to face her. The oracle’s far-seeing eyes were focused for the moment, not divining the future.
“What rebellions?”
“Word of what happened in the Swamplands has spread. Without Swampers to fear anymore, people are finally fighting back. Karniv has already been deposed.” Liza leaned in, smiling. “I have it on good authority that he’s in a holding cell in Polaris and there’s going to be a very special feast.”
Chris hated Karniv and what he stood for with every fiber of her being, but even she thought that was going too far. But she reminded herself that she had only suffered because of his rule for a relatively short time. The Marked had been suffering for generations. Who was she to judge what punishment fit his crimes?
She tried to wipe the image of Karniv boiled and on a giant platter on the great hall’s table. She had one last question for Liza. “I killed Leroy. I did what you said I had to do. How do Micah and I get home now?”
“You leave first thing in the morning,” Liza said. “Your blood was binding you here, but now that blood has been let. You should be ready to go at dawn.”
Chris should have been overjoyed but as she turned back in her chair to look at her friends she felt a deep ache in her chest. After all she’d had to do to earn her way home, everything she had endured and sacrificed to find a way back to Earth, she felt morning was going to come far too soon.
* * *
They were standing in front of the keep as the first rays of pink light shone over the castle walls. It was a small gathering, just her, Micah, Digs, Megland, Morwenna, and Liza. Everyone else was probably still asleep. It had been a long night of feasting and dancing, but now that was over and the whole of Nightwell was quiet as if holding its collective breath for what was to come.
Digs was the first to speak. “You know, I thought you two were going to get me killed when I first met you. But you’ve given me more than I could ever ask for. You’ve done more for Kellet than I ever will. Thank you.” He hugged them for the last time and Chris was amazed at how grown-up he’d become. “I’ll never forget all you’ve done,” he said.
“Same here,” she told him. When he pulled away she looked at all of them. “You all helped us when you didn’t have to, risked your lives for us. I don’t know how we could ever repay you.”
“Live,” Morwenna said. “When you get back to Earth, really live. Both of you.”
Megland stepped forward then. “I’m sorry if I ever treated you harshly,” she said, not meeting Chris’s eyes. “I have that habit, you know, thinking I know what’s best.”
“That’s what big sisters do, Megland,” Chris said. “No need to apologize.”
Megland looked at Chris then and smiled. Chris was surprised to see tears on her face. “It’s Meg,” she said.
Chris smiled back at her. “Okay, Meg.”
When the last of the goodbyes had been said, Liza closed her eyes and held out her hand. The Fly buzzed past Chris’s ear and landed on Liza’s finger. She opened her eyes again and looked at him, not saying a word, and he flew to hover between Chris and Micah. Chris watched in wonder as The Fly grew. His whole body expanded and stretched until he was standing on his hind legs next to her, stretching his wings out behind him.
“Your ride home,” Liza said.
The Fly stepped out to face them and winked at Chris. She felt instant relief. He was still the same Fly. He lowered back onto all fours, waiting patiently. Chris looked at the oracle who simply nodded at her.
Chris and Micah climbed onto The Fly’s back, waiting for whatever was coming next. His wings fluttered and before long they were moving so fast those wings were a blur. They lifted off the ground, rising high above the castle. Then they were above the whole of the southern kingdom, flying over the mirrored hills, and what once were the Swamplands. They flew above the rebellions and magic below, above the grand play that would continue well after they left. Chris wrapped her arms around The Fly as they ascended back into space, Micah’s arms wrapped around her waist in turn, both of them on course for Earth. She was ready for what waited for her across the expanse. She was ready to do exactly what Morwenna had asked her to do: live.
Rebecca Daff, THE MARK