Chapter 491: Homecoming (2/2)
“Don’t thank e to her voice “It was exactly as you feared You were right to distrust ’s Gahts had been so focused that I hadn’t noticed Caera’s agitation Now, I looked closer
She stood stiffly, and her eyes regularly ju their faces and hands warily When she wasn’t speaking, her jaas clenched tight Her gaze returned to me every couple of seconds, and when she looked at is manifested out of me in a flash of amethyst fire Soave hi about?” he said in his rough way “You didn’t succuht? When that whole fate-shockwave-thing happened, we didn’t even sense you get smacked like the rest of the Alacryans You’re separate frolare “Listen, Art was neck-deep in King’s Ga all that stuff, and what he said about you—”
She chuckled bitterly “I’d still have died if not for Ellie My own runes were going to rip me apart And then, just minutes later, rona’s control, arrived to hunt for you, Arthur, fighting and killing your people because Agrona ht”
The self-deprecation of her tone conjured a guilt that clawed at ’s Garetted thather doubt herself now “Agrona is defeated He can’t control, threaten, or hurt your people again I’lad Seris was able to make Sapin’s and Darv’s leaders see sense But you didn’tto stay or return to Alacrya with your people?”
She looked searchingly into my eyes, but I wasn’t sure exactly what she hoped to find there After a long pause, she sed and looked away “My blood has been shattered My brother’s dead Corbett and Lenora are…” She gave a s “I’m needed in Alacrya”
“I understand” I considered what to say very carefully I could tell that part of her agitation was related specifically tothe false trails I had set for Agrona’s soldiers No, this see “And…Caera?”
Her eyes returned to uarded expression
“I aether, and she see heavily, she shuffled the scrolls in her aracy Tessia Eralith Is she…?”
I nodded and gestured upwards “With Virion now”
“Good” Despite this response, her body was suddenly tense as she straightened again “That’s good I’m happy for you, Arthur Really” Her focus fell to the scrolls in her aro There’s…a lot to do”
She rearranged the scrolls so she could rub Regis’s head and give hiuard, she leaned against ered there, like that, lost in the crowd There was a catharsis to the contact, but not oodbye
When she finally released htened her scrolls, opened her ave me an uncertain sht, looking up at hts ’s Gambit, I realized
“That was like six hippopotamuses”
I blinked down at hiht eyes as if I were being inordinately stupid “Listen, princess The standard hug is three hippopotamuses tops Six is borderline scandalous”
I didn’t reply to Regis, only stood and watched until she had left the hall
Itish aftereffects of channeling King’s Ga h to pull nize the shouts of dis atmy arms, I blocked the bloith crossed forearlossy tiles of the floor, h thery purple fla
Stop, I ordered hi?’ Sylvie sent fro with Lord Silvershale, two of his sons, and a couple of other lords ‘I can—’
I’ her to become distracted Her conversation was just as important as the one I was about to have
Mica was floating off the ground so our eyes were level She was puffing angrily, her cheeks apple red “Liar!” she shouted, brandishi+ng her massive hammer Her knuckles hite around the haft “Do you even knohat you did? Varay almost died! Your own sister almost died! Mica was at the wall and watched a hundred adventurers defend your lie with their lives”
She fleard a foot, her haain, but she held herself in check “We were your friends, Arthur You could have told us We could have helped So why?”
I let out a shaking breath, sagging I’d known this was a possibility, but… “There was no choice, Mica Agrona’s been ahead of us the whole ti co I didn’t kno rona would respond, but I knew I needed to succeed”
“And so you created secret plans and convinced people to protect nothing at the cost of their lives! Sht of worlds on your shoulders, I suppose?” Her good eye shone furiously “Maybe ask the Twin Horns how they feel about that”
A bitter worry settled into uts The hall was silent now, and still The h stood frozen in place, watching raptly, a collage of emotions from terror to bloodthirsty exciteht against Agrona—who died fighting—did so to protect their homes and families, and they succeeded” Despite my fear for the Twin Horns, I kept both aze swept across the onlookers,eye contact withit was for nothing”
She let out an expansive breath and seemed to deflate The hammer in her hands fell apart into sand, which in turn seeped down into the cracks in the floor I’d round and, without looking at ust of wind in her wake
I opened ht better of it Instead, I quickly considered everyone who I’d worked with in preparing for the fourth keystone and who ht know rona’s attack If Mica knew so more, it was likely that her father or the other dwarven lords did as well, but I didn’t want to intrude on Sylvie’s , which she had well in hand
Instead, I brought Regis back into my core and then flew out of Lodenhold after Mica Instead of following the highway, I went over the edge, flying straight down to the Earthborn Institute The dwarves there shouted out an alarht to the open doors, but I didn’t bother waiting for theht for the simple chambers my mother and sister had been allowed to live in
The front door was closed, but not locked, and I leton the couch, a letter held loosely in her hands Tears rolled freely down her pale face
My heart sank, and I hurried to her side Wordlessly, she held up the letter
I scanned it quickly, then read it a second tiela Rose,” I said hollowly
‘No…’ Regis sank deeper into h our connection and a my own
Mom rested a hand on my forearm, but she didn’t look atthe attack and its results Angela died defending the cha I’d known Cecilia would be able to sense rona’s forces would be drawn to those locations This had always been a possibility
“You tell your ht?”
Those had been her last words to led to re’s Ga in a dozen directions all at once It made the ht It wasn’t the kind of detail I’d have missed at that moment
The letter contained ” I couldn’t find this surprising, nor what else the letter said Ada party had given their lives to the fight against Agrona
“The Twin Horns are disbanding,” Moht the name, at least, would live on forever Or at least…oh, I don’t even knohat I’ht there’d be the Twin Horns”
The tone of the letter was disciplined, factual Written by Helen herself, it avoided casting blame, and Helen even asked about me “Have you heard from Arthur? Jasmine and I hope beyond hope that, wherever he was, he accoood reason forbetween the lines, in the strokes of the quill and the cool detache, I saw her pain Not just at the loss of Angela, which must have still been rahen this letter ritten, but at the reason for her death
“I’ to tell you not to blaard me She reached for the letter, which she sat on the table, and then tookyou, I’ you accounted for So…” She had to sn the e a lump in her throat “So you can blame yourself, but not forever Because the ela's life and mission about yourself and not her You should remember who she was and what she did Don’t si what you need to, Arthur, but…you,picture”
“I don’t blame myself, Mom I accept responsibility for what has happened There’s a difference”
She pulled me to her, so my head rested on her shoulder Her tears had dried, and we existed in a shared, ue I let myself be transported back in time to when I was only a toddler
Had that been the last time she held me like this? Real memories blended with the false ones fro hts
“I should visit Helen in Blackbend,” she said after a while “The letter didn’tabout a service I don’t knohat I can do, but…”
“Go,” I said, softly encouraging “Take some time Windsom won’t be back for us until the day after tomorrow”
We settled into ela, Arthur,’ Sylvie thought, her tone suggesting that she had been waiting to speak without interrupting led to accept that the war is really over, despite their agreement to release the Alacryans They still want to speak to you, and they’d like you to be present when the prisoners are sent ho the bustle around Lodenhold I should have put it togetherso soon Good Yes, we’ll be there
Mythe tracks of the e Epheotus—and even before Tessia’s release of our pro ourselves and each other a chance to learn again e are Caera’s goodbye The violent exchange with Mica The news of Angela Rose
A ho fit for what I had to do