Heart in my throat, I drew Melaena up and hugged her fiercely, her familiar scent reminding me of the joy I’d found at her club, of Mother’s words, of Delysia’s room.
Of things I’d lost.
“Thank you,” I said tightly, “for the home I never knew I needed and the friendship I always wanted. I hope I’m worthy of it after tomorrow.”
“Kiera—” Brow wrinkled, Melaena tried to keep hold of me, but I shook her off.
“Keep the club closed tomorrow. Don’t go anywhere until one of us comes for you.”
Fear brightened Melaena’s eyes. “Kiera, don’t do anything reckless.”
I stabbed the button for the tunnel with my finger and gave her a sad smile over my shoulder. “No, I’m about to do something right.” I shut the door between us and ran.
By the time I reached the apartment, it was a mess of activity. A wagon waited outside, attached to a pair of horses. The pyrist, Floren, sat on the driver’s seat.
The warmth fled my body. “You!” I gasped. My gaze flew to the open door of the apartment. “Gods, no. Maz, is he... Are you?—”
Floren shook his head, his sweaty scalp gleaming in the dying light. “I’m here to pick up a live one for the harbor. For passage on a ship, not for burial,” he clarified.
A ship? I raced inside.
Nikella and Aiden were transporting Maz from his cot to a stretcher. Ruru sat at the table, holding Maz’s axe and whistler, sniffling quietly.
“Where are you taking him?” I demanded.
“Ship,” Aiden grunted, settling Maz on the stretcher.
Maz faced me with a hopeful smile. His beard has grown longer, and his eyes had gotten back a bit of their sparkle. “I’m going home, lovely.”
“Home? To Dagriel?”
“Yes. I won’t be going back as a triumphant warrior, but at least I’ll be home. With my family.”
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re every inch the triumphant warrior. Think of all the stories you’ll regale the women of Dagriel with.”
He chuckled.
Nikella and Aiden carried him out of the apartment and laid him in the wagon. Ruru and I followed.
Ruru nestled his axe next to him and moved to add his whistler, but Maz stopped him. “Keep it, little brother. Then bring it back to me one day when you’re a warrior, too.”
Ruru clutched it to his chest as if it were Maz’s first-born. “I will, Maz. I won’t let you down.”
“Impossible.” Maz’s gaze shifted to me from his awkward position. “A moment, Kiera?”
The other three shuffled a few feet away to give us some privacy.
“What is it?” I asked, tears already gathering like rain in a cloud.
“Protect him,” he said simply. “Protect all of them. He needs you.Ineed you to take my place. Promise me.”
“I’ll try, Maz. I swear it.”
Maz smiled peacefully. “Then say yes when he asks you to come with him after tomorrow. I want to see you again, Kiera.”
Tears leaked from my eyes, and I told my last, most painful lie. “Y-you will. You’ll show me all of Dagriel. I want to see everything—the snow, the mountains, and those strange animals you tell stories about.”
“And the people,” Maz added.
