As things ended up, it took Wren's family almost a week before they arrived. Wren was with Sarah in the bakery when they got word that the travelers had arrived, so they hurried over to the main house. Wren embraced one of the men before she turned to the Hales, who had all gathered.
"This is my brother Ezra," she pointed to the man she had hugged.
Sarah tipped her head. "Your Majesty."
"No," he held up his hands. "None of that. Here, I'm just Ezra. We're not doing the whole royal treatment, please."
Colton shook his hand. "Good to meet you, Ezra. I'm Colton."
Wren introduced the others. “The Hales are good people, and we’re all lucky that they allowed us to stay here.”
Sarah shook the sister, Gillian's hand. The girl was probably in her late teens, fair skin, dark hair, and bright blue eyes. "Pleased to meet you."
"Sarah has been letting me bake," Wren informed her sister.
Gillian's eyes lit up. "Really? Can I help?"
Sarah chuckled. "The more, the merrier."
Once all of the introductions were done, Tyson and Logan led the new guests to their cabins. The last thing Sarah heard was Tyson telling them about the horses in the barns if they wanted to ride.
Sarah went and finished the baking for dinner while Wren got reacquainted with her family. Instead of cleaning up right away, Sarah laid down on her bed to take a quick nap. It was so easy to get tired as she entered her seventh month, and sometimes she wondered if she was going to pop out twins. She only sensed one little lifeform, and she was already scared of raising one baby on her own, but the idea of twins wasn't repulsive.
She dreamed of Luke as she slept fitfully. She was running toward him, and he was searching for her but couldn't see her right in front of him. No matter how much she called to him, it was like an invisible barrier kept them apart. The further she ran, the further away he stayed. She finally collapsed to the ground in a heap of tears and frustration while Luke moved away, still searching for her.
Soft hands shook her until she finally opened her eyes. Vinia hovered over her with a look of concern on her face. "Are you okay?"
Sarah sat up as quickly as she could. "What's wrong?"
Vinia sat on the edge of the bed. "That's what I was wondering. You were laying there sobbing."
"Oh." Sarah wiped her face. "These hormones are making my dreams weird."
Vinia sighed. "I wanted to talk to you before we went to dinner with everyone."
"What's up?" Sarah suddenly had the sense that she didn't really want to know.
"After our conversation about going back to the Sacred Gardens, you remember?"
Sarah nodded.
"Well, forget I ever said it. Forget we ever even discussed it."
Sarah grabbed her mother's hand. "Why? What happened?"
A tear leaked down Vinia's cheek, but she fiercely brushed it away. "They are nothing but traitors. I have no desire to ever see any of them again."
"Ma, what happened?"
"I got a response from the kingdom. Remember I told you that I let them know that the idol had been located?"
"Right." Dread carved a pit in her stomach.
"Well, I even wrote out how we found it, and why we found it, and that we were willing to return it to the kingdom. The only term I put on it was that they announced that your father had been falsely accused and declare his innocence."
"You heard back from them?"
Vinia gave a curt nod. "Basically, the only response I got was that thieves with guilty consciences eventually try to make things right, but they had no intentions of entertaining my request simply to alleviate my own guilt." Another tear ran down her cheek.
