She tilts her eyes up to Baelen, dropping her head back against his chest, imploring him. “Can we please, Bae-Bae?”
His gaze hasn’t left mine. “I wonder what Lady Storm will be doing while we are busy?”
“I will travel to Mount Grievous.”
“Alone?”
“With Erit.”
Tension fills the lines of his face. “And who else?”
“Just us.”
He’s worried. Traveling to Mount Grievous will be dangerous. He would rather come with me but I’m telling him to stay behind. I smile gently. “And these.” I tilt my palm up at the stones that float above my head like an extension of my body.
He looks up as if he forgot they were there. I’m actually stupidly pleased that he doesn’t see them. He sees only me.
He acquiesces. “We would be honored to help the children.”
I relax. So does the rest of the room.
When I finish my meal and push back my chair, I find the entire room follows my lead and stands as well. Then every gargoyle takes a knee, male and female alike. Welsian, Arlo, and Iago join them. So does little Adalie, sliding off Baelen’s knee.
Heads bowed, their voices chorus together, a deep resonating pledge. “Supreme Incorruptible, we honor you.”
I acknowledge their gesture. “I am honored.”
At that, they stand to go about their day, leaving me with a smile on my face and a warm glow in my heart. I wait for everyone to clear the room, but I ask Erit to meet me outside.
“I’ll prepare packs for our journey,” he says before he strides away.
“Back to your grandfather, Adalie,” Baelen says to the little girl.
As the cooks make themselves scarce, Adalie skips after Erit. He holds the door open for her, his giant warrior arms like tree branches way above her head. The door slides closed behind them.
“Baelen, you have to tell me how you know them: Adalie and her grandfather.”
He takes a deep breath, doesn’t keep me waiting. “I think you know that I disappeared for three years after military training.”
“Nobody knows where you went.”
He nods. He studies a point on the wall past my shoulder. He folds his arms, speaking slowly now like he doesn’t like the memories. “When I finished military training, I went to my father and I told him that I was going to find you. He told me that I couldn’t. I told him that he couldn’t stop me.”
He clears his throat. “I made it as far as the courtyard outside the Storm Vault.”
My eyes widen. “You came for me.”
“I saw you.” He swallows. “You were surrounded by your Storm Command. Your advisor, Elise, was with you. I saw her first and she was clearly upset about something. Then I saw that your storm suit was all cut up. Your hands and knees were bleeding. You were dripping, shivering, shaking. But you grit your teeth and kept your head up. Glaring the world down. Daring anyone to come near you.”
He stops. Stops for so long that I don’t think he’s going to continue.
“Baelen?”
“I felt it, Marbella. I felt the storm rising off you. I realized then that I couldn’t take you away from that. I needed to bepart of it. Which meant I had to wait for the Heartstone Ceremony. My father was right.
“But there was no way I could breathe the same air as you and stay sane for three years. So I walked away. Walked all the way back to Rath land. I followed the mountains south for months. I lived wild, kept away from everyone.” His mouth twitches into a half smile. “Grew a pretty savage beard.”
I crinkle my forehead, trying to picture Baelen with a beard.Hmm, no.
