“You are going to tell me right now where those relics are. And then you are going to call my brother right away and tell him exactly what you told me, followed by every other secret you kept from me. I do not care about any of them except these two relics,” I demand through gritted teeth.
“Alright. It will be done. And mayhap I will find peace again.” He exhales shakily into the phone. “There is a cave to the far north in the Arctic Cordillera where no Whispered Folk or human would ever dare stumble.” He proceeds to tell me in great detail the path to this treacherous mountain cave where these powerful relics were stashed away centuries ago. I commit every word of it to memory.
Immediately I text my brother, who responds in a remarkably short time that Tallan has indeed called him and they are meeting imminently. It is the middle of the night there as well, so I do not believe Elgar is taking any chance in letting dear Uncle Harlok and the council of elders block that information any longer.
Next, I call Niven. I nearly feel bad that I will likely wake him up, but I realize he would be upset if I did not in this situation. “Norrell, what happened?” Niven answers.
“I know where the relics are.Myclan had them all along. An elder finally had a crisis of conscience and told me. After an entire month of Ada needlessly suffering. I am livid. Only the blue hag of winter knows how hard I will come down on every one of those lying cowards, especially my despicable uncle who kept this from me.” My voice is still sharp and angry. I pace across the foyer as I try to control my rage.
“Good, they deserve it. Go get those relics and come back as soon as you can. I’ll arrange the travel portal to get you as close to your settlement as possible. The local coven will assist you on the rest of your way there and back. Be at the portal at seven sharp. That’s only a few hours from now. Pack what you need. And then tell Ada you love her and you’ll be home again soon with everything we need to save her,” he advises.
Running back upstairs into the dark bedroom, I gently rub Ada’s shoulder to wake her. “My ember. I am sorry to wake you, but this is urgent,” I murmur softly, not wanting to startle her.
“Norrell? Is everything okay?” she croaks, not fully awake, and reaches out to hug me.
“Yes, but there is urgent news,” I reveal.
That gets her attention, and she sits up abruptly, looking alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
“I know where the relics are. I must retrieve them. But that means I will be gone for a little while. Hopefully only a couple weeks,” I assure her.
“Why that long? Where are they? Will you be safe?” she frets. She clutches her hands to her chest.
“I will be safe. It will be like going on a long hunt, something I have done plenty of times before. A full team will be with me, including my brother, who I trust wholeheartedly. But the trek to the cave where my clan hid the relics will take several days in each direction, even with our snowmobiles and mountain climbing equipment. And then I will come right back to you and make sure that fae magick never touches you again,” I vow.
“Your clan?” she asks in disbelief. Her eyes grow wide.
“My clan. And may they rot for how much harm they put us through. I am done with them forever,” I say, never surer of anything in my life except my love for Ada.
Ada looks stricken as we wait for the portal to open. Her face is paler than usual and new worry lines etch deeper around her eyes. “Come back to me, Norrell. I…” She pauses with a rush of breath, like she’s trying not to cry. “I love you. So much. I don’t think I can live without you,” she confesses.
Though I have expressed my love for her many times, she has not returned it until now. It is the first confirmation that she may still feel as strongly for me as I do for her. It leaves mebreathless. With so much on the line, it amplifies my concern that this journey will be fruitless, that I will completely fail my mate again despite the Seer’s vision.
Pulling her into me, I nuzzle her cheek so my lips are close to her ear. In a low voice, only for her, I whisper, “You will never have to. You, my ember, are my entire reason for existing. You will be safe and protected in my arms forever. I love you, Ada. I will return to you as quickly as I can.”
Her body trembles with silent sobs as we take solace in each other’s arms for these last few moments together. “Stay safe for me. Don’t take any extra risks,” she pleads in a reedy voice edged with fear I wish I could kiss away. My eyes fill with tears that my mate has misplaced worry that my safety is tantamount to hers.
One of her coven members quietly approaches telling us they must open the portal. I cradle her face in my hands and press my lips to hers with such passion it will stay with me the length of my journey.
Determination overrides my sadness as I step through the portal to begin my travel northward. When I come back with the relics, free from all obligations to my clan, the rest of our lives can begin. The long trek to my clan’s settlement is arduous, but at least I know from experience what to expect. The witches waiting for me on the other side of the portal in Toronto accompany me to the northmost human settlement through a series of flights to increasingly small airports. From there I make my own way on the Old Path, one that we keep marked and passable for trade purposes, to the North Clan settlement.
I kept my brother updated at every step. He and I will have a long conversation about handing the title of Huntmaster of the True North to him. Technically, all the hunters will have to agree. But no one holds a candle to my brother’s drive and skill other than me. There can be no recycled argument that he is too young for the mantle of leadership. He is now forty years of age.Much more mature than I was when I took over at age thirty-two. There will be no pushback this time.
The path grows more defined, cutting through the harsh landscape, the closer I get to the settlement. It could still easily be overlooked by someone unfamiliar with it. Yeti do not require the easy footpath that a human would. Our feet are toughened and nimble. Our bodies made for this harsh environment. My brother Elgar, the spitting image of me except for his slightly taller stature and dark gray eyes, meets me far enough down the path that the settlement is still out of sight.
“Brother, it is good to see you. I am glad you returned so quickly. I have learned much since we last spoke. Though none of it will likely surprise you,” he says bleakly.
We embrace briefly, our usual show of sentiment, though I know that we hold more affection for each other than anyone else in our clan save our parents. Our parents are now getting older. They both stepped back long ago from the hunt and never pursued seats on the council of elders. They are happy in their retirement. As brothers, my father and Harlok could not be more different. I am glad my parents had no part in this deception, though I know they would not have allowed such a thing to occur to any leader on principle alone.
“Harlok’s sway over the council of elders is stronger than I thought possible. He has subtly led decisions on the hunting groups, giving easier runs to the kin of his supporters. It is disgusting. We will have a generation of undertrained hunters and all the ramifications that it brings if this continues. Not to mention another group will be worked to the bone just because their families are not politically connected,” Elgar states bitterly. The elders have long overseen the hunting groups in order to prevent such blatant favoritism as this. Obviously this approach was naïve.
Harlok. My dislike for him grows with each passing year and with good reason. He is an embittered old male who now walks with a cane after he was gravely injured by revenants fifteen years ago. The ripple of chaos his sudden departure from power caused could only be quelled by a strong leader. Me, apparently. Taking a seat on the council of elders is a privilege. There is no shame in coming to an age that would qualify someone to become an elder. In fact, it is expected of former Huntmasters. The position is meant to be aged out of, which is why we have our elders to help guide us through those transitions. Unlike Harlok, most choose to end their reign gracefully. They realize it is their time to step down before it is challenged by an unwise hunt or by another skilled hunter seeking to oust them.
In addition, he has always encouraged our worthless cousin to undermine me. I guess it was by design. No doubt he is doing the same to Elgar now. And as a result, Harlok undermines the stability of our clan. He has yet to accept that his son Torman will never prove himself worthy of the position. He spoiled Torman and never held him to the same standard as others. And my cousin inherited the worst of his father’s narcissistic traits. Torman always wanted the easiest path, never bothering trying to become a great hunter or skilled tradesman for our clan.
“Harlok’s actions do not surprise me. How easily the other elders fell into line does,” I confess somberly to Elgar. “The corruption runs deeper than I thought possible. Past generations of elders would turn in their graves if they knew about this. If Tallan Frostweaver could be swayed so easily, the rest are just as compromised.”
“The council of elders holds no value to our clan anymore in the current form. They are a liability for us, in fact. We cannot trust any of them to oversee their own reform, rooting out their corruption from within. We must wipe the slate clean and appoint a more balanced and principled group of elders to siton the council. It will be hard for some to swallow, but once we make public what Tallan has told us, the clan will be on our side. It is detrimental to too many hunters and their families to let it continue,” he argues.
