Farrah sat up and leaned over her. “What do you want to do?”
Brela snorted. “Lay here forever and hope my problems magically disappear.”
Elias squeezed her hand. “What’s your perfect world if none of our problems existed?”
“You first.”
He thought about it for a minute. “To always have a gods-damned bed, hot bath, and real meal.”
Farrah feigned offense. “You don’t appreciate my days-old meat stew and stale bread every single meal?”
Brela laughed. “What about you, Farrah?”
“An endless supply of fresh fruit,” she said through a chuckle. “No, I think…” She huffed a breath. “I guess I miss a little bit of what we had. The routine, the security of a home and a purpose, the kids being the only ones making our lives hell.”
“I’m sure Madame Bele has had her hands full with them while we’ve been gone,” Elias sighed, sitting up. “Alright, Bre. Your turn.”
Bre. Her heart constricted.
Cason had called herBre. She had called himCase. Nicknames so simple, and yet infinitely complex. Layered with emotion and shared struggles andfriendship.
“All of those things, plus…”
Plushim.
Brela closed her eyes. “To have the answers to me. The celvusa, this shard, the shadow magic.”The bonded tug with Cason. “I haven’t cared this much about the shadows or the piece of Veil in my collarbone since I first discovered my magic.” She grumbled. “If only I had the luxury. Now that freedom is right in front of me, assuming the King of Severina holds his side of the bargain, all of that feels… selfish.”
She inhaled deep, letting the smells of her old home wash over her senses. Wet soil, a rich, earthy scent, and a mix of herbs. Perhaps something deeper, too. Some underlying sweetness.
“I suppose it’s my duty to come back here,” she sighed. “Find my people and warn them, if they don’t already know about the wall breaking. Gather them to the Crystal Desert, if Oni will have us.”
“I think he should still owe you for the vaarasuxa, and now for Serill… for a lifetime,” Farrah whispered.
Brela’s smile faded. “I don’t know how to act like a collected people. I don’t know how to find them, and I don’t know how to protect them when no other kingdom will protect us.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to be their leader, but I guess it’s my duty to try.”
There was only a momentary silence.
“Where you go, we go,” Elias whispered.
“To the ends of this land or the depths of the oceans,” Farrah added.
“Into shadow hell itself, if we must,” Elias said with a nod. “But always together, arm in arm, hand in hand.”
“With blades sharp and chins raised,” Brela continued.
“Always for family,” Farrah finished.
Brela sat up and stared at her friends. At her family. Herhome.
She tackled them in a hug, nearly strangling them with how tightly she held on. Their grips were just as fierce.
“I love you.”
“We love you,” came the echo tinged with equal emotion.
But even after years trapped under Dernian and Ovir’s command, she’d never felt more chained than she did now.
* * *
