“Anything Elodie wants,” Valens said.
“Thank you,” I repeated, choking up this time.
Only family got to be automatically approved for leave. I had no real family, which meant… she was making sure I always had the maidens.
It was a perfect way to leave it, and I was grateful.
I hugged them all twice before we left, even though we wanted to test out the sword early this morning. It was bittersweet, saying goodbye.
Even though I knew it was right.
I was ready.
The door to Galyna’s room shut behind us, and I looked wide-eyed at Valens as I clutched my many envelopes to my chest, such an unexpected bounty.
“Want to go back to the room and open those first?”
I nodded, grateful he understood without me having to ask.
He hadn’t reopened the bond yet because we’d discussed it last night and decided to wait until after I touched the sword. We didn’t know if the bond would affect my ability to connect to it and had agreed to wait.
It was just a quick walk down the hall to our room, and once we were alone, I spread all the envelopes out on the bed, unsure what to open first. I opted to start at the top and work my way through.
My discharge letter was formal but polite, as expected. The final stipend check was tiny, also as expected. I tucked it under the edge of the lamp on my nightstand to deal with later. I opened the envelope of letters and gasped as several sprang out as if Marciana had forced all she could inside and run out of room.
“I’ll have to read these later. I don’t want to run out of time for the sword, especially if it knocks me out like it did you.”
“Here, let me.” He stooped and grabbed the ones I’d dropped, taking the rest and arranging them on the dresser so I could sift through them tonight.
The personal correspondence felt… weightier, though it was thin. No more than a sheet or two. “Let’s just add this one to the pile. I can’t imagine who would have written me anything, but… I’m not sure I want to know right now.”
Or ever.
Maybe not ever.
The last envelope scared me. Heiress was a big word, and one that did not fit me.
But I had to at least look, right? It would be irresponsible not to. I blew out a slow breath, then cracked open the envelope, peeking inside.
I nearly fainted. There was a shiny black credit card with my full government name printed on it, a set of old brass keys to something, and a folded bank statement with anine-digitbalance printed right across the top.
“Well, the honeymoon isn’t going to be a problem. We can go anywhere you want,” I said, passing the envelope to Valens incredulously.
“Holy shit, heiress indeed.” There was a long pause. “You’re going to do a lot of good with that.”
“I’m going to faint if I keep thinking about it.”
He chuckled. “Nothing has to change. You can deal with it when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, right. The fifth of…” I just shook my head, too overwhelmed to even put a joking date on it. He was right, though. A lot of good could be done with that kind of money, one day.
The fact that my family was wealthy before they died was surprising news, because I certainly neverfeltwealthy in my childhood. My memories were mostly bad, of cold “family” who treated me like dirt under their shoes. Maybe I’d read that personal letter after all.
But not today.
The chest sat in the corner of our room, its ominous exterior not stopping me from striding over to it, a nervous flutter of excitement in my belly.
“Ready? I told the others we might not make it to the war council, just in case. They said good luck.”
