‘do you trust her?’ lowriasks later, after they’ve returned to Ennor. ‘Our mother, I mean.’
Brielle considers, leaning on the ramparts at the very top of Ennor Castle, looking out to sea. ‘In the wider sense, or as one of the future rulers of Arnhem?’
‘The latter,’ Lowri says with a small chuckle, leaning her elbows next to Brielle. ‘I think we can both agree on the answer to the former.’
‘I …’ Brielle sighs, running a hand over her face. The past five days since they left Penscalo has been a lot: from ensuring that Dreska and Inesh rested, a little too close to burnout from their efforts in ensuring the wards held, to helping Caden organise new crews to patrol the waters in case any enemy fleets decided to take advantage of their weakened state, to just absorbing it all. She feels the edges of her own strength wane. And yet she’s still standing tall, continuing to be the pillar that is needed, for every one of them. ‘I believe she will be fair and advocate well for all witches. Butshe must be tempered with two other strong leaders – those who represent creatures and humans – or we will find a different kind of imbalance in Arnhem. One that favours witches.’ She eyes Lowri. ‘I do not like the idea of a group that holds so much power in their veins also holding a territory in their hands.’
‘Agreed,’ Lowri says with a nod. ‘Well, it’d be just like the Rexilium brothers.’
‘Exactly. But who would be a match for Hillary Tresillian?’
Lowri places her cheek on the back of her hand, turning to her sister. ‘That feels rhetorical.’
‘Perhaps it is.’
‘What will you do now, Brielle?’
Brielle bites her lip, then smiles at her sister.
‘You want to get back on the road? Find your next assignment?’
‘I can’t help it. It’s my whole life. From when my birth mother died to now, all I’ve known is training and assignments. Being a hunter. It’s what I know; it’s who I am. It’s my bones and flesh and breath.’
Lowri is quiet for a moment, contemplating. ‘What if we, as coven leaders, set you an assignment, then? Something for the good of the coven, but also for you. Something that will help you now. To get over that man … Rue.’
Rue.His name pierces the tender place between her ribs, sliding in like an uninvited guest. Perhaps if she’d had the chance to get to know him, she wouldn’t havefound much to like. He was a Rexilium brother, after all, even though he was a half-brother. But, if she’s honest with herself, if she listens to that whispered voice in the back of her mind, she knows that wouldn’t be the case. His gaze held meaning, his words landed true and, of all the people she has met in this world, he is the only one to whom she would have given her heart.
But now he is in Eli’s father’s world and she is here, in hers. And Brielle Tresillian is many things: hunter, witch, explorer. She has never lingered in one place for too long or dwelled on a life that could have been.
‘What I need is purpose,’ she says decisively. ‘A plan, and coin for the road.’
‘Yes?’ Lowri says, straightening out as Brielle does, as her tone shifts. ‘What is your plan, Hunter?’
Brielle sets her sights on the horizon, running her fingertips over the blade handles in the sash across her chest. Hunter, yes. She’s a hunter. And she has fledglings now, hunters who must be trained. ‘I will travel to Skylan with Sember and Heath, taking Dreska and Inesh with me,’ she says with a nod. ‘I will check on Kell. Then, if the court has no need of our services, we will head north. To the Spines. I have a feeling the fledglings and I still have much to learn there. The knowledge of the drake-riding covens is different from ours. And we will listen for murmurings of wraiths. After saving Inesh and Dreska, I know that is the right path. And we must build our coven.’
‘Form an alliance with the witches of the Spines,’ Lowri agrees with a nod. ‘Bring back wyvern blood for my spellwork. And witches for me to train.’
‘And you, Lor?’ Brielle asks. ‘What will you do now?’
Lowri grins. ‘I’m going to stay here on Ennor. I will instruct Inesh and Dreska when you return with them from the Spines and, in the meantime, research the ways of drakes. Tanith will be needed in the days and months ahead, but I want to find a way for her to exist both as drake and in her human form. I wish for her to experience the joy of flight, but keep her memories for when she transforms back.’
‘You wish to give her freedom,’ Brielle says softly.
Lowri nods. ‘I know what it is to live with clipped wings. It’s a worthy aim for the first spellworking of our coven. Well, that, and helping Eli return to his father’s world. The instrument that Eli’s father, Isaiah, created there was quite something. Just think of the possibilities, Bri, the research I could conduct! A coven with links to the magic and spellwork of another world.’
Brielle meets Sember and Heath in the kitchens, where Sember has taken charge of the cooking. Amassing a small number of willing hands, they stand in a line, kneading bread, chattering and laughing as she swoops among them like a bird, full of encouragements. Heath, she has relegated to washing-up duty, where he complains loudly to all who will listen, but still continues.Brielle notices the small smile he holds just for Sember when she admonishes him, their bickering flying back and forth across the vast room.
When Sember notices the hunter leaning against the doorway, she claps her hands, summoning a tray to be made with bread and cheese and a strong mug of tea. She ushers Brielle to the table, where Sember has also placed other slightly bewildered guests of the castle, and takes a seat beside her.
‘Now, Hunter, I know you will be inundated with requests for your services—’
‘But Sember here is going to bat them all away as soon as they get within five feet of you,’ Heath says from the sink, arms in a bowl of bubbles.
Sember’s jaw drops in false shock. ‘You make it seem as if I’m such a difficult elbows-out sort of person!’
‘You? Never,’ he says. ‘You wouldn’t put a prince to pot-washing duty, no, no, not you …’
‘Ignore him, Brielle. He’s only grumpy because he stained his favourite shirt.’
