I looked back at him and tried to smile, but there was still a small, hollow space in my chest.
“Marina?!” The cry was shrill, but soft, and I heard theclickof the garden gate before I even saw Sissi rushing toward me with her arms out. I threw myself into them without thinking twice, letting out a quiet sob as we sunk into the dirt together.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried into her wimple. “I’m so sorry for leaving.”
“Oh, my darling girl,” Sissi breathed. “Oh, oh, oh, please don’t cry. You have nothing to be sorry for. Look at me.” She took my face between her hands and gently lifted it to wipe my tears. But as soon as her eyes met mine, I knew she could see all the ways I’d changed. Oberon’s powerful glamour was now gone, and she was seeingmefor the first time. As her careful gaze swept over my features, I began to shake, imagining a cold, fearful rejection. But she just pushed my hair back over the delicate points of my ears and frowned.
“You have been to the Arden…” she whispered, “and they have taken you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No, Sissi. The Arden made me. This is what I have always been.” She frowned and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a second cry.
“May, is that you?” Anotherclickof the garden gate, more hurried footsteps, but this time Devil moved in front of me.
“Not another step!” he barked. I peered around his leg to see Tuck approaching, his face harried and worn, a longsword hanging from his belt. He stopped on the garden path, but Devil didn’t move. They just stared each other down for a moment before I scoffed and stood up, skirting around Devil to meet Tuck with a long embrace.
“Oh, little May.” He crushed me against him, fighting back the same tears I was. When I pulled away, he looked me over quickly and grinned, the corners of his steel-blue eyes crinkling. “Will told us you were safe, but…I can see now that you’re happy too.”
I let out a half-laugh, half-sob and said, “I am. I am happy. Thank you.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Tuck murmured, his eyes flickering over to Devil and narrowing.
“I think explanations are best given inside,” Sissi said as she stood and brushed her skirt off. Still eyeing Tuck warily, Devil bent to pick up the chest of gold and we filed through the garden behind Sissi, who kept one eye on the Abbey. The Sisters were all at evening prayers, I realized, and a strange nostalgia overtook me—a longing to sit in one of the chapel’s hard pews and sing the familiar hymns, then drink a cup of black currant wine while gossipping with Jazmina. As we entered Locksley and hurried down a corridor, I tried to shake the feeling away, but it only became more intense, causing me to lose focus on the reason we were actually there. Sissi led us to her private office and, once we were all inside, she bolted the door and shuttered the windows. Devil heaved the chest of gold onto her desk and stood silently with his arms crossed.
“Is it true about Helena?” asked Tuck immediately. “Did the Fair Folk take her?”
“No!” I insisted, but Devil snorted and I was forced to amend myself. “Not on purpose. Will told us that you needed money, and that Johar was sending a tax caravan through the Arden. We only wanted to take the gold, but…they were also carrying prisoners, including Helena.”
“He planted her,” said Devil, “so he could excuse an invasion of the Arden.”
Tuck’s eyes widened in horror. “Are you certain that’s what he wants?”
“Have you not seen the soldiers at the edge of the trees?” Devil snapped.
“But an invasion would gain him nothing,” Tuck retorted. “Can you not simply return Helena? Publicly?”
“No.” My voice was a bit too sharp and Sissi raised an eyebrow. “Her father no longer sees value in her life. She came to us beaten bloody, and I believe he would kill her if she were returned to him. Besides, if he is looking for an excuse to invade the Arden, he will find it.”
“We need help,” Tuck muttered, running a hand over the stubble on his chin, then through his gray hair. “Especially since Johar is now doing everything in his power to drive Piers to an early grave.”
Sissi nodded sadly. “I fear who they might find to replace him, if anyone at all. It is just as likely Johar names himself head of the Church.”
“Will mentioned that you were trying to get messages to Rykard,” I said hopefully.
“He is a Prince in exile,” said Tuck, “and I am but a lowly friar. I have tried contacting his advisors in Messina, but getting a messenger through the Channel, then through the port at Achaia, has been…very difficult. I still have not heard back from the last man I sent, and I am beginning to fear the worst.”
“Will this help?” Devil asked, opening the chest. Sissi let out a sharp gasp and even Tuck looked dumbfounded at the sight of the coins.
“Yes,” Sissi whispered. “Yes, this will help keep Locksley safe from the Iron Fist, and it will help vulnerable families flee to safety. That is all we can ask right now.”
“It’s been checked for marks,” I assured them, “but please be careful about how you use it.”
Tuck nodded slowly, but his eyes were unfocused, staring at the gold. “It may not be enough, but I will do what I can to forestall any kind of invasion.”
“Sabotage is usually quite effective,” Devil told him with a half-smirk. “I would be more than happy to assist.”
“He’s quite skilled at it,” I laughed softly. Both Tuck and Sissi shifted their eyes to me, brows raised. It was the same look they’d given me the day they found Will and I napping in each other’s arms beneath an apple tree on the Abbey grounds.
“And…whois he…exactly?” Sissi asked.
