I couldn’t help but smile as she crashed into me, hugging me tightly. I clung to her, breathing her in as though she were proof I wasn’t alone. Larissa waited politely at the edge of the moment, but Elia held me like she had no intention of letting go.
“I never got to thank you for helping save me,” she whispered, her eyes misty when she finally pulled back.
“You’re welcome. Have you seen my family?” I asked quickly.
Her smile spread brighter. “I’m sorry about the Dregs burning down, but knowing I get to look forward to Sable knocking on my door every morning brings me great joy. She was just playing with my kiddos. Come, you can meet my family.”
Elia glanced at Larissa. “I’ll take over from here.”
Larissa bowed again and slipped away.
“Why does she bow to me?” I whispered.
Elia flicked her gaze to Valkaryn. “You wield a sword imbued with the soul of the former Queen of Fenmyr. Many wolves will treat you with great respect for that.”
The thought stopped me in my tracks. I had never truly considered what it meant to carry Val’s soul at my side. She had been their queen. Their symbol. Their hope. And now she was tied to me.
Not that she and I were speaking. I had asked her to go quiet, and she had obeyed. She had tricked me and cost me everything: the chance to bring magic to my people and Kaelric. I was done with her.
“I don’t know what Kaelric told you, but I don’t know how long my family and I will be welcome here,” I admitted.
Elia stopped and faced me, compassion softening her features. “Kaelric didn’t get the outcome he wanted. It sounds like you didn’t either. But he is a man of his word, and you and your people are still welcome here.”
My throat closed with emotion. Was that her voice, or his, through her lips?
“Are you sure that?—”
“I’m sure.” She cut me off gently. “Let’s take you to see your family and meet mine.”
Her certainty steadied me, though my heart still spun with doubt. Even after swearing he would never forgive me, Kaelric was allowing us to stay. It didn’t make sense.
Elia introduced me to her husband, Jay and their children: Brettie, a shy five-year-old with curls the color of wheat, and Cleo, her seven-year-old son with wide, curious eyes. Their cabin sat at the edge of town beside the pumpkin fields. The backyard was alive with garden beds brimming with summer squash, beans, and berries. Over twenty chickens pecked at the grass, their feathers flashing in the sun. The sight filled me with wonder. No wonder she had been the one chosen to care for my family when my mother was sick.
After leaving her house, she took me through the tent village. Tomorrow, a lottery would begin where families would draw lots for permanent plots of land.
“Permanent?” I asked in disbelief.
Elia nodded. “You are all citizens of Fenmyr now, under Kaelric’s protection, until you choose not to be.”
My heart squeezed painfully.
I greeted Mrs. Dorset, who was bent over a bucket, scrubbing clothes. She looked up, tired but smiling.
“Good to see you, darling. Isn’t this land wonderful? I’ll never tire of pumpkin soup.”
I laughed. “It is.”
And it truly was. Even tents in this place were a hundred times better than the life we had left behind.
“Trust me, you will tire of pumpkin,” Elia whispered to me with a grin.
But she was wrong. When you had eaten enough burned rat meat to fill your stomach, you could never tire of pumpkin.
The moment my mother spotted me, she dropped the bucket she carried and ran for me. Relief broke across her face like sunlight. Tears stung my eyes as she wrapped me tight in her arms.
“Oh, Bean, I was so worried. Thank the Creator you’re okay.”
When she pulled back, her gaze flicked to Valkaryn and then to my chest, free of any marks, and her smile faltered.
