There were elated cries of relief. Everyone swarmed us all at once. Their eyes were rimmed-red and harried. They’d all been crying.
“Gods,” Stefan croaked out as he hugged me. Odette hiccuped, and Theo massaged her shoulder, though he pinched the bridge between his nose and his eyes.
“Oh, we all thought you’d certainly been…” Kiara turned into Alexei. He gave a helpless shrug, like he’d already resigned himself to our deaths, and accepting that we’d survived was another hill he had to climb.
Delmare rubbed her belly, looking pale. “I wasn’t going to forgive myself if Emma died.”
“We made it out fine,” I told her.
I didn’t add there were so many who didn’t.
Emma’s color drained, and guilt overwhelmed her expression. She felt responsible for this.
I could not offer her lies to dissuade her pain. Shewasresponsible. We both were.
“Good to know you’re all safe,” a warm voice said. Vocheck shuffled his way into the foyer with the use of a cane, followed by his wife. They were the only people that didn’t appear bothered by the turn of events, as if they’d expected this to come. Had so many years of experiencing Unseelie prejudice hardened them that harshly?
Emma didn’t crack until she saw her grandmother. She broke into a sob, and embraced Faylin. The old woman stroked Emma’s hair and said, “You’re safe now. We’re glad to see you come back to the homeland, though we wish it was under different circumstances.”
Faylin wiped Emma’s tears away with the back of her thumb, and put a hand on her back to guide her. “Come. A warm breakfast will do you good.”
Everyone followed Faylin to what I presumed was the kitchen, but Stefan jerked his head. “Ethan. A minute.”
We waited until the room emptied. Stefan put an arm on the hearth to lean on as he said, “Arthur and Finlay slipped back to Dolinska, to search for Vara, Amantha, Jasper and Ozzie.”
“Did they find them?” I asked.
“No.” Then he paused. “But they did retrieve the body.”
It took a moment before I understood what he was saying.
“No. Not here,” I insisted. “She deserves to be interred at Milonna’s cathedral!”
“There isn’t a cathedral anymore,” he said calmly. “We can only do what we can.”
“She was the greatest sorceress in the world! She deserves an honored burial!”
“Keep your voice down. We all know it.” Stefan looked into the flames. “But her body has to be prepared for the journey to the Great Hunting Grounds. This can’t wait. We need to take a moment to grieve before we decide what to do next.”
What to do next? There was no going forward, nothing else left to do. We’d lost.
But I thought of Lady Magdalina’s soul, trapped between this world and the next because we’d failed to give her the proper rites, and my spirit withered. “You’re right. Her soul must journey on. Tonight. It has to be.”
Stefan nodded shortly. I followed him to the dining hall, where everyone was consuming porridge and toast quietly.
I didn’t eat. I couldn’t stomach anything. Afterward, Arthur showed Emma and I to our room. It was large, grander than we deserved, and beautiful. We peeled off our ruined clothes, and Emma threw them in the fire to burn.
There was a shower chair waiting for me, along with Emma’s favorite soap in the bathroom. It took over an hour to clean off all the mud, grime and blood from our skin. We found clothes in our size, and a stock of Emma’s medicine in the cupboard.
Everything had been prepared for us to come here. It was as if Faylin and Vocheckknewwe would arrive eventually.
Displeased, I closed the curtains to block out the sun, and we turned in to bed. I didn’t think we’d spoken a word since Arthur had left us a while ago.
Although we’d slept all night, we dozed most of the day, too. It was like our very souls were tired, and we just couldn’t stand any more suffering. I’d fear we’d close our eyes and succumb to death due to a broken heart.
It would almost be comforting to never wake up.
My fears were unfounded, for Kiara awoke us at sundown. Emma sat up and rubbed exhaustion from her eyes as I searched the wardrobe for clothes that were black.
