I didn’t like that in the slightest, so I hurried to move on. Close to the bonfire was a cave system. Once we entered, the way ahead grew dark, lit only by lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There were metal doors placed in equal measurements around the walls of the cave, leading to apartments.
“This is our den,” I explained. “Many young wolvens live here after they graduate from Arcanea University. It is how many of them get their start in life, and where most of our children are conceived and born.”
Emma grimaced, and I berated myself. I wasn’t helping. I attempted to walk through the rest of the cave system as quickly as possible, until the opposite entrance to the den opened up to a wide space.
Emma’s eyes widened as she took in the garden around her, which was sculpted with a variety of white rose bushes that surrounded a small pond. Two swans swam on the surface of the pond. The ripples they created sent the white petals floating outward. It was a beautiful space, intricately created by the best of the royal gardeners.
“The Queen’s Rose Garden,” I told her. “I had it put in after our coronation. The roses are dying at this time of year, but in the spring they will be bright and vibrant once again.”
Emma skimmed her hands along the wilting petals with a look of wonder. I led her to a stone bench with a matching round table and knelt on one knee.
“For you to write your poetry,” I said. “Your work with words can’t replace skating, but I know it’s a balm on your heart. I wanted you to have somewhere special where you can come to pen your thoughts.”
Her face was alight with adoration. “Ethan, this is wonderful. I don’t understand what I did to deserve you.”
“You merely exist.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’re taking it a step too far.”
I smiled, and kissed her hand before rising. “There is still much to see. Come.”
We wandered through the village, until we came to the edge of town. Here was a circular cottage, with a tall chimney rising from the right side.
I opened the door to the cottage. The guards remained outside as Emma and I entered. The cottage was small, with a stone fireplace and a cast iron stove. A tree rose in the middle of the room, its roots twisting around the ceiling and keeping the house standing. The furniture was made of oak, carved by my grandfather, and racks for drying meat hung in the kitchen. On every surface hung a hunting pelt, or a hand stitched quilt. The whole place smelled of the woodsy scent of the stove, and tobacco from my grandfather’s pipe. My grandparents had long since passed away, and yet, this place never failed to make me believe they were still here.
The cottage was only one room. There was a bed near a stack of bookshelves. The place didn’t even have a bathroom, only an outhouse tucked in the back. It was rustic in every sense of the word.
“Whose house is this?” Emma asked as she circled the tree.
“This was my father’s childhood home, where he lived until he won the Contest and became king. I inherited it after he died,” I explained.
“Your father must’ve been a great wolven, for someone on the Circle to endorse him without noble blood,” Emma said.
“He was a peasant, yes, but he was respectable, and brave, and very skilled in battle. He saved a lord’s life from a monster attack, which enabled him a spot in the Contest.”
“Which he competed in with my mother,” Emma said, running her hands over the tapestry. “Then once they had won, she left him for my father.”
Her tone held some sorrow, as if she wasn’t sure her mother had made the right choice. I took her hands in my own. “I do not regret anything that has happened, or wish it different. If it were so, you and I would not exist, and we’d not be able to be together.”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “No use being bothered over the past.”
“I’ve already arranged for us to stay here under armed guard untilHeimskanunand the Day of the Dead are finished. The wolven festival for the holiday is not nearly as large as the city’s, but it is memorable besides, and it’s time you spentHeimskanunwith your own Faction,” I said.
“Can we do that?”
“Why not? I thought we could use a break from the palace,” I said with a shrug. “Perhaps see what life would’ve been like if we hadn’t become what we are.”
Emma nodded somberly. “It’s a taste of another life.”
“You may come here anytime you like,” I said, grasping her forearms. “Anytime you might need an… escape.”
Emma’s eyes flashed to the side, as if she did not wish to speak of whatever was on her mind. She pulled away from me, creating distance, and it wounded me. I had brought her here, to my family’s ancestral home, to try to bring us closer together.
But perhaps the moment was too intimate. She was pulling away.
“It’s almost been six months since we found the griffin stone, and we haven’t made any progress on gaining the last two Crystals,” she said. “We’re running out of time.”
She wanted to talk about heavy things, to carve some room between us. I did not understand why.
