“You are safe,” Ian said. He squeezed her to him. He knew he was probably crushing her lungs, but he did not care. She was here. She was safe.
“You are here?!” Meena replied, hugging him back just as tightly. “How? Why?” She twisted her head under his arm, looking behind him. Then she loosened her grip around him, going quite still. She squeaked again.
Ian looked over his shoulder to see what she was seeing.
It was only Robin standing there behind him.
Ian looked back down at Meena, who was pulling away from the hug and awkwardly adjusting her crumpled dress.
“Welcome back to Iseldis,” Robin said, stepping forward. “I am glad to see you made it safely back.”
Sol, who by now had stood from the bench and left the blanket behind, stepped beside Meena and put his hand very protectively around her waist. He nodded in response to Robin’s words.
Ian lifted his shoulders a little, feeling them tense as he took in Sol’s hand on Meena’s back. He did not like to see anyone touch his youngest sister like that. Sol and Meena had been married just a few weeks prior, and it was a marriage in name only.
Robin continued speaking. “It is good to see you again, Princess...Philomena.”
Ian waited for Meena to correct Robin. She hated to be called by her full name and corrected everyone who used her full title.
But Meena said nothing. She was looking up at Robin with a lopsided smile and wide eyes that reflected the shine of dozens of glowing glass pieces from the walls around them.
Sol, noting his wife’s face, looked from Ian to Robin with a small lopsided grin of his own. “I do not believe I have ever seen my wife at a loss for words.”
“Meena,” Ian said, thinking he had realized the meaning behind her reaction. “You may not recognize her since you were so young when she lived at the castle with us, but this is Robin of Lockwood.”
Meena nodded, her expression coming back to a more natural one, though her eyes still held a hint of awe. “Oh, I know,” she said, still looking at Robin. “I missed you so much after you left. You had promised to give me a ride on that sweet donkey of yours that you visited every day in the stables. Humphrey? His name was Humphrey. But then you left, and I cried for days because I wanted you to come back and give me a ride on him but no one could tell me why you had left until...” Meena stopped her endless ramble, looking over at Ian for a moment before she quickly carried on. “Then Erich told me what happened to him and how you found him in Chendas and saved his life, and I think I may have fallen in love with you.”
Robin’s grin bubbled over into laughter long before Meena had finished her outburst. Robin stepped forward and held out her hands to the younger woman. “I missed you so much. And I’m so sorry that you never got any more rides on my dear donkey. He is far too old for that kind of thing now, but you will be pleased to hear he is still alive and happily eating all the grass he can get his muzzle into.”
Meena accepted Robin’s hands. “Thank you for all your help with Sol and me. You will be happy to hear that we successfully accomplished our mission. We found and destroyed the chaosmagic that Gareth had stored in Falqri. Although perhaps it was not quite a full success, since they did know it was us that did it.”
Meena dropped Robin’s hands and stepped back, reforming the circle of the four of them, though Ian noticed that she remained quite close to Sol.
“You cannot return to the castle,” Ian said. “Gareth does know that it was you. He forged a message to both Robin and me and attacked us on our journey here. He most definitely has a plan targeting you as well—”
Meena gasped, cutting off any further thoughts from Ian. “You know about Robin!” she said, pointing between Ian and Robin. “And you are not mad?”
Ian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Why does no one think I can handle seeing Robin again?”
“Well.” Meena looked down. “I cried for days after she left. You...You were inconsolable for seasons after that.”
“Now might not be the best time to mention that,” Ian said, keeping his voice low but not hiding the annoyance in it.
“Were you?” Robin asked, her voice loud in the small space. Ian looked at her before he could help himself. She wore a wide grin, clearly pleased at his discomfort. “Inconsolable?”
“I was fifteen!” Ian said, defending himself.
“We were both young,” Robin said. She laughed a little, but Ian thought it sounded forced and a little too highly pitched. “And living with a decision that had been made for us.” She waved her hand through the air, as though brushing aside the topic. “Let us discuss what we can control here and now.”
Ian turned back to Sol and Meena, crossing his arms to regain his composure. He glared at his little sister, but she was too intent on Robin to notice his anger.
“Ian is right,” Robin continued. “You cannot go back to the castle. It is not safe for you there. You can come back toLockwood with me, though. It is just a humble manor, definitely not a castle—”
“Perhaps we should discuss...” Ian said, cutting in to Robin’s plan. Meena was his sister and his responsibility. He agreed the castle would not be safe for her, yet he had no idea if Lockwood could protect her in any way from the true threat that Gareth posed. But no one noticed his words as Meena had already spoken up to accept Robin’s invitation.
“We would be honored,” Meena said, speaking over both Robin and Ian.
Robin turned her gaze to Sol. “I could use your help at Lockwood, as well, if you are willing. River’s Talon would be well served to have more Majis at its helm.”
