“You don’t like them?” he said, concerned. “I know you said you remembered candied oranges from your Winter Feast, but then I thought with your story about the orange tree…”
“It’s perfect,” she said. “You’re perfect.”
Yarrow snorted.
Standing, she crossed to him. She cupped his face in her handsand kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She drank in the warmth of him as her hands moved around his neck to tangle in his hair. He whispered her name as he moved to kiss her neck and her ear.
Much later, they ate the chocolate oranges.
And they were indeed perfect.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Snow fell lightly on the sea.
It was five days after the chocolate oranges, and Terlu was in the middle of sorting through Laiken’s journals in the sorcerer’s tower when she spotted the sea serpent out the window of the workroom. Grinning, she pulled on her coat and hurried down to the dock.
If the sea serpent was back, Marin and Ree wouldn’t be far behind.
She waved when they came into view and then watched as Marin steered the ship toward the dock. Ree the myrtle was scurrying up and down the rigging as if he were born to it.
“Welcome back to Belde!” Terlu shouted as Marin tossed a line around one of the dock pilings, then hopped off the boat to secure the knot.
With a wide smile, Marin waved back as Terlu trotted down the dock to greet her.
“Any letters?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, yes, one,” Marin said, as she pulled a letter out of the bag at her side, “though it wounds me that you aren’t happy just to see me.”
“And me!” Ree shouted.
“Of course I am. It’s great to see you both,” Terlu said, but her eyes were fixed on the letter. It was tied with a multicolored ribbon—red,yellow, and orange, matching the paint on her family’s home. She took it, lifted it to her nose, and inhaled. She could smell it on the paper, the faint odor of citrus and salt water.Home.She wanted to tear it open and read it right now. No, she’d wait until she had a moment alone. She’d waited this long; she could wait a little while longer. “Thank you.” She clutched it to her chest.
“Not a problem. I was coming here anyway.”
“You were?”
“Told you I’d be back in time for Winter Feast, remember?” Marin said. “I keep my promises. Especially when they’re paid for with rubies. I’ve got your gardener’s usual supplies, as well as a few special additions.” She stepped aside as the ship began to disgorge people: a couple with a child, all of whom had soft tawny fur and tiny antlers poking out of their hair, as well as an elderly woman with silvery scales instead of skin. “Refugees from Alyssium. You’ve got room here, right?”
“Yes, of course.” The words were out of her mouth before she even thought about them, but how could she say no? Especially since they were looking at her with frightened, tired, hopeful eyes. And there were only four of them. Surely, they could fit four more on Belde, couldn’t they, especially when one was a child? She greeted the new arrivals and directed them up the road toward where Birch, Rowan, and the others were, and she hoped they didn’t mind that she’d just said yes to four more residents. “Third cottage on the right,” Terlu said. “You’ll find some people who should be able to help you find a place to stay.”
The more, the merrier, right?
Unless they were going to cause problems with all the magic use. It wasn’t just her anymore. It was all the talking plants, as well as several of Yarrow’s cousins and his aunt Rin, who’d helped fix the cracks in the glass.
As the new arrivals left the dock, Terlu lowered her voice so they wouldn’t hear. “Only thing is whether they’ll be comfortable livingnear an enchanted greenhouse. There’s a lot of spellwork here…” She trailed off, careful not to say who was casting it.
Marin shook her head. “Can’t see that being a problem. Laws are changing right and left, and no one is going to flinch at a little spellwork on a sparsely populated island, so long as it doesn’t cause any harm. Causing harm is still illegal. But the law that got you statue-ified—”
Terlu took a step back. “You know about that? About… me?”
“Who do you think brought you here?”
“I…” She hadn’t known. But if Marin had been the sailor who transported her as a statue, then of course she must have known instantly who she was the second she saw a living, breathing person on the dock who exactly resembled the wooden statue she’d had in her hull.She’d chosen not to say anything.Unsure how she felt about that, Terlu gawked at the sailor. “You knew all along?”
“Sure.” Marin shrugged as if it was a minor detail, not the most pivotal (and traumatic) event of Terlu’s life. “I don’t blindly agree to transport criminals without knowing what they did. I knew, and I sympathized. Anyway, the law that got you turned into a statue has been struck. Thought you might like to know.”
It…What?
