Page 166 of A Legacy of the Light

Chapter 40

“Are you sure?” Tavish asks, his earlier sharpness gone.

“Quite sure,” Raghnall replies with a smirk that I would love to punch clean off his fucking face. That’s why he let it go so quickly. He summoned us here to tell me I’m leaving. It doesn’t matter to him that we have defied him, because I won’t be a problem any longer.

“Tavish, you will go into the human realm to accompany Elspeth home. And to continue with your mission.”

Confusion flits across Tavish’s face. Raghnall shakes his head ever so slightly.

“When do I . . . when do we . . .” I begin, the shock preventing me from forming a full question.

Raghnall’s satisfaction deepens. “Tomorrow morning,” he confirms.

Tavish and the king discuss some details, but I can’t take the words in.

Tomorrow. I’m leaving tomorrow.

I thought Tavish and I might have a few weeks to explore this new connection between us. I wanted more time with Finneus to see if we could find more about Queen Ishbel and a way to stop the Dorche. I wanted to keep training with Reyne, to push my body harder.

“You are dismissed,” the king says, pulling my attention back to him and Tavish, without a single care for the bomb he just detonated in my heart.

The golden doors close behind us as we exit the throne room. Tears sting my eyes, and I keep them cast down as Tavish leads me through the hall of chambers. He stops us again in the circular chamber and lifts my chin.

He sees the tears threatening and wraps me in a tight hug.

“I thought we would get more time,” I whisper into his chest.

“Me, too,” he says. “Me, too.”

He holds me for a few moments, and the enormity of saying goodbye to him, to Elfayne, washes over me.

“I hate to leave you like this but I must go and prepare if we are leaving tomorrow. There are arrangements to make,” he says softly.

I pull away from him and catch the stray tear on my cheek. “Go, it’s okay. I want to say goodbye to Reyne and Finneus anyway.” The words form a lump in my throat.

I’m not ready to say goodbye.

He cups my cheek then takes off towards the kitchens.

I stand in the circular room that’s now as familiar as my own home. I’ve walked these halls every day for the last five months. I’ve started to find myself again. What will happen when I go home? Will I fall back into old patterns?

“No, this is who you are. Who you really are,” the voice at the back of my mind comforts me. I stand tall and wipe the last of the tears from my cheeks. I will not allow myself to fall back into the blackness I was in before I arrived in Elfayne. I’ve tasted too much of life beyond the grief to fall back in on myself now.

With purpose, I stride into the library. Finneus is sat behind his desk as usual. He’s dressed in a black jacket today. I’ve never seen him in anything other than bright colors.

“Good morning, my dear,” he greets me with familiarity without looking up from his desk. The soft curve at the corners of Finneus’s mouth when he hears me approach breaks the short-lived will I had to hold myself together.

Finneus looks up from his work, concern immediately lining his face. “Elsie? What’s wrong?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Shock, followed by sorrow, replaces the concern.

“Tomorrow?”

I nod. “The king just told me and Tavish the barrier is likely to be open in five days. And we need to leave tomorrow.”

“I don’t know what to say.”