“Nehelon didn’t lie when he told me you could do it,” he said by way of greeting, “And what a rescue—Nehelon and my son here have told me all about it.” One of his hands rested on Joshua’s forearm, the other one clutching Lady Crystal’s, who eyed her son who wasn’t her son with what appeared to be mixed feelings. Gandrett wondered how hard it must have been for her to bring up someone else’s child. The lovechild, potentially, of her husband and her enemy.
From the shadows by the columns, Nehelon’s diamond-blue gaze was resting on her, thoughtful.
Gandrett didn’t let her own look hover but took another step closer to the reunited family where Mckenzie had taken up the spot beside her mother and was beaming at Joshua with the same admiration her brother Andrew had beamed at Gandrett.
Brax pulled out a chair for her, beckoning her to sit.
But Gandrett didn’t take the offer. She had completed her mission, had retrieved Joshua from a situation even worse than what any of them could have imagined, and brought him home.
“You have held up your end of the bargain,” Lord Tyrem said and got to his feet, walking up to her with the steps of a proud lord, a warrior, a father who had gotten back his son. All those facets of him were there in his straight posture, his gleeful expression, the jeweled sword and knife at his belt. “So I will hold up mine.”
Gandrett’s heart beat like a prayer drum. Home. She would go home. See her mother, her father, and Andrew.
Lord Tyrem reached into his jacket and extracted a small leather pouch, which he unceremoniously held out for her.
Gandrett waited, unsure of whether it was right to take it.
As Lord Tyrem shook it, metal clanked inside. “You don’t want to go to your family empty-handed,” he said and let it hover between them until Gandrett reached for it with hesitant fingers.
Not a payment. Not a gift for her but for her family. Vala couldn’t begrudge her if she took it. “I don’t know what to say, my Lord.” The pouch weighed heavily enough to tell her the contents could feed half of Alencourt for a winter.
“Take it as the gratitude of an old man who got back his son.” He smiled more widely, reaching out with one arm toward Joshua. “Now, I don’t want to keep you,” he said and dismissed her with a gracious gesture of his hand.
Gandrett inclined her head at Lord Tyrem as she thanked him, and when Joshua joined his father, the latter wrapping an arm around his shoulders, she dipped her chin again. “Goodbye, Future of Sives,” she said and returned Joshua’s grin.
“There will always be a place for you here at Ackwood,” he said and inclined his head in return, “after everything you’ve done for this family.”
Gandrett took his words and tucked them away in her heart right next to the knowledge that eventually she would return to Everrun where her journey had begun. With a curtsey for the Brenheran family, she took her leave, a weight lifting from her shoulders.
The stained glass windows of Ackwood Palace tinted the hallway in familiar patterns of crimson and gold as Gandrett walked down the stairs, away from Lord Tyrem’s great hall.
Handing over Joshua had been quick and, thank Vala, Nehelon and Joshua had already told the tale of Joshua’s rescue. They graciously had left out details about how exactly Gandrett had defeated Linniue as they’d promised on their journey back from Eedwood. Her magic, Nehelon and Joshua had agreed, was something to be kept a secret—for now.
She knew Nehelon wouldn’t tell a soul, for she had knowledge of his little Fae-secret. As for Joshua, Gandrett could only rely on all the stories of his pristine heart she had heard of from his family—the Brenheran part of his family.
Now that Lord Tyrem had dismissed her with a verbal pat on the shoulder and a small bag of gold for her family, there was nothing holding her back. She was going home.
Had someone told her a year ago that she was going to see her family again, she would not have believed them. And now, she had bargained for a whole year and would not return empty-handed.
“Lim and Alvi are eager for a ride.” Nehelon appeared beside her, a pack slung over his shoulder and a smirk on his face.
“I thought I was free to go.” Gandrett didn’t stop. Too close were the gates, too close was her temporary freedom.
Nehelon fell into step beside her. “You didn’t think I’d let you go alone.” He watched her with raised eyebrows. “Not after what happened last time.”
Gandrett suppressed a whimper when, as if in response to his words, her magic stirred.
They walked in silence, passing by the guards who saluted Nehelon and eyed Gandrett with cautious glances. The girl who had rescued Joshua Brenheran.
Gandrett gave them a smug grin before she stepped out into the yard.
The gold in her pocket clinked as she patted her skirt. Her sword yet again was a comforting weight at her hip, her dress fresh and hair clean. Gandrett Brayton was going home.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Under a blanket of ferns, in the shadow of trees so ancient they could tell the history of the world, something stirred. An old and dangerous magic that had been sleeping for centuries, dreaming of the day that the forests of Ulfray would awaken. It had felt a surge of power in the north where an echo of the past lingered like a memory. It growled and flexed and opened an eye, winding and writhing from its sleep.
The north had awoken, and it was ready to answer its call.