After another moment, he was able to move, and he checked to make sure Sapphire was unharmed.
She reached out to touch the pendant he still wore, then yanked her hand back. “That’s what my grandfather wanted.”
“It’s a powerful relic, but not one of Rashalee,” Sir Matthias murmured. “The power of the Holy Trinity beats within it.”
“Stolen and hidden away,” Sapphire said. “That black stuff on it wasn’t paint.”
Mara entered the room, but she kept her face turned away from Sir Matthias. “I told you it wasn’t paint. I also told you to take it to a holy temple.”
“What was that black stuff?” Sapphire asked.
Mara made sure each of the mercenaries was dead. “Something from Uzakiel. Dark god likes His secrets. Best guess is someone in the Carsons family cast the binding spell. Sapphire carries the Carsons blood, and when her blood touched the coating, it negated Uzakiel’s spell.”
Sir Matthias stared at the pulsing shard of light around his neck and basked in its radiant glow. He’d never experienced anything like it. Not even when he called upon Dracor to heal or to light his sword.
“It’s beautiful. And powerful,” he whispered. “I see why Uzakiel and Rashalee wanted to hide it.”
“Can’t hide it anymore.” Mara sheathed her sword. “And this place was lit up like a Council of Seven burial fire. Knights of Valor are about to swarm you.”
“Thank you for coming to check on us,” Sapphire said.
Mara smiled. “Would’ve gotten her sooner, but there were a couple more shadow assassins outside. Occurred to me after you left that Donald might’ve lied to get you to come here. It’s what they’d do. Start moving assets in case there was proof of piracy.”
“They were never after my father’s money. The whole time, they were after that.” Sapphire stared at the glowing teardrop around Matthias’s neck.
He reached toward the teardrop, then dropped his hand. He couldn’t bring himself to cover the radiant light.
“Gold didn’t hurt,” Mara said. “No idea why Rashalee took that thing, but it looks like a divine relic. If the Carsons family lost it, Rashalee and Uzakiel would be more than a little angry.”
Sapphire stared down at the ash and shuddered. Matthias slid his arms around her and held her close. He didn’t have words to make it better, but he offered her any comfort she would take.
“So many dead,” Sapphire said. “The tenement buildings. Donald. The mercenaries they hired.”
“The dark gods offer great power and wealth, but their price is high. Failing them is never an option you survive.” Mara glanced back at Sapphire and Sir Matthias, the golden holy light reflecting in her amber eyes. “Still trying to figure out your Holy Trinity.”
Mara turned back to the door.
Sapphire held out a hand to her, and Mara paused but didn’t accept it.
“I need to do a perimeter check and make sure that bit of glass didn’t lure something nastier than Lord Carsons. Doubt it now that you’ve revealed the relic, but best to be safe.”
Mara left as the sound of hoofbeats reached their ears.
“Let her go,” Sir Matthias said. His eyes unfocused a moment as he stared beyond the room. “She has a long road to walk, but it’s her path to follow. She must choose.”
Before Sapphire could answer, several Knights of Valor stormed into the room and began asking questions.
His wife laid her head against him, and Sir Matthias was again brought back to the present. As the shard pulsed around his neck, filling the room with its divine radiance, he told the Knights of Valor everything that had happened.
Epilogue
Desa skipped through the country rose gardens, and Sir Marcus and Lady Brelynn strolled behind her with Mara keeping watch over them all. Smiles wreathed their faces, even Mara’s, and a soft whisper of magic teased around Sapphire and Sir Matthias.
The questioning had been intense for days after the incident with her grandfather and uncle, but all the witnesses corroborated her and Sir Matthias’s story. And once the Knights started investigating the Carsons family, they discovered a nest of secrets, lies, and intrigue that dated back decades. It would take the Knights a long time to unravel the full extent of all her grandfather had been involved in, but Sapphire had faith they would.
She touched the front of her gown, but the pendant she’d worn since her father’s death was no longer there. She’d given it to the Knights of Valor and the Dragon Church. Another mystery for them to solve, but few could deny the power of the Holy Trinity filling the artifact.
Sir Matthias held Sapphire close, the rich scent of him mingling with the warm sun and the scent of fresh green growing things.
A smile curved her lips. She still missed her father, but she was happy. Happier than she ever thought she would be.
She whispered a prayer of thanks to the Twins and the Holy Trinity.
Maybe in time, the gods would bless her and Sir Matthias with a family of their own. Her father would’ve liked being a grandfather. Just as he would have liked Desa. And the latest letter from the Northland farm hinted that Lilly wanted to come stay with them so she could become a page at the Dragon Church.
Sapphire laid her head against her husband’s shoulder. The gods had truly blessed her, and she would never forget it.
“Lost in thought?” Sir Matthias asked.
“Thinking about how lucky I am. And how happy.”
“Seems like the perfect time to give you this.” Sir Matthias reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a velvet box.
She opened it and revealed a deep blue sapphire with a brilliant white star across the surface of the gem. Sapphire traced a finger over it, then stared up at her husband. “It’s beautiful. Thank you so much. For everything.”
“Doesn’t quite replace what your father gave you, but Lady Brelynn put a protection enchantment on it.”
“It’s perfect.”
Dipping her head, she waited for Matthias to put it on her. Then she kissed him. A soft, slow kiss promising so much more.
“I love you. Now and always.”
Matthias grinned, then kissed her again. “And I love you. Now and always.”
Laughter wafted up from farther in the garden, and Sapphire linked her arm with Matthias’s as they hurried to join the others.