Page 80

Chapter 80

Saelyn

I was twenty-three and missing home.

“ You have everything you need?” Clairannia asked, tucking a yellow flower into my black braid.

“ What about the carrot seeds for Thevin ? Did you pack those?”

“ Yes , Figuerah ,” I said, hauling my bag over my shoulder. “ Anyway , I think it’s Mychael who would scold me more than Thevin if I forgot them. Something about needing purple carrots for his and Pah - Pah’s anniversary dinner.”

Figuerah pulled me in for an embrace, saying, “ I hope they grow in Thevin’s garden, then.”

I kissed her cheek, saying my goodbye, doing the same for Clairannia .

“ We’ll see you on the first day of summer, dearest,” she promised. “ And give your parents a hug from us.

I nodded, assuring them I would, folding my paper with the names of the possible channelers we could bring to Felgren this summer and shoving it into my pocket.

“ And one for Thevin , of course!” Clairannia called.

“ And Moira ,” Figuerah added.

“ Yes , Moira , too!” Clairannia pulled Figuerah into a hug. “ Also , please tell Mychael thank you for the cinnamon buns he had you bring us. Tell him they were perfect, just like Lia could make.”

“ I will!” I called, waving and walking to the glowing white portal I’d summoned for my departure home from the Spire .

Figuerah called goodbye to us both, already stepping into the portal I had woven for her to return to the Attatok Mountains .

I took one last glimpse at the tall tower from which the city took its name, blew Clairannia a kiss, and stepped into my power.

I sighed in relief returning to my home, my bag dropped and forgotten on the steps of the Fortress , my arms around Thevin as I buried my face in his neck, taking in his scent of garden dirt and rain.

He lifted me off the ground, wrapping his arms at my back to hold me, speaking into my hair in a muffled voice, “ Needless to say, I’ve missed you.”

I slipped to the ground, rising on my toes to kiss him fervently. “ Needless to say, I love you.”

He nipped at my bottom lip. “ Needless to say, I love you as well, and shall not let you go for a week.”

I laughed, tilting my head back where he leaned in to kiss my neck. “ Needless to say, I accept your offer and suggest we begin right?—”

“ If you don’t need to say it, why do you keep doing so?” Moira sat on the stone staircase railing, plucking at the green ivy leaves which had once again wound up the sides.

“ Here we go,” Thevin muttered at my ear.

I giggled and pushed away from him, bringing a finger to the vine where a dozen new leaves unfurled. “ It’s just one of those things humans say, Moira .” I watched her lick her hand, pasting her sticky saliva onto the leaf before patting it across her chest.

“ Seems like a lot of extra words to me,” she said, shrugging.

“ Do you know where my parents are?” I asked. “ They said they’d be here when I arrived.”

Her violet gaze turned to me, and she grinned, displaying her sharp teeth. “ It was him .” She jabbed a thumb at Thevin . “ He made sure they’d be gone when you got here.”

I turned to Thevin with my brows raised.

He rubbed his faced, forcing a hand through his golden curls. “ I tried to get rid of her, too, but she refused to leave.”

Moira stuck out her long green tongue, shaking her head. “ I was never going to listen to you. Besides ,” she added, “ Karus tried to stay, too, but that hairy bog monster of hers folded her over his shoulder and carried her away.” She rolled her eyes. “ They’ve been gone for at least an hour . I was waiting for them to get back here to greet you.”

I met Thevin’s gaze, suppressing a grin.

He started down the steps, picking up my bag and taking my hand, saying “ I think they got the hint you didn’t, Moira .”

She scoffed, adding another leaf to her chest and calling as we hurried onto the path through the trees, “ Why don’t you humans just say what you mean!”

We laughed with arms wrapped around each other’s waist, unwilling to let each other go.

“ I’ll say what I mean,” Thevin started. “ I mean to show you something special.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “ Please tell me it’s a picnic and I get to eat. I was so busy with the Viceroy and her father this morning, I skipped breakfast.”

He kissed the top of my head, steering us down a less trodden path. “ You’ll see. Is Viceroy Malla well? How goes the transition?”

“ She is well. The people have decided to allow her to officially become Lady of the Spire and start a new matriarchal line with the caveat that her first daughter be named after the missing Lady Lanna .”

“ Sounds like a good compromise.”

“ It is. The people do love her, and she has great plans for increasing the number of medicus camps that travel through the less populated areas of the isle. I hear they are much needed in the north as more towns arise from the abandoned forests there.”

Thevin hummed, turning us again. “ You’ve worked your miracles even more in the month you were gone.”

I huffed a laugh. “ I wonder if I’ll ever feel like I’m doing en?—”

I stopped in my tracks.

He’d led us to a tiny clearing between the trees which once grew a few patches of grass and an enormous bed of purple crocus. Now , it hosted a cottage built of gray stone with sunshine yellow shutters and a sky-blue front door. A path of river rocks led to a few garden beds nearby, already filled with new growth I recognized as potatoes.

My mouth agape, I stared in awe, tears begging to spill down my cheeks.

“ Welcome home, Sae ,” Thevin said, pulling me closer to his side and planting another kiss on top of my head.

“ You built this for us?” I asked in shock. “ How —when?—”

“ Did you really think I was just going to take you back to our rooms in the Fortress after our companion ceremony next month? To your childhood bed?”

“ I - I didn’t really think about it.”

“ That’s alright because I did. We’ve always talked of building something a little bigger than our fort, Sae , so I called in some help and did it.”

I stepped forward, wiping my eyes and nose with my sleeve.

“ Do you like it?” he whispered behind me.

I turned on him, jumping into his arms, crying at his neck. “ It’s absolutely perfect! I can’t believe you did this!”

He let me down and lifted my chin to meet his eyes of pale blue. “ Needless to say, I want nothing more than to share this home with you, Saelyn of Felgren .” He paused, tilting his head and squinting at our new home behind me. “ I will say though, I really think those front windows could use some flower box?—”

I reached up and covered his mouth with my hand, saying, “ Shut up and kiss me, Thevin .”