Page 45 of By Mistake

Andrus sat with Shimari in the basement room where Renik was slowly rebuilding himself.

Well, his body for this world. As he and Kressen would be spending a great deal of time here, looking over their comrade—Shimari's son, really, whatever the demons claimed otherwise—they had moved several pieces of furniture down.

Couches, a bed, chairs, tables, even a little area to make tea.

It was like a strange, floating room in the middle of a large open space.

Several paces away, inside an intricate spell circle, lay Farthing's body, too pale and too still. Every now and then he would twitch, or sigh, but mostly he was just eerily still. "I cannot believe it will take three years for him to wake up." And that was quick .

He lifted his head slightly from where he'd rested it against Shimari's shoulder. "Is he doing all right so far?"

Shimari smiled and reached up to brush a thumb over Andrus's lips.

"He's doing just fine, far better than he normally would in such a situation.

Most of the time when this happens, circumstances are the exact opposite of ideal.

Hiding in a deep cave and hoping for the best, that sort of thing.

He has literally the perfect arrangement.

" He dropped his hand and kissed Andrus softly, then nudged him back down, idly stroking his hair.

"My concern now is finding the other two, as I must now assume the worst."

Andrus frowned. "Did you not know where they were before I accidentally summoned you?"

"They weren't at home, so to speak, but that's hardly unusual.

Time also passes differently, strangely, so…

well, suffice to say, I had no reason to be concerned until now.

I thought the only other one on this plane was Kressen, but if three of us are here…

" He sighed. "Hopefully they will be all right, wherever they are, until I can get to them. "

"We'll save them, whatever it takes."

"If only more humans were like you, pet. The world—" he stopped. "Oresti wants to speak with us."

Andrus sat up, even as Shimari whisked them way.

That was still taking getting used to, the cold and the rush, the way he blinked and was so far from where he'd been.

He shook himself, looked around what proved to be Oresti's private chambers—their private chambers, though Oresti was making noises about getting them a proper family suite for when they had to be in the palace for days at a time.

Oresti sat on the sofa, his brother Telish beside him, the pair practically buried in all the private journals he'd had brought over from Farthing's house. He smiled and immediately cast aside the book he was holding, standing to greet them, kissing first Andrus and then Shimari. "How is Renik?"

"Well enough," Shimari said. "What did you need? I assume from your demeanor that nothing is wrong."

"Not at all. My father is free of his meetings and wanted to speak with Andrus about all this." He waved a hand at the journals. "He read the relevant ones himself last night; barely got any sleep he was so intent on it."

Andrus stared at him wide-eyed. "He didn't have to do that."

"Yes, he did, but he would have done it anyway," Oresti said with a smile, and chucked him under the chin. "Come on." He took Andrus's hand, which always made Andrus feel small, but safe.

Shimari walked just behind them, playing at dutiful personal assistant.

He didn't need their mental connection to know Shimari was smirking and had a ready retort about all the serving done last night.

Oresti gave him an amused look.

"I hate you both," Andrus muttered.

They both looked entirely too pleased with themselves, as usual, but before either could open their smartass mouths, they'd reached the king's chambers. The guards there let them in without prompting.

Inside, in the sitting room, King Oranti waited for them, along with a truly ridiculous tea service.

He stood as they drew close, embracing Oresti tightly.

Watching them made Andrus ache for his parents, who had always been weighed down by a thousand burdens but had always clearly loved him. If only they could see him now.

But if he thought about that too much, he'd think about all the needless suffering caused them by the Farthing family, and if he thought about that, he would lose his fucking mind.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as they sat down, and gratefully took the tea a servant poured for him, though it still seemed beyond silly to make other people do such a simple task for him. It was a perfect cup of tea, though, so hard to complain in the end.

"Alina is awake," Oranti said. "Already trying to resume some of her duties from bed, and summoning people to get started on her new leg. None of my children know how to hold still, I swear it."

Oresti chuckled. "I'll go see her later. Well, maybe tomorrow. I'm sure she'll wear herself out and fall asleep in the middle of dictating a letter or yelling at some foolish councilor."

"Yes, tomorrow would probably work better," Oranti said with a sigh.

"But on to the reason I asked you to come see me.

I read through the journals of Elemus Farthing.

Grim stuff. The harm caused by him and his ancestors has had ripple effects we will probably never fully appreciate, though I've faith Oresti and Telish will get as close as is possible.

My investigator and my historian." Oranti smiled briefly.

"I assume Telish is still with the journals? "

"He's barely left them since I brought them here," Oranti said dryly. "Manesh had to come drag him away last night."

Oranti chuckled, but he sobered as he continued, "You are owed a great many reparations for the harm done to your family on this matter, Andrus."

"I don't—" His breath hitched. He'd been trying so hard not to think about it. That was impossible now, though, in the midst of a conversation about all of it.

Elemus had killed Sendrus, destroyed the lives of the Bothwells ever since.

They had struggled, starved, died of illnesses they should have been able to overcome.

Parted with heirlooms and personal treasures.

Been forced to leave the bodies to rot in the temple, unable to afford proper cremations.

He hadn't even been able to find flowers for his mother because it had been the middle of winter when she'd died.

All because of fucking lies . Lies the Farthing family could have cleared up at any time, but they hadn't, damning entire generations to suffering.

His parents had lived and died in poverty, struggling every single day of their lives, always hoping for better.

His mother had been proud of her lineage, no matter what anyone said about them, and his father had married her despite the contempt of his family and their anger that he could have done so much better.

"Hey, it's all right," Oresti said, holding him close, and only then did Andrus realize he was crying.

"I'm sorry, Andrus, I'm so sorry. They deserved better, all of them, and I'm sorry we can't make it better for them now.

But your parents, your grandparents, all of them will rest peacefully knowing that you are no longer suffering. That the truth came out."

Andrus wiped his eyes with the kerchief Oranti gave him. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Child, you have every right to grieve for lives that were stolen.

For the years of your life that were stolen because of cruelty and selfishness.

I wish we could do something for your relatives.

I know full well I only wear the crown because Prince Kolik was murdered and my ancestors took advantage of the situation.

It's the way history so often goes, but that doesn't make me proud of it.

We can only move forward and do better than those who came before.

Which means reparations to your family, and a formal proclamation of the wrongs committed. "

"Can I honor them properly?" Bodies were always cremated, then the ashes either kept by a loved one or, more often, scattered somewhere.

As they'd always been paupers, the bodies had received pauper cremations, a term he'd always fucking hated , which just mean they were laid out in the open air on special tables to rot, then the bones disposed of or, if loved ones could afford it, packed up and returned to the family.

It had cost him everything he'd had at the time, but he had been able to obtain his parents' bones, kept them stored safely away on the hope that someday he could honor them properly.

"Of course, whatever you wish. A proper ceremony, burning offers in lieu of their remains, anything else you desire."

"I have their bones. I should have just buried them in the garden, but I kept them…"

"I would have too. Shimari can fetch them, and we'll burn the bones along with the offerings. Then they can rest properly. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," Andrus said quietly.

Shimari handed him a cup of tea, and when Andrus looked up to thank him, his eyes glowed red before he winked and withdrew, a faint later in the bond that left Andrus burning with curiosity.

"There are other families that merit recompense for his wrongs, but those will be paid from his estate once everything is assessed, sold off, and so forth."

"What will happen to his wife and other family?"

"Farthing has no children, thankfully, and his wife was not party to his misdeeds.

Was indeed yet another victim, I'd say one of his greatest victims. I cannot fathom what it was like being married to him.

She'll be well taken care of and want for nothing.

However, the greater portion of his immediate wealth, all the money he has in his house and in the banks, will be given to you immediately.

Well, after the paperwork is filed and cleared, which will probably take a month or two. "