Page 36 of Inked in Emeralds (Inkbound #3)

It didn’t hurt that the custard was delicious. Thick and rich, loaded with butter and pepper that slid easy down my throat. I let out a little moan of pleasure. Beside me, Hook stiffened, and goosebumps broke out on my arms as I did my best to ignore him and enjoy my custard.

The food just got better with each course. Crisp, roasted duck glazed with honey and sprinkled with toasted walnuts. Fluffy potatoes whipped with cream, garnished with sprigs of fresh herbs. Colorful vegetables, perfectly sautéed, and baskets of warm, crusty bread with thyme olive oil for dipping.

All the while, conversation flowed, made easier with wine and mead as the evening wore on.

“Thank you so much for hosting us,” I said, setting down my fork with a sigh. “But I give up. I can’t eat any more.”

Lord Fallowell beamed and beckoned for me with one hand. “Then come for a walk with me. There's something I'd like to show you while the chef finishes up dessert.”

“I’ll ask the others if they’d like to join us.”

“I don't mean to offend, but all three of them are rather scary. The woman, most of all, and I would like to speak with you alone.”

This could be my chance to get the prophecy and I was going to take it with both hands if I could.

I leaned toward Hook, ignoring the rush of heat that shot through me as our thighs pressed together.

“Lord Fallowell would like to show me something. I’ll be back shortly.”

Hook scowled and pushed back his chair, but I laid a hand on his forearm and shook my head as I leaned closer to whisper in his ear.

“I’ll be fine. I think he wants to tell me something important and can’t in front of everyone. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, you can come find me.”

He grunted in agreement, but he wasn’t happy about it.

Fallowell and I stood, and he held out his arm. I slipped mine through it, and tried not to let the rush of memories flood in.

Me and my Pawpaw, skipping down the cobbled streets of The Hollow, arm in arm, just like this as he made up a silly song about the baker and his stale pies.

Me and my Pawpaw, standing at the edge of the woods, holding hands and our breath as we waited to see if Fetch managed to catch us something for the soup pot after a bad day of bow hunting.

I pushed my shoulders back and lifted my chin, reminding myself to stay strong.

I was on a mission to get some assurances from the most powerful person in Oz that, whether we passed or failed tomorrow, he could be counted on as an ally against The Wicked Witch going forward.

A man who held the prophecy my mother left for me.

He led me up a grand, spiral staircase to the third floor in silence, only speaking once we’d rounded the corner and made our way down another long hallway. Even then, his voice was for my ears only, hushed low.

“I do fear speaking in front of Fenwick at times.

He's a worry wart, and I think he's concerned that you and your friends know something so damning about me. Something that could turn this whole city upside down. I told him I believed you would keep my secret.” He glanced down at me to study my face. “Am I right about that, Harmony?”

Fenwick had claimed it was the wizard who had concerns, but I wasn’t about to pick nits.

I considered my words carefully before replying.

“I have a question for you first, Lord Fallowell; If I don’t complete the trials so that I can return to C’an Saas to face Almira there…

then what? Will you cast us out of the city and into her hands, or will you counsel the people to stand with us against her and help us fight? ”

His neck waddle trembled as he shook his head. “I made a vow to your mother, and I would keep it. You and yours would be welcome to stay in Emerald City for as long as you chose. We would figure out how to deal with The Wicked Witch when the time came. Together.”

That was the answer I was looking for. I only wished I was as good at detecting bullshit as Billy…

“Is there anything I can say that will convince you to give me the prophecy now if I vow to complete the trials?”

He shook his head ruefully, dashing my hopes before he spoke another word.

“Forgive me for not making it clearer. It’s magically bound.

I can’t access the safe she locked it in until the trials have been completed.

No one can. That was your mother’s choice, not mine, and she had her reasons.

I know that isn’t what you hoped to hear tonight…

” He shifted uncomfortably and then sighed.

“So where does this leave us, Harmony? Can I consider you my ally?”

I stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. “As long as you're not abusing your power, and you honor the promises you made to my mother, your secret is safe with me.”

“Good.” He blew out a shuddering breath. “That’s good. He will surely sleep better knowing, and so will I, quite frankly.”

We slowed to a stop as we reached a massive set of doors. The tension seemed to melt away and his sudden, almost childlike smile of anticipation hit me right in the heart.

So familiar, it brought me back to a very clear memory of me and my father.

The first time he'd ever taken me to work in the forge with him. When I stepped inside it was to see a little workstation, complete with a tiny stool, and my own set of tongs and small hammer, and even a miniature leather apron he'd sloppily sewn an “H” onto. I’d worked on my first set of shoes for a neighbor’s pony.

“Wait until you see this…”

I blinked hard and forced a wobbly smile as he tugged the doors open. “I'm excited!”

He led me into a room–not. Not a room. A soaring, glass-ceilinged sanctuary, full of trees, and ferns, and most of all?

Birds. Birds singing and flying and filling the air with their variety of noises, the whoosh of their wings.

“Aren’t they magnificent?” he breathed.

They were. And they were everywhere .

I picked my way over the mossy ground, watching a pair of robins flit past, both chasing the same dragonfly.

A bold blue jay cried out from its perch on the branch of a silvery willow tree.

Red-winged blackbirds dipped and weaved through lower branches, as if they were practicing some sort of obstacle course.

I paused, watching as a swallow-tailed kite dropped from the trees above, doing a neat little twirl before using its tail like a rudder to straighten and swoop back high into the air.

“It’s beautiful.” I closed my eyes for a second and sucked in a lung full of air, lovely and cool from the mist pouring off a waterfall across from the entrance.

He sighed. “There are koi fish in the water, although I have to replenish them. The osprey just won’t leave them alone no matter how much I feed them.”

We made our way over to the water pooling off the rock-face that made up the back wall of the space. Ripples flowed across the pond as shimmering gold, orange, and white fish swam lazily around the floating lily pads.

At the heart of the space, a lush canopy of trees formed and as I searched it, I realized there were far more birds than the ones I’d seen, and many I didn’t recognize.

“What’s that?” I pointed to one with shimmering emerald and gold feathers as it glided by.

“That’s a duskwhisper. One of my favorites.”

Willy Fallowell had loved birds too. Whenever we found one injured, or kicked from the nest, we always brought it to the forge to try and save it. It didn’t work often, but when it did, there was no better feeling than setting them free again.

I shot Lord Fallowell a look from beneath my lashes and tried my hardest to remember…

This man is not your father.

“Why?” I blurted. I wanted to know, but I also wanted to get him talking so I could stop fantasizing about throwing my arms around him and telling him how much I fucking missed him. “Why did you make this place?”

The joy in his eyes dimmed and he pressed two fingers against his temples as if a headache had come on suddenly.

“When Almira’s army of flying monkeys came, they wiped out three quarters of the area’s bird population within weeks.

The worst part was the monkeys rarely even ate the birds they killed.

They took pleasure in the killing, hunting them out of the sky.

It's sport for them, bloodthirsty bastards. At first, I tried to figure a way to keep the birds from leaving the protection of the city, but birds by nature don’t like to be caged.

I knew if I wanted to save them, I needed to find a place to hide them until she was gone.

” His expression was soft, his face serene as he turned and took in the paradise before us.

“This is what I came up with. A sanctuary. Of course, I called on Nora to help me build it. And then there was the matter of capturing the birds and collecting eggs. It was a process. But I think it came out well, don’t you? ”

His expression was hopeful, so earnest…

My throat was tight, knowing that my Willy Fallowell would have loved this place. “It’s amazing. Truly, I can’t imagine it being better.”

He beamed at that for a moment, nodding, and then his face grew serious.

“There are so few things I’ve done that I can be proud of during my time presiding over The Emerald City.

This is one of them.” He met and held my gaze for a long moment.

“I couldn’t save them all, Harmony. But I did my best to save as many as I could. Please know that.”

And as I stared into his eyes…the eyes of my father, I believed him.

We headed back downstairs, and while my heart was full of bittersweet memories, my head light from the drink, and my belly content with good food, I also felt like something important had been accomplished tonight. In spite of our rocky start, I truly felt like we had an ally in Lord Fallowell.

Fenwick breezed back to the table, carrying another pitcher brimming with that delicious blackberry mead.