Page 57 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

WITH OPEN ARMS

Kase

“GOOD OF YOU TO JOIN the living once more, Master Shackley.”

The voice drove away the last remnants of sleep. Kase’s hand ached, but his head didn’t hurt, and that was saying something after a night of drinking straight whiskey. He wrenched his eyes open. The amount of effort that small motion took was rather embarrassing.

He blinked a few times to clear his vision. A woman stood above him, and his heart stopped. Hallie.

He hastily wiped away the dribble that had escaped the side of his mouth. Shocks, he’d slept hard. He winced at the pain in his hand. The woman held up a familiar jar. She came into focus, and Kase’s heart dropped. Gray hair. Green eyes. Not Hallie.

It was the second time he’d made that mistake.

To say her daughter favored her was an understatement. Kase guessed Hallie inherited her coloring from her father, with his golden brown eyes and red hair, but that was pretty much it. Well, and the whole Yalven thing, of course.

“Try not to be too disappointed. I’m the reason you won’t have a hangover today.”

Warmth flooded his cheeks as he rubbed his face with his uninjured hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Walker.”

Zelda only raised a brow before snatching his wrapped hand.

Kase hissed at the movement. She unwrapped the gauze with expert efficiency and inspected Kase’s angry, split knuckles.

“Well, I’m still not convinced you didn’t fracture anything, but the lack of intense swelling backs up my husband’s diagnosis. ”

She dipped her fingers into the pot of salve and rubbed it on the broken skin. Kase thought it looked a little better, and he sagged with relief as the medicine took effect. Zelda looked up, her eyes searching. “And what might have caused you to do something so foolish as brawling?”

Kase opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what answer would be best. Would it make her like him more if he admitted he was protecting her daughter’s honor? Or would it make her think less of him for associating with people who would insult it?

He cleared his throat. “Just a misunderstanding.”

That was safe enough. For now.

She gave him a deadpanned look so reminiscent of Hallie, his chest physically hurt. Kase shrugged. “Thank you for helping.”

Whether she believed him or not, she didn’t say so either way. She wrapped his hand in new gauze and put away the salve. “Stowe tells me you and my daughter are involved.”

Kase opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He didn’t know exactly what he and Hallie were, but he’d rather have that conversation with her instead of her mother, who he was slowly realizing was much more intimidating than her father.

It was probably a good thing she’d been on her way to Kyvena when Hallie had been kidnapped.

She would’ve most definitely broken Kase’s ankle instead of fixing it.

Zelda crossed her arms. Kase ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know if involved is the right word, necessarily…”

“Did you or did you not kiss her before you left the Stoneset caverns?”

“I did.” He hesitated a little. “Look, Hallie is the—”

“You will address her as Miss Walker until you are betrothed— if I allow that to occur.” Even though she was much shorter physically, she loomed miles above him. “I do not approve of my daughter running around with miscreants who involve themselves in drunken brawls.”

Kase held up both hands. “That’s not me, I swear…I just…Waylan just made a comment, and…”

The gauze wrapped around his injured hand made him a liar.

“So you have a short temper. Not a mark in your favor.”

Kase’s irritation rose with each word she said—which, honestly, might have proved her point. But he was not about to lose his temper at Hallie’s mother of all people.

He ran his uninjured hand down his face, pushing himself to his feet to give him a little time to think of a response. Zelda Walker held her ground, though now Kase was at least two heads taller.

“Hal—Miss Walker is the reason I’m standing in front of you right now, and for that, I will always be grateful.

” Kase paused, and when he didn’t get a tongue lashing in return, he continued, “She’s the bravest, smartest, and most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.

I love her, and there’s nothing on this stars-forsaken planet that could change that. ”

The words hung in the air, and Kase’s breath came in huffs.

He hadn’t meant to spill his feelings to Hallie’s mother, but there they were, awaiting her judgment.

Zelda held his stare, her arms still crossed.

The silence bore down on him, but Kase didn’t budge.

Finally, Zelda pointed back to the bedroll Kase had used the previous night.

“Stowe says you’re to stay here until he’s happy with your healing.” She bent down and fetched a jar and some bread out of her pack. She handed it to him. “Sit and eat. My husband will check you when he gets back. If he bothers the hospital medics enough, they usually let him help.”

Kase took the food and sat. Somehow, he felt like he’d just passed some test. He twisted the lid on the jar off, the soft pop echoing in the stillness, and tore a piece of the bread, dipping it into the dark red goo.

If Kase hadn’t known it came from a simple glass jar and had been stashed in there for stars-knew how long, he would’ve guessed the berries had come straight from the bush.

Flavor exploded on his tongue, just the right amount of tartness balanced by a caramel-like sweetness that had him dishing out more.

The mazelberry jam tasted like heaven. “Thank you. Hallie was right. Your jam is truly the best.”

Zelda turned from where she had been about to leave the tent. “I may have allowed you some of my jam, but I will remind you yet again that you have yet to earn the right to use my daughter’s given name.”

Kase choked on his next bite. When he’d recovered, he said, “Yes, Mrs. Walker. I apologize.”

She stepped out of the tent only to pause and smile, though not at Kase. “Good morning, Mrs. Shackley.”

Kase’s organs leapt into his throat. He all but tossed the jar aside and lunged toward the tent flap. His mother. Somehow she was here, alive, not lost somewhere in the bombed-out capital buried under a heap of bodies and stone.

Zelda held the flap open, and instead of his mother, Clara appeared. Kase couldn’t help his shoulders drooping slightly. Clara smiled at him before doing a double take. “Kase? What are you doing…why aren’t you…?”

He opened his mouth and closed it again before saying, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“Fair enough,” Clara replied with a small laugh.

Kase moved aside so that she could enter the tent. Another woman followed. She was nearly Clara’s twin, though her forehead was lined with age. Her dark eyes were just as bright. She held the bundle Kase recognized as Samuel.

The tent was hardly large enough for four adults and a baby. Kase quickly picked up his discarded breakfast and hid his bandaged hand behind his back. “I was just visiting.”

Clara stared hard at him, but she didn’t say anything.

Kase wondered if anyone had realized he was no longer in his tent.

Surely, someone had. Maybe Harlan thought it would be better if a refugee finished him off, after all.

Then he wouldn’t have to deal with the antics of his youngest son any longer.

Whether she accepted Kase’s poor excuse or not, Clara still gave him a smile and turned to the unknown woman. “Kase, you may or may not remember, but this is my mother, Lady Miravel Davey. Mother, this is my brother-in-law, Master Kase Shackley.”

“Call me Kase, Lady Davey, please.” Kase took her proffered hand and gave it a quick peck. Lady Davey gave Kase the once-over he was used to receiving by now, probably taking note of the bruises on his face and the hand still hidden behind his back.

“Yes, I remember you from the wedding. You look different.”

Clara put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “It’s been a few years, of course.”

Lady Davey held herself like a queen, but when Samuel made a fussing noise from his bundle, she dropped her steely demeanor and shushed him while bouncing him in her arms. When he didn’t calm down, she handed him to Clara.

Once he recognized his mother, Samuel cooed in response.

Lady Davey chuckled and smoothed the baby’s hair.

Clara smiled before turning back to Kase.

“Now, what happened to your hand? The one you’re trying to hide? ”

“How do you know Mrs. Walker?” Kase countered.

Zelda fished out a few pastries and handed them to both Lady Davey and Clara. Clara shook her head, but Lady Davey took one with a murmured thanks.

Kase didn’t get a pastry. His confidence fell a little.

Clara turned back to Kase. She swayed a little bit, keeping Samuel calm.

“Zelda took pity on a new mother lost in the tunnels, and I’ll be forever grateful for her help.

” She shot a smile to Zelda and said, “Mother didn’t want to stay in her tent by herself with Samuel, and I’m going to help the men construct the ropes before they scale down into the hole. Could they stay with you, Zelda?”

Kase’s ears perked up. “What?”

Clara chewed her lip and pulled Samuel closer to her chest. “They retrieved what they needed to go down into the hole where…where Jove supposedly fell. I…I want to help, but I don’t…”

She faltered a little. Lady Davey clasped her daughter’s shoulder, and Zelda found Clara’s free hand. Kase stuffed his own into his pockets.

I cannot control other’s actions, Kase thought hard to himself. Jove made a choice whether he meant to or not.

The silence waxed awkward, and Kase didn’t quite know how to fix it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Zelda might scold him for it.

Unfortunately, the universe had something else in mind.