Page 16 of Winds of Death (War of the Alliance #4)

Chapter

Nine

P ip hugged her arms over her stomach as Fieran guided the roadster down the road toward the tall brick wall that surrounded Treehaven Estate. Louise had the back seat while their bags for the weekend had been placed in the trunk when Fieran had picked them up from the train station in the village.

Ahead, tall trees formed a thick, green foliage within the wall, an island of trees amid all the rolling farm fields.

This was it. Pip flexed her fingers without uncrossing her arms. Her chest squeezed tight, and her heart beat harder than it should. She shouldn’t be this nervous. She’d already met Fieran’s mama, and it wasn’t like his youngest siblings would be scary.

At least she was wearing a lovely green dress Louise had lent her, the skirt shortened so that it worked for Pip’s height. A cute dress always made a girl feel more confident.

The gates opened as they neared, the guards waving to Fieran. As the roadster passed through, Pip felt the shiver of Prince Farrendel’s magic where it was embedded into the ground, just waiting to spring into a mini Wall at the first sign of danger.

Ahead, a tall, brick manor house sat to the right of the drive. More or less across from it behind a screening layer of evergreens stood a stately wooden house with gray clapboard siding, white trim, and dark blue accent trim.

Fieran turned the wheel as he guided the motorcar down the smaller drive toward the wooden house, pulling to the side where a carriage house sat with its double doors wide open. After pulling the roadster into the carriage house, Fieran shut off the engine and shot Pip a grin. “We’re here.”

Her stomach twisted. She wasn’t ready. This was a big step. A huge step.

And yet she was ready. She was falling for Fieran, and his family was a big part of who he was, the same as her family was to her.

He’d already come to know her brother, her only sibling.

She’d love to introduce him to her parents just as soon as they returned from their diplomatic mission to the dwarven mountains.

Fieran reached for the door handle on his side, still moving far more slowly than he usually did.

Pip was too nervous to sit there waiting for him to totter his way around the vehicle. Besides, Louise in the back seat needed to get out her side as well.

Instead, Pip climbed out of the motorcar and shoved her seat forward to let Louise climb out by the time Fieran was even partway around the roadster.

“You’ll at least let me carry your bag, right?” Fieran raised his eyebrows as he switched his direction to head for the back of the motorcar.

“As long as you don’t fall over in the attempt.

” Pip eyed the way he occasionally reached a hand out to the roadster, steadying himself, as he strode toward the trunk.

At least she’d left her wrench at the AMPC.

Her bag didn’t weigh all that much with only a few clothes, toiletries, and odds and ends in it.

“I’m fine. Really.” Fieran’s grin might have been more convincing if he hadn’t paused at the rear of the motorcar, leaning against it. He was likely trying to pass it off as waiting for Louise to get out of the way, but he wasn’t all that convincing.

Louise already had the trunk open as she retrieved her own bag. She grinned first at Fieran, then at Pip. “I’ll let everyone know you’re here.” With that, she slung her bag over her shoulder and strode from the carriage house.

Fieran grabbed Pip’s bag and shut the trunk. He stood there for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure if he should offer her an arm or his hand.

Pip wasn’t sure either. She hadn’t seen him since they’d officially started courting. How was a courting couple supposed to act?

Who cared how they were supposed to act? She and Fieran had such an easy friendship before they’d started courting. No reason for things to get awkward now.

“Well, I’d better hold your hand. Just to be on the safe side.” Pip sidled to him and took his free hand as casually as she could manage.

“Come to think of it, I am feeling a bit wobbly.” Fieran strolled steadily out of the carriage house, swinging their clasped hands. “You’d better stick close and hold tight.”

“Just to clarify, if you start falling over, I’m letting go and jumping out of the way. I don’t want to be squished.” Pip grinned up at Fieran and lengthened her quick stride to match his long-legged amble.

“Good plan.” Fieran shared a grin with her before he faced the gravel drive and gestured at the gray clapboard stately house with the hand holding her bag.

“As you probably guessed, this is Treehaven House, where I spent much of my childhood when we weren’t in Estyra.

That brick manor across the way is Treehaven Manor, the original manor house for the area and where Uncle Lance, Aunt Illyna, Bennett, Liliana, and Maria live.

I don’t think you’ve met Liliana or Maria yet? ”

Pip shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I’m not sure I can even say I’ve truly met Lance Marion yet either. He’s been pretty wrapped in his inventions every time I’ve run across him at the AMPC.”

“That’s Uncle Lance. And Bennett. He takes after his father.” Fieran shook his head.

Pip laughed. “Very true. It took a couple of days until Bennett remembered my name. I’m pretty sure he mentally thinks of me as ‘iron magic girl’ or something like that. Not that I mind. There are worse things to be known for.”

Fieran laughed, a sound that encouraged those around him to laugh along. How Pip loved that sound.

Then Fieran’s laugh and grin faded as he pointed again. “We can’t see it from here, but Treehaven Lodge is tucked into the trees behind Treehaven House. That’s where Uncle Iyrinder, Aunt Patience, Merrik, and Kari live.”

Treehaven Lodge was empty now, all its occupants scattered.

A lump filled Pip’s throat as the images crowded her mind again. Merrik’s too pale face. The bloody mangle of his lower legs. The grim way his dacha tightened the tourniquet.

She shook the images away. She’d break if she dwelled on those thoughts.

Clearing her throat, she forced a lightness back to her tone. Neither she nor Fieran were at a point to talk about Merrik. “Treehaven Manor, House, and Lodge? Isn’t that confusing?”

“Somewhat, yes. The whole estate is considered Treehaven, so when Dacha and Uncle Iyrinder had the House and Lodge built, they needed a way to distinguish each home from the others.” Fieran rolled his shoulders in a shrug, though it was still more tense than easy.

“We still sometimes get mail and telephone calls to the wrong house, but it’s easy enough to sort out. ”

By this point, they neared the house. The larger gravel drive wound to a circle drive by the front door while a smaller path branched off beneath a white lattice arbor to head toward the back of the house.

Pip’s steps slowed, hesitating, as she eyed the two paths. Would Fieran take her around to the front? Or to the back? The one signified a more formal introduction to the family. The other a warmer, informal meeting, as if she was already a part of the family.

She shouldn’t have doubted. Fieran turned down the path beneath the arbor without a pause in his stride.

The two of them walked through a blooming garden, the flowers bursting and colorful in a way that made Pip almost wish she could name more than a handful of them.

As they turned the corner toward the back of the house, the gravel path transitioned to brick where it led up to a broad patio extending from the back of the house.

The landscape dipped into a large hill descending from the house, and both the path and the patio were edged with black, wrought iron railings.

Large windows at the back of the house overlooked the patio and the forested hill beyond while two sets of double doors led into the house.

A pale, almost ghostly face appeared in one of the windows of the second story, but as soon as Pip glanced that way to get a better look, the face vanished.

Fieran marched right up to one of the sets of doors, though he had to pause for a moment to juggle her bag and turn the knob. He led the way inside and closed the door behind them.

This particular set of double doors led straight into what seemed to be a parlor, all done in rich deep greens and gold accents.

A girl in a light blue dress, which contrasted with her long red hair, sprawled on one of the couches with her feet propped on the armrest and her head on a pillow, a book in her hands.

She didn’t so much as glance away from the book at the sound of the doors.

Perhaps she hadn’t even registered the sound.

“That’s my youngest sister Ellie.” Fieran gestured toward the girl.

Her name must have caught her attention because she arched her back, tilting her head to peer behind her without getting up. Taking one hand off the book, she gave a brief wave. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Pip gave a wave in return, but Ellie had already returned to her book. Pip smiled, something in her relaxing at the casualness of the gesture. It would have been more awkward if Ellie had made a big production of welcoming her.

More than that, it was exactly what Pip would have expected, given all Fieran had told her about Ellie, especially while they’d been waiting in line to get Star Forest novels signed. It was almost as if Pip already knew Fieran’s family, even if she hadn’t met all of them in person yet.

Fieran strode across the room, and Pip trotted at his side through the large, framed doorway into a hall. Directly in front of them, a wooden-paneled stairway wound upward while the hall stretched in either direction.

A small boy with silver-blond hair and large green eyes peered between the rails at the top of the stairs. Likely the face Pip had spotted in the window earlier. As before, when Pip glanced at him, the boy disappeared back out of sight.

“That’s Tryndar. He’s shy.” Fieran’s smile held a wry tilt. “He’s most like Dacha in that way. Most of us ended up more gregarious like Mama.”