Chapter 27
F or some it had been months. Others, years. For all, parting from Castle Blackwood was bittersweet. Wanting to make their farewells in private, Elara had offered Darien’s group of friends her antechamber for a final meal. Tomorrow, Darien and Liana would part from the others to return to the Isle of Ely. Once Amalia was finished packing the contents of her shop, she and Roland would return to his home, Roland and Darien both standing to inherit their respective earldoms.
Darien was unable to take his eyes from Liana. She wore a new gown, gifted to her by Evelina as an early wedding present, as the eight of them finished their meal.
“Tell us more of the new order,” he asked Gareth.
Reluctant to let go of the knight school they’d built at Castle Blackwood, and with coin provided by some of the recruits—including Roland and Darien, among others—the fortification was being purchased from the Guardians’ financiers, including Evelina’s “father” who none wished to remain indebted to. In fact, once the final paperwork was signed, Evelina had declared her intention to renounce the baron, withdraw any claim to his inheritance, and claim Sir Eamon as her true father.
“We are uncertain if it will be the Knighthood of the Sacred Oak,” Gareth said.
“Or the Order of Guardians.” Elara wiped the corner of her mouth and placed the napkin aside.
“More importantly,” Evelina added, “though we wish to be selective, accepting only those recruits who have been recommended by trusted members, how secretive it will be remains unknown.”
“Is it true Henry has asked to be informed of your progress?” Liana asked. “Do you believe he might wish to utilize the new knightly order for himself?”
“It is,” Gareth said. “We can only hope the treaty stands and our work here might continue to serve the country in the future.”
“If there is ever a way Ellsworth can serve you,” Darien said. “You need only to ask.”
“And what of you?” Alden asked him and Liana. “Have you considered how you will transition into your new roles?”
They exchanged a glance.
It had been a sennight since they’d first been together, and more than anything, Darien could not wait to make Liana his wife.
“We’ve discussed it, aye,” Liana said. “And will speak to his father, and my mother, about our path forward. Coming into the light, after so many years of darkness and secrecy, will not be an easy thing for my mother. Or for me,” she admitted.
It was well into the night, their meal cleared away, before their party began to split up. Darien, for his part, did not wish to leave the men he now counted as brothers. But eventually, he and Liana stood, knowing their journey home would be long, beginning when the sun rose the following day.
“It has been an honor,” he said in parting as each of them embraced. “Training and fighting by your sides.”
“The honor has been mine,” Alden said. “I became a blacksmith’s son and, because of all of you, remain here as a knight to train others in my position.
“And mine,” Gareth agreed. “You are welcome at Castle Blackwood for all your days. Come train with us, take refuge—this is your home as well as our own.”
“The honor has been one I will never forget.” Roland bowed with a flourish of all his own. “If you need aid, any of you, I am your man.”
“To think,” Darien said, holding his hand out for Liana, “that each of us arrived here alone and part ways having found our partners in life and love.”
Liana squeezed his hand.
“Well spoken as always.” Gareth winked at him. “Fare thee well, Shadow Knight and his future bride. Until we meet again.”
“Fare thee well,” Darien replied as he and Liana took their leave. She’d said goodbye more than once to the women who had become her friends as well, and if they did not leave now, he feared they might never do so.
It was only when they had finally left the others and were nearly at Liana’s bedchamber that she stopped him.
“I did not wish to mar such a parting,” she said. “But I must speak to you about an important matter.”
Darien froze. That she’d waited until they were alone, but not inside their chamber, meant it must have been important.
“Just before I joined you for the meal, the runes called to me.”
He’d become accustomed to her readings, at times initiated by her own questions or his. But other times, Liana read her runes with the kind of reluctance she displayed now, as if she did so despite her own wishes.
Liana took his hands. “Darien, I wish to ask you something. You need not answer me this eve, but it is something that every generation of Fletcher women has asked the earls of Ellsworth since we have been advising them.”
He had no premonition, as Liana did, but Darien did not need as much to know this did not bode well.
“Go on,” he said, waiting.
“Do you wish for me to share all of what I see with you?”
“Of course. Why would I not?—”
“Someday, I will die. As will you. If we have children together, they may befall tragedy, and though I may not foretell it, precisely...” She took a deep breath.
He finished for her. “There may be clues.”
She nodded. “Aye.”
“Have you seen something?”
“Perhaps, though it is not yet clear.”
Something about what she read in the runes earlier had prompted this.
“So I ask you, do you wish for me to share all? Or only when my readings are clear? Or perhaps you wish us to set other guidelines, for what you might know?”
He considered how Liana might want him to respond. “What would you wish for me to know? I would share any burden with you?—”
“This is a burden beyond most,” she interrupted. “I would have you think carefully on the question and answer me with the honesty in your heart.”
“I will do so,” he said.
Part of him wanted to say “aye” and hear what she had to say immediately. But there was another part of him that wanted naught to do with such knowledge. If something were to happen to her...
“I will do so,” he repeated, realizing, perhaps for the first time, the magnitude of the burden Liana carried. Was there anything more painful than knowing those you loved might perish, or fall ill, and there was naught you could do to prevent it?
He pulled her into his arms, right there in the corridor. It was not a discussion he wished to continue, but life was filled with such difficult questions and moments. Which was why he stood there, holding her, not willing to let Liana go. Not yet.
Not ever.