Chapter 55
Elodie
Iknocked on Galyna’s door before dawn, heart in my throat as I mentally prepared to hand over the sword that marked me as part of the Maiden’s Enclave. This time, though, Valens held my hand.
He was my anchor in the storm, and I wasn’t going to apologize for leaning on his quiet strength. We were a team now, and it was different from what I was used to, but in the best possible way.
Galyna didn’t open the door.
Head Priestess Marciana did.
“Oh, priestess. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
She snorted indignantly. “You’re only interrupting my waiting to speak with you. Come in. Both of you, I suppose.” Marciana arched an eyebrow at Valens, eyeing him appreciatively up and down.
She shut the door behind us, and we found Galyna standing at ease by her bed, Dakota fidgeting nervously next to her messy one. I felt for her. Marciana was intimidating to a new maiden.
All the priestesses were, really. Lisanne? She was scary as fuck.
“Please feel free to sit,” she said, gesturing to the beds, since they were the only option. I perched on the edge of Lyna’s bed, and Valens opted to stand at my shoulder. I set my sword down on the comforter, feeling no small pang of sadness at parting with it.
Setting it down felt less permanent than handing it over, but the end result was the same.
“There’s a bit of housekeeping to be done any time a maiden leaves service with the enclave.
Thank you for returning your equipment.” Marciana nodded to the sword and the small bag of uniforms Valens had carried in.
The journal about Narcissa was in there too, right on top.
My other weapons weren’t standard issue since I’d purchased them with my personal stipend, so I’d kept those.
“You’re welcome,” I responded automatically, though the words felt hollow.
She nodded graciously, then pulled out a handful of envelopes.
“Here I have your honorable-release papers.” She pressed the first into my hand.
“This one is your final stipend payment from the enclave. This envelope is filled with well-wishes from your sisters. I’d expect to receive more post once you’ve provided us with a forwarding address.
Not everyone was able to get a note in time to make it here.
Once everyone gets a look at this guy, don’t be surprised if a lot of the correspondence is leave visitation requests.
” Marciana pointed her thumb at Valens’s imposing bulk.
It made me smile as I accepted the third envelope, and I traded a quick grin with Galyna. It was huge, overstuffed, and crinkled when I grabbed it. Maybe I wasn’t losing my sisters after all. Visits when they were on leave sounded amazing.
“This one contains some personal correspondence.”
I frowned as I accepted it. It was thin, not bursting with enthusiasm like the ones from the maidens.
“Personal? From who?”
“Personal meaning we held it for you, but I have no idea what’s in it.
It isn’t from the enclave.” She was clearly bored with the topic.
“And finally, a statement of all personal accounts you entered the enclave with that have been managed for you by Priestess Marguerite, who is in charge of finance. There are also bank access cards as well.”
“Wait, what? I didn’t bring any money to the enclave. My adoptive family…”
“Rendered unto our keeping your full inheritance from Pack Shadownight. You were unaware that your parents had provided well for you?” She frowned.
“It was no small sum before Marguerite worked her wonders on it over the last two decades. By anyone’s standards, you’re an heiress. A filthy-rich one.”
I gaped down at the nondescript envelope, feeling the edge of a hard bank card inside through the paper. “I don’t even know what to say.”
Marciana chuckled. “It wouldn’t have mattered had you not taken a mate. All maidens take a vow of equality and poverty. It would have gone to your designated heir upon your death, just like the rest.”
“The rest” was a laughably small sum. Our personal stipend from the enclave was enough to buy a bus ticket for leave and a few drinks at a local watering hole once or twice a month, maybe some spare clothes. Not much else. I’d had to save up almost a year to buy the custom sling for my sword.
“Thank you,” I finally said, realizing it would be rude not to.
“You’re welcome. And thank you, Elodie, for your many years of dedicated service.
You will be sincerely missed by all of us.
You’ve brought joy to our numbers every single day since you arrived.
You are both welcome to visit any time you’re in the area, and I’ll consider your home an automatically approved leave spot for any maidens who wish to visit in return.
Assuming your husband is okay with that, of course? ”
“Anything Elodie wants,” Valens said.
“Thank you,” I repeated, choking up this time.
Only family got to be automatically approved for leave. I had no real family, which meant… she was making sure I always had the maidens.
It was a perfect way to leave it, and I was grateful.
I hugged them all twice before we left, even though we wanted to test out the sword early this morning. It was bittersweet, saying goodbye.
Even though I knew it was right.
I was ready.
The door to Galyna’s room shut behind us, and I looked wide-eyed at Valens as I clutched my many envelopes to my chest, such an unexpected bounty.
“Want to go back to the room and open those first?”
I nodded, grateful he understood without me having to ask.
He hadn’t reopened the bond yet because we’d discussed it last night and decided to wait until after I touched the sword. We didn’t know if the bond would affect my ability to connect to it and had agreed to wait.
It was just a quick walk down the hall to our room, and once we were alone, I spread all the envelopes out on the bed, unsure what to open first. I opted to start at the top and work my way through.
My discharge letter was formal but polite, as expected.
The final stipend check was tiny, also as expected.
I tucked it under the edge of the lamp on my nightstand to deal with later.
I opened the envelope of letters and gasped as several sprang out as if Marciana had forced all she could inside and run out of room.
“I’ll have to read these later. I don’t want to run out of time for the sword, especially if it knocks me out like it did you.”
“Here, let me.” He stooped and grabbed the ones I’d dropped, taking the rest and arranging them on the dresser so I could sift through them tonight.
The personal correspondence felt… weightier, though it was thin. No more than a sheet or two. “Let’s just add this one to the pile. I can’t imagine who would have written me anything, but… I’m not sure I want to know right now.”
Or ever.
Maybe not ever.
The last envelope scared me. Heiress was a big word, and one that did not fit me.
But I had to at least look, right? It would be irresponsible not to. I blew out a slow breath, then cracked open the envelope, peeking inside.
I nearly fainted. There was a shiny black credit card with my full government name printed on it, a set of old brass keys to something, and a folded bank statement with a nine-digit balance printed right across the top.
“Well, the honeymoon isn’t going to be a problem. We can go anywhere you want,” I said, passing the envelope to Valens incredulously.
“Holy shit, heiress indeed.” There was a long pause. “You’re going to do a lot of good with that.”
“I’m going to faint if I keep thinking about it.”
He chuckled. “Nothing has to change. You can deal with it when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, right. The fifth of…” I just shook my head, too overwhelmed to even put a joking date on it. He was right, though. A lot of good could be done with that kind of money, one day.
The fact that my family was wealthy before they died was surprising news, because I certainly never felt wealthy in my childhood. My memories were mostly bad, of cold “family” who treated me like dirt under their shoes. Maybe I’d read that personal letter after all.
But not today.
The chest sat in the corner of our room, its ominous exterior not stopping me from striding over to it, a nervous flutter of excitement in my belly.
“Ready? I told the others we might not make it to the war council, just in case. They said good luck.”
I snorted. If my experience was anything like Valens’s, I was in for a few uncomfortable moments and then a solid nap. I’d be fine. Although… I stripped off my shirt, tossing it across the end of the bed. His mark had burned a hole in his, and I didn’t have many left after returning my uniforms.
Bright side: I could now afford to buy more.
Valens helped me unload the journals from the chest, and then he opened the false bottom with a flourish.
“Ready?”
“I was born ready,” I said, giving him my best sassy wink.
He reached into the chest, moving his sword out of the way. After a fortifying breath, I knelt in front of the chest and reached in to grab the other sword’s grip.
Nothing happened when my fingertips brushed the cool leather wrap. There was no buzz of energy, no shock, no muscle-freezing wave of power.
Just… nothing.
Determined, I wrapped my hand around the grip, moving to lift the sword from the chest.
Valens had the bloodline of the guardians; perhaps I needed a bit more time with the sword for the effects to kick in?
The sword could have weighed ten thousand pounds for how hard I struggled to lift it, but it didn’t move a single centimeter. I grunted with the effort, putting both hands on the hilt and throwing my weight into it.
Still… nothing.
Huffing and puffing now, I shifted my hands around and tried again, and again, and again.
The sword wouldn’t budge, and it didn’t latch on to me with the power that had bonded Valens to his own sword.
After several minutes, I sat back on my haunches, shaking my head. “It doesn’t want me. I don’t know who that sword is for, but… I guess it’s not me after all.”
Valens watched from his chair, chin propped in his hand and brows drawn tightly together, forming a little crease between them.
“It makes no sense. The legends all implied it would be you. Maybe… I don’t know. Maybe you have to keep trying, or maybe we have to complete the bond first? It could be any number of things required to trigger it.”
“That’s true.” I hadn’t thought about the fact that it might require a complete bond, though it made sense.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to be fighting this full moon, not… bonding.”
“Why do I feel like you wanted to say fucking?”
I snorted. “Hey, if the shoe fits.” I waggled my eyebrows, trying not to let him see how much it was bothering me.
I’d been so sure.
“Well… I guess I’ll need a different sword for the battle.”
He grinned. “Oh, we’ve got plenty of swords. Let’s go to the prewar council, and then I’ll take you down to the basement to pick one.”
I took his offered hand up, and then we reloaded the chest, and I pulled my shirt back on. I cast it one last, longing look as we left the room.
What are you waiting for, sword?