CHAPTER 45 TYCHO
TYCHO
For an instant, I’m frozen in place, because there’s no possible way the king of Emberfall just climbed out of this rickety carriage alone in the middle of Briarlock. Especially since the man is clearly Grey— but also . . . not.
Beside me, Jax does a double take. So do I.
The man who looks like the king has a thin beard.
He’s in a loose tunic and calfskin trousers, though there’s a dagger strung at his hip.
He extends a hand to the carriage, and a young woman climbs out— a young woman who looks like the queen, yet also different.
Her hair is much shorter, and tied into a single plait that ends at the top of her shoulders.
No royal robes, no rich fabrics, just a simple undyed linen dress.
After a moment, a little girl climbs out of the carriage, too. Her hair is tamed into twin plaits, but this is unmistakably Sinna. She takes hold of the young woman’s hand and looks around. “Where’s the snow?” she says lightly.
“Grey,” I say softly. My heart swells with emotion I’m not ready for. I haven’t seen him since the moment that arrow shot him off the horse.
For weeks, I’ve been feeling adrift and lost, and I thought I was grieving Nakiis, and I couldn’t unravel the emotion. I was, but until this moment, I didn’t realize I was grieving Grey, too. Not his death, but everything else.
Against my will, my chest tightens, and my throat feels thick.
But then Grey closes the distance between us, and he wraps me up in a hug.
I don’t see it coming, and it’s so unexpected that at first I’m not sure how to react. I’ve done it to him, but I’m not entirely sure I can recall one single time that he’s done it to me.
After a moment, little Sinna tackles my legs, too, and I laugh under my breath.
But then I have to draw back.
The instant I inhale to say anything at all, Grey shakes his head. He takes a step back, then extends a hand. “My name is Hawk. It’s nice to meet you.”
Hawk. The name he used in Rillisk, when we first met.
I’m desperate to know what’s happened that he would be here now, like this. There are no soldiers, no guards. Nothing. I swallow, then clasp his hand. “Well met, Hawk. I’m Tycho.”
When he grips back, his fingers are tight, and then he lets go. He gestures to Lia Mara, who’s a bit pale. “This is my wife, Mara. We’ll be staying in the bakery for a time. Mara’s cousin, Callyn, will be along in a day or so. She’s helping a friend get settled in town.”
I stare at her, too, as if I could understand all of this by reading the emotion on their faces.
In my silence, Jax extends a hand to them both, introducing himself as if we’re all just meeting for the first time, and we didn’t nearly die together a month ago.
“Are you well?” I say to them softly.
Lia Mara places a hand over her abdomen. “Very well,” she says.
My eyebrows go up. Oh.
“My wife has been through a lot,” says Grey— Hawk, I mentally correct myself. “We both thought it best if we found a quiet place to heal.” He hesitates, glancing between me and Jax, as if worried that perhaps he’s intruding. “Unless we should look elsewhere.”
Jax takes my hand, winding his fingers between mine. “This is a good place for that.”
I nod. “I’m doing the same thing.”
Late that night, Grey comes to the forge, as I knew he would.
He might be pretending to be Hawk, and he might have brought his family here to heal, but he’s still the king, and .
. . well, he’s still Grey. When the light knock sounds at the door, I expect my heart to pound with apprehension, but I’m surprised to find that instead, I’m ready.
Jax pours tea, and we sit at the table, a lone candle between us. Grey tells us of the king and queen’s “announcement” to spend a year traveling throughout both kingdoms— while hiding in plain sight, right here.
“Alek will live in town,” Grey says. “So will Callyn and Nora— though they’ll come daily to work the bakery with Lia Mara. But it will give them all some privacy— and an opportunity to listen for gossip.”
“You have no guards, though,” I say. “No soldiers. No . . . no anyone. What if you’re discovered?”
Grey is quiet for a moment, studying me, and a line appears on his brow.
But then he looks from me to Jax. “I hoped to ask you both to stay. You would know our secret, so you could ride courier to Ironrose or the Crystal Palace if necessary. Jax is already known to the forge, so there would be no new faces to explain in town. You’re both skilled in battle, so with the three of us, we could adequately protect—”
I don’t know what he sees in my expression, but he breaks off and sighs. “Forgive me. I promised to earn back your trust, and I have failed even this. You deserve your peace. I will send word to Malin and have him choose a small team. They can rotate with—”
“Hawk,” I say, and he stops short. The name feels familiar and wrong all at once. I look at Jax, and he nods. “Of course we’ll help protect your family.”
Grey lets out a breath. The relief that crosses his face is so profound. Stepping away from the throne wasn’t an easy choice for him to make, and in a way, I think this might be harder for him than when we rode out to sacrifice ourselves to the Truthbringers.
“Thank you, Tycho.”
“For the good of Emberfall,” I say, and I’m startled by the flare of emotion in his eyes. I put out a hand, and he clasps it tight.
But when he inhales to respond, Jax says, “No, I know this.” Then he puts a hand over ours, reminding me again of that moment of friendship and family and love, and my heart gives a tug.
Jax smiles. “For the good of all.”