12. A Family Re
Chapter twelve
A Family Reunion
T hrough the eyes of a Torrelinian, the banquet hall at North Watch was underwhelming. The stone walls were bare except for a few bronze-coloured sconces holding flickering candles and a large crackling fireplace at the far end of the room. The smoky scent of burning wood permeated the air.
Solveig and Malik exchanged few words as they waited for the rest of his siblings to arrive. Jasper came first, taking a seat to the left of the head of the table.
When the doors opened again, it was as though the air was sucked from the room. Eleric Etana strode in and locked eyes on his younger brother for the first time in years.
“Four years in a prison camp and somehow you still look ten years old, Mal,” he quipped as he crossed the room, gathering Malik in a tight embrace.
Malik pulled free from the hug first. Arms circling around himself, as he smiled. A gesture that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “What happened to your hair?” He laughed hesitantly. “Too many jewels to count—got you stressed?”
Eleric ran his hand over his shorn head with a scowl. “Someone’s gotta make sure everyone gets their fair share. Even if it means I must sacrifice my own good looks to the cause.”
Malik choked on a laugh, but still with all the joy of it, his eyes remained dull. “They shall have to build a statue in your honour. I’m sure Adira could enquire about it once they’ve locked me up in a treatment facility in Trivellian and can focus on something other than fussing over me.”
All humour died in Eleric’s eyes, Jasper’s too, who had been watching their exchange silently from his seat.
“Adira won’t do that, Mal.” Jasper insisted.
“Won’t they?”
“I won’t let them.” Eleric countered.
“Careful, El, it was naivety and cocksureness that got me locked up for four years. Adira will do whatever they believe is necessary.”
“We’ll discuss it later, the four of us,” Jasper ordered, ending the discussion.
“Right,” Eleric nodded before he turned to face Solveig. Taking her by surprise as he pulled her into a hug, too. “You saved my brother’s life, but you’ll forgive me if I’m not quick to trust you implicitly.” His silver eyes darkened.
“I would feel the same if our places were reversed.” Solveig whispered.
“Good, then we understand each other.” He peered around the room. “Adira’s delayed. If we can’t eat, we should at least start on drinks.”
“Nice to see some things never change.” Malik rolled his eyes. Taking a seat beside Jasper, shifting his chair slightly to allow himself more space, leaving Eleric and Solveig to sit beside each other. A kitchen aide hurried in, carrying a tray of glasses, and a crystal decanter of whiskey, serving each before exiting once again in silence.
“To family reunions,” Eleric said, lifting his glass.
“To surviving,” Malik countered, his haunted gaze flicking to Solveig, who lifted her glass with him.
“To Farrenhold,” Jasper declared.
“Long may she soar!” Adira finished from the open doorway. Before crossing the room to pick up the glass set before their place at the table, drinking it down in a single swallow. The rest of the group swiftly followed, for it risked infinite bad fortune if one failed to drink following a toast.
Adira took their seat, and not a second later, the side door opened once more, and the workers hurried in to lay trays of sizzling foods before them. As with most things, the food in Farrenhold was simple, but that did not mean it lacked flavour. That night they dined on warmed bread. A tray of hard cheeses accompanied it. There was salt roasted pork with leaf greens and mixed nuts tossed with balsamic apples. Alongside roasted root vegetables and shredded braised red cabbage with carrots. Dessert followed, a syrupy blood orange sponge cake with autumnal berries and spiced cream.
Only once the sounds of polished silverware on plates had faded and they sat back, stomachs full. Each nursing a second glass of whiskey, did Solveig finally address the room. “I have decided to return to Torrelin,” she said, her voice echoing across the now quiet banquet hall.
“Are you crazy?” Malik spat.
“Tomorrow.” Solveig finished, eyeing him pointedly.
“No.” he shook his head, eyes blinking ferociously as he tried to process her words. “You’ll be in the gallows before the weeks out.”
“I’m going, Malik,” Solveig said firmly, a hand fisted beneath the table. “I cannot hide in Farrenhold forever.”
“He’s right,” Adira said, placing their glass back on the table as they wiped their mouth with a napkin, “or rather he’s partially right.”
Solveig’s jaw clenched. “How so?”
Adira rolled their eyes. “All I meant was that you’re in no fit state to up and leave on horseback tomorrow. We’ll go by sea instead, in a day or two.”
Solveig mulled the offer over for a moment, thought of how her wounds still ached and skin itched around the stitches. “Fine.”
Malik stared at them. “You can’t be serious.”
“Solveig is a grown woman, Malik, a princess of the realm. We cannot stop her from leaving,” Jasper tried to reason.
“They’ll kill her.”
“I can take care of myself,” Solveig snapped.
“You were knocking on death’s door days ago,” he fired back.
“My return to Torrelin will not cause a physical fight Malik, you spent four years in that mine, but didn’t learn how the higher ups operated?” She raised a brow. “Or perhaps you did.” Her eyes narrowed. “As you said, there was more than physical torture going there.”
The colour drained from Malik’s face at the implication of her words as she nonchalantly sipped her drink.
Malik laughed bitterly. Head shaking in defeat. “I should have known,” he muttered, desperately trying to pull his features into a cold, indifferent mask. “You didn’t earn the name Princess Pain, for nothing did you, Reaper?”
“It was earned fairly,” Solveig agreed.
“Enough of this,” Adira hissed, their head falling back against the chair with a sigh. “Solveig and I will sail for Torrelin the day after next. Malik, you will go with Eleric to Evrosei. I’ll meet you there in a few days and we’ll travel home to Trivellian together.”
Malik didn’t spare Solveig another glance as he stormed from the table. It was better this way. Better that he believed Solveig had played some part in all the horrors he may have endured at Luxenal.
The following day, Malik was nowhere to be found. He had his meals brought to his room, and only left to use a bathing chamber. The others continued as normal. Eleric went with Jasper as he oversaw the daily pressures of command over North Watch. Adira helped wherever they were needed, with Solveig joining them. They harvested grain and milked cows. Mucked out stalls and helped sharpen the swords and daggers in the armoury. As they spoke, both tried to put their differences aside, and the past behind them. It would not be easy. There would always be that edge of mistrust between them that had not existed before, but Solveig knew deep down it was already more than she could hope for.
That evening, only Solveig, Adira, and Jasper dined together. Eleric claimed he wanted to eat in his rooms and sleep early ahead of his return to Evrosei, and Malik was still avoiding Solveig.
“I sent word to Torrelin that we would arrive by sea tomorrow evening. What welcome should we expect?” Adira asked Solveig.
“It’s me they want. There will be guards waiting, but you’ll have nothing to worry about on your end.”
“It isn’t me I’m worried about,” Adira hedged.
“As I told Malik.” Solveig muttered, sipping on a mug of ale, “I can take care of myself.”
Adira only nodded, finishing the rest of their meal in silence.
The sun barely kissed the eastern horizon when Solveig and Adira headed for the dock the next morning. It lay within the chasm far below the Elysian Bridge and serviced only the small craft sufficient for their quick journey. Adira sent out guards the night before, who had the ship ready for departure when they arrived. The journey to the port outside Marrelin City would be short, with favourable winds they would arrive before sundown.
No one spoke as the sails rose and Elias took the helm of the ship. He steered them safely out of the tight chasm with the aid of an Aire Wender soothing their passage. The Elysian Bridge loomed above them, casting an enormous shadow as the last dregs of night faded.
Hours later, Adira sat beside Solveig on the deck, snapping her from her reverie. Solveig eyed them warily; having not spoken a word to each other since dinner. “Did you mean what you implied to Malik the other night?”
“No,” Solveig whispered, “I may have held the title of High Inquisitor, but I wasn’t involved in anything other than their last trial. Any other experiments were in the guards’ remit.”
“Experiments?”
“Luxenal is more than a mine, Adira. I don’t know when it happened, or who ordered it, but it has happened. Testing poisons, training guards and healers? It all comes at the prisoner’s expense. The crematorium has been working overtime to keep up. It’s rarely out of use.”
“But why let Malik think—”
“You know why,” Solveig interrupted.
Adira looked at their friend solemnly. “Cruel way to go about it.”
“I saved his life to repay a debt I owed; it’s best he doesn’t romanticise it.”
“Why go back.” Adira implored. “Surely you know by now who you’re dealing with. They don’t care about you beyond staining your soul and making you a villain in their stead.”
“I don’t trust them.”
“Does anyone?”
“It’s more than that.” Solveig sighed. “Whether it makes sense or not, I know I can do something on the inside.”
“Do what?” Adira questioned.
“Warn you if they plan to make a move. Save any I can.”
Adira scoffed at the last part, eyes raising toward the sky.
“What?” Solveig asked.
“It’s a bit much to claim you want to save people when you’ve spent two years killing them.”
“And people can’t change?”
“Not this quickly.” They eyed Solveig knowingly. “You’re telling me things you think I want to hear out of fear of losing me?”
Solveig only stared at them, head nodding slowly.
“Then stop, because you already did.” Adira bit out. “Lying to me, pretending to be anything other than what you are, is a surefire way to keep us apart.”
“Then what do I do? How do I fix it?”
“You can’t fix something this broken Solveig.” Adira sighed, reaching out a hand to hold theirs. “We can only start over. Build something based on the people we’ve become rather than who we were.”
“What if who I am is someone you don’t like?”
“You are Solveig. My friend. The Reaper of Luxenal? She is someone else, a shell you inhabit to protect the real you from the pain of all you’ve done.”
“How do I get back to Solveig?”
“You don’t.”
“But I—”
“You merge the two,” Adira interrupted. “Aldrik made you soft. He protected you from the harsh realities of the world. You needed to break. Now you must find the balance between Solveig and the Reaper.”
Solveig had no words. How could it be possible to merge two vastly different people, especially when she had been one continuously for the last two years?
“Your family is going to try to bend you back to their will, Solveig,” Adira said, eyeing the coast of Torrelin on the horizon. “You mustn’t let them. Fight enough to keep yourself safe, but please.” They squeezed her hand tightly. “Don’t abandon your heart in the process. There is a life for you beyond the creeping shadows of that castle. There is more before you if you only have the courage to stand and take it.”
“How can there be more?” Solveig asked, a chill running down her spine as the shore grew closer. “Torrelin is ice. The longer I’m there, the more frozen I become.”
Adira watched her. Saw the fear in her eyes, fear that she would never be free once she stepped back on Torrelinian soil. “It isn’t too late, you know.”
“If I don’t face this now, I never will.”
Adira nodded. “Then if you ever need help, get word to Jasper. He’s under orders to assist, should you need it. We’ll get you out before you’re frozen here.”
Solveig’s eyes narrowed. “You’d risk an already tenuous alliance to help me?”
“I have my reasons, Solveig,” Adira stated with a finality that said they would not elaborate.
Both stood as they approached the dock and within minutes of them tying the ship up, heavily armed Torrelinian soldiers surrounded them.
“Your Highnesses,” General Anik said, moving to the front of the pack, “will both of you be joining us?”
Solveig and Adira shared one last glance before the former shouldered her pack and made her way down the gangplank. “Just me, as requested.”
“Pity.” He smirked, pulling a pair of shackles from behind his back. They glittered with gems of red, green, and white to stifle her hydromancy. “Necessary precautions, Princess. I’m sure you understand.” He took her pack before snapping the shackles around her wrists.
“Solveig,” Adira called, walking to the edge of the gangplank to meet her. “Can’t have you going into the lion’s den completely at their mercy now, can we?” they whispered, hiding a dagger beneath the waistband of her trousers. “Fight Solveig. That is all I ask of you. Don’t let them win.”
“She’s all yours,” Adira smiled, stepping away, “send my regards to your king and queen. We are truly grateful for the safe return of our brother.”
The general said nothing as Adira re-boarded their ship and their men readied to leave. Solveig allowed him to fasten the shackles around her wrists. When he eyed her for a moment before reaching behind her with a smirk to pull the sheathed dagger free.
“I’ll be taking this. Don’t want you getting any ideas,” he said, handing it off to the nearest soldier.
“You’ll ride upfront with me. I hope you enjoyed your little boat ride. We’ll be on horseback until we reach the city.”
Solveig mounted the horse wordlessly, taking one last look behind her as the ship pulled away from the dock, leaving her to face the fate that now lay before her. She could only hope that her years in the mine had prepared her for whatever the golden trio could throw at her.