Chapter Forty-Two
VIOLET
Iseul squeezes me within an inch of my life. She holds the embrace until stars dance before my eyes. Tears spill down her cheeks when she finally pulls back.
“It’s going to be so boring without you,” she complains.
“I will miss you, too.” My own tears slip free. “But we can write and visit each other.”
Iseul sniffles and shrugs. “A poor substi—oh!” Her entire mood shifts mid-sentence. “I have something for you. Well, I suppose it’s for you and Bear.”
She pulls out a leather collar, crouching to fasten it around the demon’s neck.
Bear sits back on their haunches and tries to angle their head to see it better. A faint shimmer surrounds their body, adding a ghostly outline of a dog. I can see past it as I could when Joon cast his glamour over us.
“A glamour?”
“I commissioned it a while back, but it took a while to complete. Now, when people look at them, they’ll see a dog.” Iseul beams.
I throw my arms around her. “Thank you!”
Mingi clears his throat. Our goodbye is cut short with the reminder that he’s waiting to escort me to Firnhallow. The reality of the moment casts a shadow over our mood.
Iseul and I pull away.
“I’m sorry I can’t go with you. King Eojin asked me to stay.” A subtle blush colors her cheeks. “Now that things are in order, we finally have a chance to catch up.”
“I’m glad,” I say. “After everything that’s happened, I’m sure there’s a lot to say.”
“I’ll come visit you, I promise!”
“You are welcome anytime. All of you.”
Mingi sighs impatiently. I take that as my cue and pull myself onto Star Runner. She’s the only other horse besides Zazu Moon that I trust with my life.
King Eojin offered me an excessive sum of coins for everything I’d done, but I declined. I already have what I sought from my bargain. But when he offered to give me Joon’s horse, I couldn’t refuse.
Iseul lifts Bear up into my arms. “Be a good little puppy, all right? I’ll try to come see you soon,” she says, patting them on the head.
She backs up, waving, then turns and runs back through the palace gates.
Already missing my friend, I watch her until she’s out of sight, then turn Star Runner toward the east, where the human lands lie beyond the old border.
There is the notable absence of someone I’d hoped to say goodbye to. But I haven’t seen Imugi since the morning after Joon broke the curse. Perhaps they are searching for Joon in places the rest of us can’t venture.
I don’t ask about them, not wishing to jinx them with bad luck, and choosing to believe they are well.
“I’m ready,” I say to Mingi.
He closes his eyes and summons a road for us, cutting through the forest trees ahead. Even with the new roads between the lands with outposts set up to make travel safer for humans and less magical fae, this way will cut a two-day-long trip down to hours.
By the early evening, we finally reach the edge of the human lands. I move off the fae road and turn to Mingi.
“Thank you for escorting me… and everything else.”
“I can take you the rest of the way,” he offers.
I shake my head. “It’s only an hour from here, and I’d like to have some time alone to organize my thoughts.”
My parents have been trapped for what feels like a lifetime, and I have been in the fae lands for what feels like another on top of that.
He nods in understanding.
Mingi and I don’t exchange parting words as we go our separate ways. Other than caring for Joon, we were never close.
Bear and I pass the area where we had our first encounter, and I can’t help the smile that tugs my lips. I was so afraid of them then. My past self could never have imagined that I would bring them home to stay with me one day.
I pause at the top of the hill overlooking the edge of town.
It looks like the same home I’ve always known.
The same businesses, the same lanterns that ring the city to keep the wild demons from venturing too close, the same bustle of people going about their day.
Yet, somehow, everything feels different.
So much has changed that I’m unsure how I fit in my old life anymore, only that my place isn’t where it used to be.
“I suppose it is not this place, but me, that has changed,” I murmur.
It’s easy to believe that it’s much the same for Iseul, Mingi, and King Eojin. Perhaps, we all feel some variation of being set adrift from everything we’ve always known.
Bear lifts their head, then leaps down to walk alongside me, taking on the role of a faithful dog.
As we make our way through town and near the gate of my childhood home, I wonder if perhaps I should have sent a letter ahead of me.
Does my family still live here? What if they heard about the Choosing and assuming I died, moved away? Illogical thoughts race through my mind the rest of the way, only to vanish as I turn onto the drive.
The moment I pass through the gate, the front door is thrown wide, with Mother and Father rushing out to meet me.
Just as my feet touch solid ground, Mother wraps me up in a fierce hug, with tears streaming down her face. Father joins us, his eyes glassy and red, and wraps us both in his strong arms. Then we all talk at once, our voices a tangle of questions and words of relief.
When we eventually separate, Mother reaches out and wipes my face. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m all right,” I assure them. “The prince didn’t hurt me. He…” I hesitate and push down the ache that rises in my chest. “He healed me.”
My parents exchange concerned glances. I can’t blame them. If it hadn’t happened to me, I would have a hard time believing it as well. I am one of the handful who ever got to know the true version of him.
“Is he the reason you couldn’t return sooner?”
I shake my head. “There was something I had to take care of first.”
I tell them a simplified version about the curse and my time with Joon, leaving out the part about the bargain and the more intimate details, and downplaying the extent of the danger I was in. There’s no point in upsetting them when everything turned out well in the end.
“We should go in and let you get settled,” Father says, waving to someone behind me.
I turn to find a hired groom jogging toward us. As soon as I see his pointed ears, I recognize him as one of the young stable hands from the palace.
The young man smiles brightly and bows his head.
“It’s you!” I say.
There were many times when I caught sight of him leaving the stable after preparing food, water, and always ready to care for Star Runner after a long day of searching.
“Lady Iseul arranged this job when she learned I wanted to move to a human city. She said you’d need my expertise,” he says, holding his chin high.
Though we’ve never spoken before, I can’t help feeling a surge of affection.
I laugh. “She’s right. I would never have been able to do an adequate job without you.” I reach up and stroke the Star Runner’s long nose. “You’re part of our family now, so let me know if you ever need anything.”
“Violet?” Mother calls from the porch, motioning for me to hurry.
I say a few more words in parting to the young fae, then hurry to catch up with my parents.
Bear hesitates when at the threshold, before I remember that demons need to be invited before they can enter a home. “Well, come on,” I say. “This is your home, too.”
“Who… is this?” Mother quirks a brow.
“This is Bear. A friend gifted them to me, to keep me safe.” I leave out the full truth. My heart is not yet ready to share memories of Joon.
“Them?” Mother mouths the word, catching my slip.
I smile nervously and plead silently for her not to say anything. She gives me a look that says she won’t, but fully expects me to go into detail later.
Father seems blissfully unaware of the reality as he frowns down at the little demon. “I don’t want an animal in the house,” he says.
Bear turns their face up, blinking large, sorrowful eyes at him. They definitely have the puppy act down.
Mother puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “It’s fine. Bear was a gift.” Then to me, she mouths, “You owe me for this.”
Bear leaps up and races inside, disappearing into one of the rooms. Their talons even sound like dog paws as they explore.
“All right,” Father grumps, only half serious. “But it better not make a mess.”
I step out into the bright afternoon and close the door to my patient’s home near the border of the neighboring town Winterfell. Tendrils of the sun’s warmth cut through the late winter air, whispering the promise of spring.
Even something as simple as delivering draughts to help ease the ache of arthritis for an aging couple fills me with a deep sense of contentment.
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since I finished my apprenticeship and opened my own practice.
For over a year, I studied under Physician Wilkes in Avalan.
Countless hours with days that began with the sun cresting the horizon, and continued long after it set, I worked to hone the knowledge from my years of research into something useful.
Bear stands guard beside Star Runner. I climb into the saddle, then we start down the road, beginning the several-hour ride home.
Halfway back, a light snow begins to fall. I reach out my palm to catch a few flakes. Sometimes, when it snows, I like to think Joon is sending me a message from the Otherworld.
It’s hard to believe that several weeks have passed since I received word of his death. The world has taken on a surreal veneer. Were it not for my work giving me purpose and the support of my family and friends, I think it would have destroyed me completely.
A flash of white against the darkened backdrop of the woods in the distance catches my attention. When I look, there is nothing more than large snowflakes fluttering gently to the ground.
Bear makes a small noise, then darts ahead and disappears into the trees.
“Wait!” I call, racing after them, but they don’t seem to hear me. By the time I enter the cover of branches, I’ve already lost track of Bear.