Chapter 26
Elodie
Sam is here.
My Sam, the person who I looked up to as the big brother I never had.
Is he here to take me home? But how did he get through?
And why did I hear Rowan call him Masen?
Who is lying to me? The questions take on a life of their own, firing one after another in my head.
Bryn’s skin is still pale but warmer than it was in the meadow.
With one hand stroking Bryn’s hair, Mara sits beside her, her fingers gently resting on Bryn’s wrist. Counting.
“I’m sorry, Mara,” I whisper. “This is my fault.” Mara doesn’t look up.
“It’s no one’s fault. Bryn would have tangled herself up with runes whether I liked it or not.”
“But I was the one who said we needed fire.”
“You weren’t the one who unbound it.”
Mara finally lifts her gaze to me. “She will survive. Anything else is in the past. I have my daughter and, by some miracle, my boys back.” I nod at her in understanding. “If I question it and dwell on the how and the why, I worry something might take them away from me.”
I can understand her. She has her family back. Does it matter how, as long as they’re here? The thought settles heavily in my chest. Would I trade answers for that kind of certainty? If Sam were here to take me back, would I go willingly, no questions asked?
We sit in silence, the soft thrum of conversation coming from the kitchen.
I wonder how Rowan is feeling. We have barely spoken since the meadow, but his hand didn’t leave mine the entire walk back from the meadow.
Bryn shifts briefly, a soft breath leaving her lips as her eyes flutter open, blinking fast. I smile at Mara as she leans into her daughter.
“Bryn. Oh, thank God,” she says, kissing her forehead. Bryn lets out a tired moan.
“I told you I’d be fine,” she croaks with a soft smile. Mara laughs, an actual laugh, the sound both relief and joy in one.
“Let’s not call it ‘fine’. We’ll address this after you’ve regained your strength,” Mara says in a stern, motherly tone.
“I’ll tell the boys,” I say.
“Boys?” Bryn manages to say weakly. I smile down at her, nodding at Mara before rising to my feet and leaving them to talk. I pause at the kitchen door only for a second before knocking gently and pushing it open. All three of them turn immediately.
No one speaks.
“Bryn is awake,” I say, my voice sounding small in the wake of whatever war they were just fighting with words. Kael is the first to move, pushing out of his chair and through the door in a rush.
Rowan’s eyes meet mine instantly.
His face tells me everything.
The Warden who defends this castle is still a boy underneath it all. A boy who just had his heart made whole, but the remnants of anger still linger. He looks between me and Sam, his jaw set tight.
“It seems I was jealous of a ghost.” Sam looks between us, confused, before understanding dawns on his face.
“I’ll leave the two of you to talk.” He moves past me, leaning in to whisper in my ear, “I’ll be here for you when you’re ready.”
He presses a soft kiss to my temple before exiting the kitchen. Leaving me alone with a man I wasn’t sure I’d see again.
“What is going on?” The words fall out of my mouth. “How long have you been lying to me?”
“Elodie, I’m sorry. Truly. You must know before I explain everything. From the beginning until now, our friendship has been real and never forced. Okay?”
What does he mean by that?
“You’re from here?”
“Yes.”
“You knew about that gate in the overgrowth.”
“Yes.”
“Sam, I worked with you nearly every day. We had coffee dates on our weekends. Went to the farmers’ market on Sundays.
Played chess during our lunch breaks. We had board game nights with the crappy takeaway down from my flat.
” He bows his head, his eyes finding the floor.
“And what? This whole time you were this knight from another realm? Were you watching me or something?” My mind flicks through the countless smiles, laughter, embarrassing times we shared.
How I could turn to him when I’d had a bad day.
How I could cry on his shoulder whenever I felt alone.
How he taught me to be the botanist my grandmother would be proud of.
Was it all a lie?
“No, Elodie, I swear. My friendship with you was and still is real. I came through that gate to find the true blood heir of Greyhollow.” I shake my head, not wanting to hear anymore, I don’t even know how to process everything that’s happening.
“It’s a long story, but you were not some piece of a puzzle for me. Our friendship has nothing to do with Greyhollow or my life back here, okay?”
“Did you send me here on purpose?”
“What? The overgrowth was my assignment, Elodie, and you were never meant to be at the gate. I always made sure it was my job. I was going to come help you, remember? And more so, the gate was sealed. I tried to come back home once before, but it didn’t work.”
“Then how did I get through?” I ask, my stomach tightening into coils.
Something is wrong.
He’s hiding something and I can feel it.
It’s too coincidental.
“I don’t know,” he says, not meeting my eyes.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I don’t know, Elodie.”
“You were the one who kept planting ideas in my head. About the plants. Teaching me. Were you training me for this?” I move away from him, the room feeling like it’s closing in on me.
“No, when I couldn’t return home. I worked on figuring out a way to get the Widowsbloom to grow.
Weeks of research had gone into this, and I already had seeds in my pockets.
I tried to plant it where it wouldn’t be easily seen.
And I found it grew by the burn pits. It grew really well.
So I researched what I could, and that’s when I realised fire was the answer.
I was telling you because it made me feel like I was still talking to someone from home. ”
“So you’re telling me you came through the gate and you were exactly where you needed to be to cultivate Widowsbloom without being suspicious? I don’t buy it, Sam. It’s too easy.”
“You’d be surprised at how much your people love old relics.
The other gates I found were also in public gardens and national parks.
I mean, seriously, you all seem to build these high-rise buildings and then flee to green spaces for downtime.
Why build it to escape it? I never understood,” he trails off.
I don’t respond, unsure what to even say.
“Look, Elodie. I promise I never meant to hurt you with anything I did.” Before I can answer, a scream rips through the cottage, followed by a low, wet cough. Something’s wrong.
“Bryn,” Sam says, rushing out of the kitchen as I follow behind him in a panic. Bryn is sitting upright in Mara’s arms, coughing and sputtering onto the floor.
“Help her, please, somebody.” Mara pleads to the room, but no one knows what to do. Everyone is frozen with panic. Sam kneels next to her, glancing at the black tar-like substance streaked across the floor. “Rowan, get a bowl. Kael, hold her shoulders.” Sam commands.
“Mara, I need to take her from you, okay? You can stay by her side, but I need to get this out of her, okay?” he says softly, Mara simply nods through her sobs.
I feel lost, unable to help, watching the chaos unfold.
Each shrill sound of Bryn’s cough with Mara’s heavy sob. Rowan storms back through the door.
“Elodie, get behind me now!” he shouts. I’m confused about where the sudden panic is coming from when I hear King Aldric’s voice through the window outside.
“Elodie Hawthorne. Step outside, and there will be no casualties.”
The shift in the room is instantaneous. The panic over Bryn now eclipsed by a cold, sharpened terror. Rowan does not just step in front of me. He becomes a barricade of muscle and sheer violent intent.
“Elodie, get behind me now!” His voice is raw and guttural. I can hear the clatter of armour from outside and the King’s voice shouting constant threats.
“Rowan, let me go,” I say firmly. “He will kill you all to get to me.”
“No,” he growls. “He doesn’t touch you whilst I still draw breath.” In the centre of the room, Bryn lets out a horrific gurgling sob, her body convulsing on the floor.
“She’s seizing!” Sam shouts, his voice cracking.
“Rowan, I need you. I can’t hold her.” Rowan’s eyes dart between me and Sam.
“Kael. Where’s Kael?”
“He’s holding them off at the door,” Mara sobs.
“Rowan, go to her,” I whisper. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He hesitates for one final, agonising second. He looks at me, eyes wild and bloodshot, searching mine for a promise I know I’m about to break.
“Stay where I can see you, Hawthorne,” he commands. “Do you hear me? You do not move!” He lunges down towards Bryn, dropping his sword to help Sam. The moment his fingers leave mine, I move.
I bolt for the door in one swoop.
“Elodie, NO!” Rowan screams, the sound the most painful thing I’ve had to hear from his mouth.
Pure, unadulterated betrayal. He springs up toward me, but Bryn collapses against his chest. He reaches out on instinct, catching her head.
I move fast, not looking back. I can’t. If I see his face, I won’t be able to do this.
“KAEL! Stop her!” Rowan bellows from behind. Kael turns his head towards me, his weight pressing against the front door.
“Elodie, don’t do this. We can’t protect you from him,” he yells at me as I move to the back door as quickly as I can.
No, but I can save you all from him.
“I’m sorry.” I yell back, tears filling my eyes. Sprinting forward, adrenaline surges through me as I yank the door open. My lungs burning, I round the corner of the cottage.
“I’m here!” I shout, raising my hands, my breath coming in ragged gasps. “Take me. Just leave them alone.” Aldric tilts his head at me, a slow, cruel smile spreading across his face.
“A selfless choice, my little gardener. Seize her.” He flicks his fingers toward the guards to my right as they move in, grabbing my arms and clamping heavy gauntlets onto my wrists.
“ELODIE!”
The window behind me shatters, Rowan’s fist punching through the glass.
Shards spray over the porch before I see his face.
A bloodied, frantic, and absolutely feral expression that breaks me.
I’m lifted onto a horse, and as soon as the king gives the signal, I watch the only home I have ever truly found fade into the distance.