Chapter 64
Allie
Solkar’s Reach greeted its triumphant warriors with heavy, icy rain.
Its people wouldn’t be deterred, though. They’d faced winters that would have made my bones brittle, so a little drizzle was nothing but an inconvenience to be ignored as they formed long lines on either side of the main road leading to the fortress.
Most cheered as the warriors marched through, blood still swirling in their pommels.
Some hoisted themselves above the crowd, trying to peek at the ranks, eyes darting for their loved ones. Few covered their mouths, faces crumbling when they didn’t see them.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed the trolls watching the procession, grunting between themselves. Everyone and everything in the crater had gathered for this moment so many of us had feared would never come.
As for the warriors, their smiles were wide, yet some had deadened gazes they tried to hide. Gods knew how long the horrors of battle would haunt them.
A dozen or so limped, legs missing or still tender with wounds. Krynn’s left arm was gone.
This was the inevitable aftermath of war.
Despair and, at most, relief to have survived.
Yet a sense of pride drummed through all.
These men and women had protected and sacrificed for this land. So the civilians wouldn’t have to witness what they had.
Ryker led them all, face as controlled as ever, standing tall and proud against the rain that ricocheted off his armor and soaked his furs.
The civilians touched their foreheads as he passed, thanking him with prayers and throwing fir twigs in the air.
I twisted my own fingers at my sides, trying to play at stoic.
The truth was that my chest was vibrating with relief.
He was back.
He was alive.
His energy still felt drained after he’d broken the Crimson Dam, but was quickly replenishing with each breath.
Their victorious return also meant more protection for the crater. This crater which had decided to reward their sacrifices with the gloomiest day I’d yet to witness here.
I scowled at the sky toying with us mortals, uncaring of the losses which had brought us here.
When my gaze finally fell, it met Ryker’s.
And my heart–this fragile heart of mine that was so scarred and scared–leaped.
His return didn’t leave any room for us to hide from the mess that was us. Fated mates, arranged marriage, and all the other strings aside couldn’t fix what had been broken.
A tear we had avoided for far too long.
“I get it,” Dax whispered from my right side.
The left had been taken by an emotional Mrs. Thornbrew, who kept on twisting her handkerchief.
Nadya waited in the sliver of the open fortress doors, away from the prying eyes.
She’d said nothing as she’d walked down the stairs and had kept uncharacteristically silent since then.
But she had come.
“What, exactly?” I whispered back, my gaze trapped by Ryker.
“What you see in him,” Dax said.
Thank the gods for the cold icing my cheeks and keeping them from reddening. “I see someone who’s just returned from war.”
“Triumphant.” He hummed. “He returned from war triumphant, with very few losses. That is impressive. Don’t tell him I said that.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” I muttered, though I was sick and tired of secrets, even small ones.
I rolled my shoulders back as Ryker reached the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. A part of me wanted to jump into his arms. Another was afraid of what that might mean.
So I simply mirrored his smile.
I was happy he was alive and here.
He raced up the stairs, heading straight for me, but Mrs. Thornbrew intercepted him with a warm, long hug.
“Thank the Gods, Ry,” she said. “I had so many nightmares I wouldn’t see you again.”
“I’m very much alive,” he said and coughed. “And need my lungs to keep doing that.”
“Sorry, dear. Indulge an old woman who fretted over your fate.” Mrs. Thornbrew loosened her grip, but didn’t let go for another long minute.
Released, he turned to me, but Nadya coughed. Arms crossed, she half-looked at him, not moving.
Ryker stepped beyond the doors hesitantly. But the second he stopped next to her, she finally raised her head.
“I’m glad you’re back,” she mumbled, though her eyes were still steel. “Sorry about what I said before.”
“We all miss him,” Ryker said.
Nadya simply nodded, the corners of her mouth pulling into a grimace. Ryker half-raised his arms for an embrace, but she stepped out of the way quickly. His hands fell to the sides. Disappointment beat through him, but he didn’t show it.
Only I was witness to his emotions.
Which is how I knew he was growing frustrated with everyone filtering in between us to welcome him back, and then feeling guilty about it.
I understood. The same instinct drummed in my chest, wanting to be closer to him, but stopping myself and letting everyone get their fill.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Krynn hugging his daughter and picking her up with his arm.
The girl giggled and marveled at his longer beard, as her father blinked the sudden shine in his gaze.
Perhaps there was a chance Solkar’s Reach could heal.
Ryker and Vylkor shook hands, patting each other on the back forcefully.
“It’s good to have you back, Commander,” Vylkor said, a rare ghost of a smile pulling at his lips.
“Not as good as it feels to be back.” Ryker gave his shoulder another hard pat. “The patrols?”
“Doubled since the attack,” Vylkor said, the smile dropping for that classic sternness of his.
“Keep it that way.”
Because he might have won a war, but the Northern Clans were still a danger we couldn’t ignore.
“The Huntress decided on it,” Vylkor said, surprising me. “She took good care of this land in your absence. Her cousin, too.”
I stared at him, lips parted. The compliment hadn’t felt begrudging, either.
A hint of shame tugged at me for suspecting Vylkor–not enough to fully trust him. Not yet.
We still hadn’t found the traitor, after all.
“Vylkor.” Dax gasped, clutching his chest. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“It’s just the truth,” Vylkor grumbled, but it lacked his usual bite. These two had reached an unusual, but entertaining truce.
Finally, nothing and nobody stood between Ryker and me–and neither moved.
Behind me, I could feel Dax sigh, annoyed.
“Can we talk?” Ryker said at last.
All I could do was nod. I didn’t trust the words that would come out of my mouth right now. But none of them was later.
Before anyone else could steal him away, we both rushed inside the fortress, steps thundering up the stairs.
I already knew where we were heading.
Not his room or mine.
The dining room.
Where it all went so wrong.
“I’m really glad,” I said as we neared the door and my nerves began to flutter.
Really, really, really glad.
“For?” he asked.
I gulped. “That you’re not dead.”
He huffed a laugh, though I felt the same nerves reflected in him. But then that power of his quickly coursed through him, quieting his veins.
“I also have you to thank,” he said. “I…felt you. By the river. Thank you.”
Those simple words meant more to me than any ode written in my name. “You did the same thing for me.”
It had been the most natural thing in the world.
I felt him hurting.
I wanted to stop the hurt.
No questions, no worries, just instinct.
An urge which still unnerved me. It had come so easily.
“I would do it every single time. Though I hope it won’t ever be necessary.”
“Same. But please stop risking your life.”
“Would that I could.” He sighed and opened the door.
Watching me.
Waiting.
I inhaled sharply as the table I’d walked all over greeted me.
I was about to step into the same space where we’d ruptured. This conversation could either tear us farther apart or stitch us back up.
And I honestly didn’t know which way I wanted the fates to sway.