Chapter 12 #2
The warrior stepped closer to me and clasped my hand. My heartbeat thudded, but my body didn’t have time to react further. In a swirl of mistphasing magic, we disappeared, only to reappear in my former home’s entryway.
The second we rematerialized, Kole let go of me and went to the windows to assess the lane outside of my aunt and uncle’s home.
Uneasiness grew in me, but I called from the entryway, “Aunt Gwen? Uncle Timith?”
“Prim? Is that you?” my aunt replied, her voice carrying from upstairs.
“Ho, ho, who goes there?” my uncle called jovially. “Is that my lovely niece, Primelle? The one and only keeper of my heart?”
My grin grew as they appeared at the top of the staircase, coming from down the hall. I immediately assessed my uncle, looking for signs of his illness returning, but he stood tall and strong, and he immediately hopped down the steps and beamed at me.
“Well, it certainly is my favorite youngest female in the realm!” His strong legs made good work of the steps, and before I knew it, my uncle was in the entryway with his arms held open wide. I rushed into them.
Timith’s scent enclosed me, and I laid my head against his chest as we hugged. Despite trying to stop them, tears began to form in my eyes. “It’s so good to see that you’re back to being you.”
“Indeed. It seems I suffered quite an ordeal,” he replied in an amused tone. However, his voice caught at the end. “Gwenery told me all about it.”
My aunt joined us in the foyer, and my uncle opened his arms to enclose her too, and the three of us all hugged.
Finally pulling back, my aunt dabbed at her eyes. “Let’s go to the kitchen for a pot of tea. I made a tart before dinner too. We can all enjoy it together.”
I slung my arm through my uncle’s, needing to keep a hold of him just to reaffirm that he was fine, and followed her into the kitchen.
Kole came too, but he stayed a discreet distance away.
Despite my happiness at being with my family again, especially since Timith was up and moving and acting just like Uncle Timith, Kole never relaxed the entire time we were there.
He kept his attention on the windows, and he constantly glanced at the streets outside.
He also declined my aunt’s invitation to join us at the table.
After a cup of tea and a piece of delicious fruit tart, I stood. “I best be heading back. It’s getting late.”
Timith’s chair scraped against the floor when he stood too.
Standing tall, he pulled me into another tight hug.
“Before you go, I need to confess something, my dearest, Primelle.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and pulled back.
Love shone in his eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did.
Your aunt told me about the Stone, how you hunted it, how incredibly brave and determined you were to save me.
And now, because of that, you know of your past and that someone—”
“Don’t worry about that.” I squeezed him tightly. “That’s why Kole’s with me, and as for the Stone, I would do it all again to ensure you were safe.”
His cheeks lifted in his usual cherub smile, but I still caught the worry in his eyes.
And in that look, I knew that Gwen had told him the dangers of what was happening.
We hadn’t spoken of it during our visit, as though all of us were tiptoeing around anything that hinted at my new life, and a part of me was thankful for that because for the past hour, I’d been able to forget and simply enjoy their company.
None of us had mentioned Verin either. I had no idea if they knew that I’d accidentally killed her, but I didn’t want to ever mention the servant again.
While her death wasn’t something I relished, I also didn’t want to keep reliving it, not when she’d made her choice to hurt and deceive us all, and not when her death had been entirely accidental.
Instead, I took a deep breath and plastered my brightest, most cheerful smile on my face. “The good thing is that since I now live in the palace, I can visit you when you’re working. We could even enjoy lunch together on a regular basis.”
He laughed, and joy filled his aura. “Stars, you’re correct. I would love that very much indeed.”
“Do you know when you’ll be returning to work?”
He scratched his chin. “A dillemsill came this morning, telling me that I’m welcome back whenever I’m ready, but the king and queen are happy to wait if I need additional time off.”
I bumped him playfully. “Don’t wait too long. I visited your workshop tonight, and from the looks of it, you have several projects going on that need completing.”
My aunt sighed from the table. “Let me guess. His workshop is an absolute mess?”
“Now, now, none of that.” Timith laughed again and eyed us cheekily. “Controlled chaos is what it is. There’s a method to my madness.”
I beamed at him, and Gwen bit back a smile.
But when Kole shuffled his feet behind me, turning his body so he could study the alleyway out the back of my aunt and uncle’s through the windows, some of my cheer faded.
I had no idea what the warrior was so on edge about, but it was obvious he was.
“Goodnight to you both.” I kissed my uncle’s cheek, then did the same to my aunt’s.
They both murmured their goodbyes as well, and since Kole had declined to join us at the table while we’d had our tea and tart, my aunt insisted he take the remainder of the dessert home with him.
Consequently, the Imperial Warrior had a wrapped tart in one hand as he reached for me with the other. I waved goodbye one last time, and then Kole mistphased us back to the palace. Back to my new life. Back to where I would now be spending all of my days.
And back to where someone was trying to harm me.