Chapter 84 Lennox
LENNOX
There were some days when I never thought I’d see Alethens again. Dark days when I was locked up by Adreona and never thought I’d make it back home. Days when battle wore so heavily on my limbs I'd thought I’d never make it back alive.
But there she was, my beautiful city lay before me, just as I remembered her.
How long had it been since I’d seen my city? Months? It was the longest I’d ever been away from it.
But I made it back.
The war was over. My people are safe.
I made it back.
I was finally home.
“Nol!” My voice echoed in the foyer, my boots clacking on the floor as I called for my brother. “Nol!”
“Nol, we’re home!” Kara echoed. We had been in communication in the weeks since the war ended, he should have been expecting our arrival. Even though he was probably safe, I couldn’t stop the seed of worry from taking root in my gut. Where was he?
“Lennox? Kara?”
We turned toward the sound of his voice. A few moments later, Nol appeared from under one of the golden arches.
The color had returned to his face, his cheeks were full, his body no longer looked sickly, but healthy. Strong. There was a new glow to his eyes too. Like some of the shadows haunting them had been cleared away.
“You’re finally here. You’re home,” he muttered as he took turns embracing us.
“We’re home,” Kara and I echoed. For so long grief hung heavy in this palace, but now—now Nol was here. He was alive and well back in the home we grew up in.
The absence of our parents would forever follow us, but now, with Nol back in our arms, that grief felt a little bit lighter.
Nol took a step back, his face turning serious as his gaze narrowed in on me.
“She’s dead? Adreona is truly dead?”
“Yes.” I took his hand in mine and squeezed. “She’s dead.”
After we all took turns greeting Nol, we went our separate ways to wash up from our travels before reconvening for a lunch Nol put together to welcome us back.
“When will you go back home, Luce?” Nol asked as he popped a berry in his mouth.
“Next week, Endora will need me, but I wanted to see you before I headed back.”
A silence fell over the table. It had been a month, and Caterina still hadn’t woken. Luce never said it, but I knew it was eating at her. She had started to draw into herself, her comments no longer snarky, but bitter.
She spent every spare moment sequestered away reading, trying to find a way to wake Caterina to no avail. Even Hecate and Astria had failed to provide any insight.
I hadn’t taken much time to think about it with everything else going on, but there was a large possibility Caterina might not wake up.
And since Endora was only her Queens consort—Luce might be taking up her role as Queen of the Mystic Court sooner than she anticipated if Caterina didn’t wake soon.
There was a time limit on things like this, the Mystic Court could only operate for so long without a Queen.
And although Luce hadn’t admitted, I don’t think her magic had returned yet.
If it hadn’t yet, I doubted it ever would return.
Luce might find herself grieving more than her mother if things didn’t take turn for the better.
“Perfect, you’ll still be here for the ball.”
“What ball?” we inquired in unison.
“I’m throwing a ball.”
“You’re throwing a ball? Is that what you’ve been up to?” Kara shoved her shoulder against Nol’s.
Nol narrowed his eyes,.“I’ve been up to a lot more important things, might I add. But I wanted to do something special. Something to celebrate the end of the war and us making it out alive. I think we all deserve a fun night. And besides, I’ve missed balls.”