Chapter 33 #2
Walking to one of the windows, Rodric stared out at the wild landscape in silence for a few moments. Eventually he turned around and met Connor’s gaze. “You’re really leaving, then?”
“I am. This is the final piece of my estate I need to handle before I go. It was harder than the others. I still see it as his, though I was a boy when we last sat in these chairs together.” Clearing the emotion from his throat, Connor gestured to the two visible doors on either side of the fireplace.
“There’s a study and bedroom. Out back, there’s a small barn with two stalls for horses and room for tools and hunting gear. ”
“Connor…” Rodric spread his hands like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. Finally, he smiled. “Thank you. It already feels like coming home. I’ll use it well.”
“Good. Get to know the place while I gather some belongings and papers I need.”
Leaving Rodric to wander the cabin, Connor stepped into the study. As with any place his father called his own, books had migrated to fill the space. One wall had been turned into shelving to host the books, journals, and maps that had ended up here. Including a few of his own.
Throat tight, he gathered up his father’s journals and a few belongings he’d left over the years. More than packing up his personal room at the keep, this felt like goodbye.
A swirl of magic fluttered against Connor’s palm as the lock to the balcony recognized him and disengaged. Slipping through the carved doorway, he saw that his sisters were already present, curled up on the two lounge chairs against a backdrop of greenery.
Celina’s private balcony was a thing of wonder. A blend between a greenhouse, a warm den, and an observatory. The small space had little seating, designed as it was to be a secret escape.
He took a seat on the second lounge beside Cat and was surprised when she tucked in close to him and laid her head against his shoulder. The movement reminded him that she was barely an adult.
Putting his arm around her, he hugged her close. “It’s going to be okay, spark.”
“You don’t know that. You could die, Con!”
“I know. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. It’s what I’m being called to do.”
“You don’t believe in fate,” she argued.
“You’re right, I don’t. This is my choice, Cat. Trust me, not fate.”
Cat sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Don’t die. You’re still ours, whatever this mountain decides.”
“Always, Spark.”
Sacred site or not, his family deserved to know what he was attempting, what could happen to him. He’d told them everything he could, knowing they would hold his secrets close.
His gaze flicked to Celina, and he saw the knowledge in her eyes that he was trying to keep from Cat. Though he’d spoken only truth, she knew he was minimizing the dangers.
Cat had erupted when he’d told them that whether he succeeded or not, the attempt would sever his bonds with them.
He didn’t want them to panic thinking he’d died when they couldn’t feel him any longer.
Especially Celina. She’d followed that thread of connection in a way he didn’t know was even possible in order to find him.
“You’ll make a great protector, Connor. You already are one,” Celina said. “I agree with Cat though, not knowing what happens to you is just not acceptable.”
Guilt ate at him for that. Ryan was traveling with him to help protect Opal. If he failed and died, she would come back to Calderre with Ryan.
Opal didn’t fully grasp the concept of mortality enough to understand that Daya and Veda would be much longer lived than she would, although he’d tried to explain it to her. She still insisted they—and Rogue—belonged there.
Ryan would eventually bring back news to his sisters, but it would be a long wait for them.
“I’m sorry, Cela.”
“Don’t be. I have a gift for you to solve that.” She picked up a small box and handed it to him.
What in the world could she possibly have to help that? He opened the box to find a glass orb. Frowning, he took it out of the protective cushion it was packed in to examine it.
Shock lit through him. It was a sound orb.
The glass sphere was a stunning piece of magic. Shadows and occasional hints of color shimmered in its depths.
Made to be keyed to an individual, they could be used to send messages back and forth or relay sound.
He knew they existed because the Lightning Teams headquarters had one so that they could communicate with the royal palace.
Unofficially, the Lightning Teams also used them for deep cover mission communications as well.
Magic antiquities were better than any modern devices currently existing. They were always on the lookout to scoop up more of the devices when they popped up on the underground market. A very specific magic ability was needed to create them—a magical skillset that hadn’t been seen in centuries.
“Celina, where did you get this?”
“Mother, actually.”
“Seriously?” He raised his eyes to see similar shock in hers.
Celina nodded. “Her private vault. They kept the matriarch suite clean, but nothing in her vault or office were ever touched. I’ve found a lot of fascinating things since I moved in, including a set of sound orbs.”
Interesting that both their parents had secret lockboxes hidden away that their children had refused to open until now. Connor shivered at the realization.
He’d thought a lot about what would happen to Opal if he died in his challenge with Hannelore.
Had put as much as he could in place in Calderre to secure her future as a Blackwood, should she return.
Holdings and accounts were set up in her name, with Ryan as her legal guardian should something happen to him.
Their parents had known and done the same for them. The similarities were unsettling enough to cause Connor some restless nights as he’d waded through potential consequences associated with his decision.
“There’s a note in the box,” Celina said.
Spying it, he carefully extricated it to see his mother’s script. He brushed his thumb over the words as he read.
Time and distance cannot sever bonds of the heart when love keeps them strong.
Bonds of the heart, not soul. A distinct difference. He touched the rock pendant he wore that pulsed with love. Celina had been right before, when she’d told him that love existed just fine without the tether of a soul-bond to anchor it.
He handed the message to Cat. “You keep it, as a reminder.”
“I wish I remembered them,” she said as she accepted the memento.
Connor locked eyes with Celina. “Me too.”
“So did you take after our parents and hide a bunch of weird stuff for me to find around the keep?” Cat asked, seeming to move past the nostalgia.
Connor laughed. “No, I didn’t. But there’s still a few hours before we leave.”
“Just don’t die. Then you can give them to me in person someday. I’m not going my whole life without seeing you again.”
“Deal.” He smiled at her and then at Celina. “Family sticks together, right, Cela?”
“Always.”