Chapter 13
A Fond Farewell
T am leaned against a tower of crates waiting to be loaded onto the ship he and Eli were supposed to board. It had been a gray, drizzly day, and it was already late afternoon. Despite the matured day, the captain insisted they could sail by evening and he’d prefer to do so rather than wait for the morning. So even though the daylight was already starting to wane, they were to leave shortly.
During Tam’s wait, Fin made his way over to his son, hands in his pockets, and then he, too, slumped against the crates. Kraken was at the duke’s side. Fin’s fluffy familiar had grown a gray semicircle of fur around his face, making him look like a wizened old beastie; white fluff sprouted up through the rest of his fur, making patches of his magnificent black coat look ashy.
Emperor Kraken was getting on in years, but, in fairness, he was twenty-nine, which was significantly longer than most cats got to live, and his prolonged life was most likely due to Fin’s own curse of slow aging.
“I sent a note to Jiho letting him know you’ll be in Zinfera soon. I know you can’t visit him while gathering information, but he’s there if you need help, and he has sent guides to meet you when you arrive.”
“Thank you,” Tam returned with a slow nod.
“I’m hoping this goes without saying, but… if you do find the dragon that people are talking about? Please don’t try to take it on by yourself.”
Tam bit his tongue before replying. “I get it.”
Fin looked at his son with a sad half smile. “Tam, it isn’t that I don’t think you’re a capable person. You trained diligently with a sword, with daggers, and even with that Zinferan combat teacher we hired years ago. I know you can take care of yourself. I’m just saying, please spare your old da more stress. We’re going to sort things out with the coven, and you’re going to be duke, and everything will be alright. You don’t have anything to prove.”
“I do for myself.” Tam locked eyes with his father, taking Fin aback with the intense emotion that sat heavy in his gaze. “I need to step out of my comfort zone and away from everything I’ve known. I feel like a spoiled brat who’s never really made his own mark on anything.” He turned away.
Fin smiled as he looked forward. “I get it.”
Tam raised an eyebrow and glanced back at his father, who continued.
“I felt exactly the same way before I took the job at the castle in Austice. All I was doing was living in a cottage your grandmother paid for, cooking for her or her patients… None of it was a life I built. Despite having been told my whole life that my magic wouldn’t ever amount to much, something in me just said I could do so much more.”
“Did you think you’d be doing this much more?”
“We both know the answer to that. I can’t wait to retire,” Fin chuckled. “But… I have accomplished a lot that I am proud of, and while it was your mother who pushed me into this lofty position of duke, it would never have happened if I hadn’t taken a chance on uprooting my life and starting a new adventure. I have no regrets about moving away. If I hadn’t? Well… I’d have missed everything.”
Tam listened to his father. He wasn’t exactly surprised; he did recognize some similarities to his own present feelings… Though everything he had heard about his da in the past indicated that Fin had been far more confident in both himself and his magic when he had moved to the castle all those years ago, unlike Tam.
Kraken bonked his head against Tam’s leg, prompting him to pick up the fluffy familiar and scratch his cheek.
“Is Kraken going to retire when you do?”
The familiar let out a short chirp in between purrs.
Fin grinned. “He says an emperor rules for life. So I don’t believe he will.”
As he scratched Kraken’s salt-and-pepper fluff, Tam turned his mind to his tasks in Zinfera…
Find a dragon. Figure out the state of the kingdom with the emperor on death’s doorstep, how powerful was the concubine Soo Hebin, and countless other possibilities… Odds were high he might have to intervene here and there, though he wasn’t sure how yet.
“Did you ever say hello to Alina and Brendan?” Fin asked softly.
Tam raised his eyebrows without humor and with a great amount of exasperation. “No, and it’s because His Majesty isn’t a fan of mine and I’m just avoiding an awkward situation. I’m not avoiding Alina because of any kind of romantic feelings.”
Fin pursed his mouth.
No one ever fully believed Tam no matter how much he protested, even when Hannah had come clean about being the main source of this misinformation years ago.
If it had been in any way true, though, he would be a lot more bothered about it being a well-circulated rumor.
Kraken let out another chirp, making Fin look down at his familiar, who cracked open his green eyes.
“Kraken says you never were that interested in Alina… So I guess you really do mean it.”
Anger stirred in Tam’s chest, and, sensing this, Kraken squirmed to be let down.
“Now the word of a cat means more than whatever I have to say?” Tam rounded on his father, who pushed off from the crates.
“That’s not it. You talk so rarely, Tam. It’s hard to get a read on you sometimes.”
“Were the words I have no interest in Alina not enough?”
Fin held up his hands in surrender. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disregard you.”
Shaking his head, Tam looked toward the gangplank of the ship, where Eli was already making her way aboard.
“I think you’re right, Da. I do need this trip. I’m not liking who I’m becoming the longer I’m here, and I think it’s doing more harm than good all around.”
Fin paused, watching his son’s face. Tam was a handsome man, but no one had really been able to tell, as he had always hid behind his hair. Seeing his bare face, the house witch could clearly see for himself just how much Tam was struggling to come into his own.
Fin reached out to lay a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I wish nothing but the best for you, Tam. I love you more than you’ll ever know, and if you find that where you belong is far away from your family…? I understand. But please remember how loved you are, and that we are always here for you.”
Tam stilled. When he met his father’s eyes, his shoulders relaxed as his agitation visibly ebbed. Most likely due to him not wanting to leave on a sour note. “I love you, too, Da. Thank you.”
The two men embraced, and when they pulled apart, Tam even managed to give a half smile to his father before they both faced different directions to walk away. However, Fin turned back to Tam suddenly with a finger raised.
“Ah, one last thing… If you happen to fall in love with someone and want to get married… Mind making sure your mother and I can attend? I didn’t know I’d have to make the request, but after your sister—”
At the mention of his sister’s scandalous marriage to their future king seven years ago while in a foreign land, Tam at last laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll only invite you, Mum, and my nephews. Kat never even apologized to me that I couldn’t attend her own nuptials!”
Fin grinned at the jest and nodded. “Right. Well… Go say goodbye to your mum, and stay safe. No matter what is going on, remember you can always find your way home.”
Tam paused, then smiled again and waved over his shoulder as he headed over to bid farewell to his mother.
◆◆◆
With the ship clear of the harbor, and sailing south toward Zinfera, Fin let out a long breath and looked down at his wife in the golden glow of the setting sun that had appeared through the rainy weather in the final moments of the day.
Annika Ashowan was staring after the ship, wearing a knowing smile.
“Do you think he’s figured it out?” the house witch wondered while slipping his hands into his pockets.
“If he hasn’t, I’m going to have to train him all over again, but I’m confident he knows. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hiding my glasses from me since Eli started working for him.”
Fin grinned. “Tam really did a bang-up job hiding her. I don’t think Harris caught a glimpse of her even once!”
“That may have been more Eli’s doing than Tam’s. I had to warn her in great detail about Lord Harris and his wife…” Annika shook her head as she thought about their chaotic friends.
“How long until Eli stops pretending she’s a man, do you think?” Fin wondered as the couple turned and took their time strolling back to their carriage.
“Not long. We were polite about it, and His Majesty Prince Eric was too busy to properly consider that she isn’t a young man, but once she and Tam start traveling, more people will notice.”
“Did His Majesty King Brendan Devark have any other information about Eli that he was willing to share?”
Annika shook her head. “The Troivackian king thinks quite highly of Eli, so he didn’t reveal anything. Though he conceded she was a woman when I pointed out how obvious it was.”
Fin bobbed his head as he listened. “And you think she and Tam are going to fall in love?”
Annika froze in her tracks and stared up at her husband, wide-eyed.
“I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about the way you work, love.” Fin’s smile was slow and teasing. “You brought up marriage to Tam. Put it in his head… You even got those lords to pester him about marrying their daughters to really make it pronounced. Then you put a woman who is as secretive as he is, if not more so, by his side. You think they’re a good match because of their similar natures.”
Annika folded her arms and tilted her chin up at her husband. “And what if I said I just thought he could use a good assistant and friend?”
Fin bent down so that his nose was a mere inch from his wife’s. “You want granddaughters. I’m not buying it.”
Unable to stop the blush that Fin was bringing to her face despite nearly three decades of marriage, she did the only thing she could think to do to stop him tormenting her…
She kissed him. And the duke was all too happy to go along with his wife changing the direction of their conversation.
◆◆◆
Back in Austice, the king and queen of Daxaria and the king and queen of Troivack shared a quiet evening catching up and reminiscing over cups of moonshine and wine. There was a nip to the evening air that gave the women an ideal reason to cozy up to their husbands. Though it was more of a reason for Eric, as his wife’s magic ensured she was toasty regardless of the cold weather.
“Tam’s left by now then?” Alina asked, her cheeks rosy from warmth and drink as she rested her head on Brendan Devark’s left shoulder.
“Probably,” Kat responded lightly while stretching out her legs to rest them on the low table between the sofas. “He’ll send a letter when he arrives in Zinfera, and then we should only receive news once a month or so.”
Alina twisted her mouth, her hazel eyes falling thoughtfully to the cup in her hand.
“I hope our boys haven’t scared your two sons,” Eric added with an apologetic grimace toward his sister.
Brendan took in a very long, slow breath as he stared at the Daxarian king bluntly. “Your children are terrors. I would keep them separated until they are better behaved.”
Both Kat and Eric stilled and gradually righted themselves. “Our boys are goodhearted, and they are still young. It’s important to have fun as children. In fact, it’s the most important thing that they do. It’s why we work to keep the kingdom safe. So that children don’t have to carry the weight of the world,” Eric returned with an edge in his voice.
“There is a very stark difference between having a fun childhood and setting people on fire,” Alina pointed out as she lifted herself from her husband’s shoulder, her expression serious.
“And we punished them for taking it that far,” Kat interjected, her golden eyes glimmering. “I didn’t become disciplined until I was in my twenties, and things worked out. Now, we wanted a nice evening together since you both will be heading back to Troivack, so I suggest we don’t talk about our children.”
Brendan bowed his head in assent, as did Alina.
It was true: Through the years, there had been many fights about their different parenting styles, and so they had learned that it was best to conversationally step away from the subject when emotions were getting a mite too heated.
“Do you really think there is a dragon in Zinfera?” Alina changed the topic smoothly, though the relaxed atmosphere did not return to the room as the terrifying idea of an ancient beast settled over them.
“Gods, if there is? It’ll feel like the whole issue with the first witch and the devil is starting again…” Kat chuckled grimly before taking a drink from her cup.
“To be honest,” Eric started carefully, “with Tam leaving for such a long time, it made me think how similar the situation is to when you and I left for Troivack,”
Alina’s eyes snapped to her brother. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Kat winced. “No! Don’t say that! Tam travels all the time for the dukedom; this doesn’t have to be like that at all! I’m sure everything is—”
A knock on the door cut off the Daxarian queen’s last words.
“Come in,” Eric called out, a frown already creasing his brow as they all considered the late hour.
Mr. Kevin Howard burst in with Morgan Linsey, the new king’s assistant, at his side. “Your Majesties, we just received a missive from Troivack.”
Brendan and Alina were on their feet in an instant, while Kat and Eric joined them.
Mr. Howard swallowed as he stepped into the room and Morgan closed the door behind them. The man’s face was pale, and his voice warbled as his hand clutched the missive. “It’s the first witch… She’s escaped.”
Silence filled the room, until Katarina broke it by bursting out, “Gods dammit! ”
While the Troivackian king and queen still hadn’t spoken, they shared a very similar sentiment.
It seemed the first witch wasn’t through causing problems for them just yet.