30. Welcome Home #3
“Nooooooo!” Zana and Mari cried in unison as the giant kitty dissolved, replaced by the bulky figure of Flora’s brother.
“Sorry, ladies,” he said. Marco meowed up at him, and Davy saluted back. “You hold down the fort, buddy.”
“See you, Davy!” the girls giggled as they waved.
“I think you have a fan club,” Noec teased, holding the door as Flora and Davy stepped through. The girls stood outside, whispering in each other’s ears and covering their mouths as they giggled.
“Are you surprised?” Davy grinned and waved as he entered the Eldon home. Heron and Elia waved back, but the smiles they wore grew hesitant.
They had placed a plate of chopped fruit and honeyed biscuits on the table in front of the couch, the fireplace already roaring as the autumn breeze had begun to sting more like winter.
Elia beckoned from her wooden seat for Flora and Davy to sit on the fading red fabric of the couch.
Noec sat on a floor cushion, propping his back against the couch between their legs.
There was an armchair waiting for Heron, but he didn’t sit, his shadow pacing before the heat of the fire.
“Is everything alright?” Noec asked, watching his uncle tug at his short beard, which had seemingly gone unshaved since the attack on Asilia.
“No,” Heron said suddenly, breaking his pace as he sighed. “Because we can’t seem to figure out the best thing to do. About... Flora’s brother.”
“What do you mean?” Davy asked. “I’m sorry if I’ve been an inconvenience to you guys. I was just trying to lighten the mood for the kids.”
“No,” Heron said, waving his hand. “No, it’s not you, Davy. It’s him—it’s what I saw in your eyes when you attacked Noec back in the Forest.”
Flora swallowed, her palms starting to feel clammy.
“In your eyes was the ring of fire,” Heron continued. “The birthmark of Azura, the Shadow Mage.”
“Please,” Flora said suddenly.
“Please what?” Heron replied, turning to her with a brow raised.
“... don’t let them hunt Davy,” she said. “If the king hears what happened to him, he might take my brother just on principle.”
“Flora…” Davy began cautiously. “You still haven’t really told us what happened to me.”
Flora bit her tongue. She had already said too much.
“I need to make something very clear,” Elia interjected. “Davy is your brother, and you, Flora, are our family. We would never allow anything bad to happen to him.”
Heron clenched his fists against crossed arms as he pondered. His tense glare was subdued by the assurance in Elia’s eyes, and as his hands relaxed, he sighed. “If what I suspect is in fact true,” he stated, “we will keep it among ourselves. Unless, of course, he begins to present a threat.”
Davy paused from picking at his ear and made eye contact with Heron.
“Which,” Heron added, “does not appear to be the current situation.”
Flora leaned with her elbows on her knees and her hands folded before her face. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“Of course,” Heron said gently, his rigid posture sinking. “Thank you for coming home.” Heron breathed deeply as he approached, then crouched cautiously before her. “Flora,” he said, watching as her hands shifted nervously. “I need to know what happened out there.”
Flora was quiet for a moment. She was safe here, she reminded herself—and Davy was, too. She took a deep breath and looked up to Heron. “I met her,” Flora said finally. “I… I met Elizabeth.”
Warily, she tried to recount her time in Night Sky Forest aloud. She was careful to focus on the Sorrow and the bitter woman waiting in its water, but she was hesitant to mention Siren by name.
“He did what to you?” Noec interrupted.
“They needed my tears, for whatever enchantment we used to break the barrier of the well.”
“And he wasn’t satisfied with your misery, after throwing your brother’s corpse in front of you?”
“I don’t think they knew,” Flora said, her nails pressing into her knees. “I think they just grabbed a body from the spring and ran.”
Noec cursed under his breath. “I made a mistake, letting him live. I thought he didn’t hurt you, Flora.”
“Physically, he didn’t hurt me,” Flora swore.
“And it’s not like he didn’t have the opportunity to, after days trapped in his home, with his power to control others with just a touch.
I think he genuinely wants peace, and he’s just never existed in a context where he wasn’t trying to console his mother. ”
“He tortured you,” Noec said through his teeth.
“He didn’t enjoy torturing me,” Flora said. “He felt every bit of misery, I could see it.”
With his head in his clutch, Noec inhaled deeply.
“Bean,” Davy said gently, reaching his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you’re safe now.”
Noec paused, his hand falling away from his face as he looked back with wide eyes. “I’m so glad you’re both safe,” he said, reaching up and squeezing Flora’s hand. “But... please, no more deals with the devil.”
Flora nodded quietly, squeezing one last time as his hand slipped away.
Soon, their disquieted minds found solace in a few half-witted jokes from Davy and words of encouragement from Elia.
Noec lifted the empty plate and began to carry it back to the kitchen, pausing behind the couch to lean over and kiss the top of Flora’s head. “I still mean it, Flora,” he said quietly, subtle enough that he might not raise any question. “I always will.”