Chapter 100
Aurora climbed into the carriage without a word.
She couldn't bring herself to look at anyone.
Her hands still bore traces of dried blood despite washing them countless times.
Blood she couldn't save. Blood she couldn't forget.
As the carriage slowly pulled away, she looked back through the window.
The mountain stood silently against the darkening sky.
Hundreds of lanterns glowed around the rescue camp like tiny stars.
Somewhere beneath that mountain...
Her father was still digging.
Turner was still trapped.
Dozens of miners were still praying for someone to reach them.
Aurora pressed her trembling hand against the cold glass.
"Please..."
"Don't leave me too."
The words never left her lips.
They remained trapped inside her aching heart.
The journey home was painfully quiet. No one spoke.
Emily sat beside her, twisting a handkerchief in her hands.
Several times she opened her mouth to speak. Several times she couldn't find the words.
What comfort was there?
How could anyone promise that Turner would return...
...when no one knew if he was still alive?
Outside, daylight slowly disappeared. Darkness settled over the roads.
Then... Lights appeared ahead.
Hundreds of them.
Candles.
Lanterns.
Bonfires.
The people of Emberforge had come.
Every family.
Every neighbour.
Every friend.
Waiting.
Praying.
Hoping.
The moment the first rescue wagons entered the estate...
Silence fell.
It was the kind of silence that hurt.
A silence filled with desperate hope.
Then...A little boy suddenly screamed.
"Daddy!"
He broke free from his grandmother's hand and ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him.
A battered miner stepped down from the wagon.
His clothes were torn.
His face was covered in soot.
His arm hung in a sling.
The moment he saw his son...
He dropped to his knees.
The little boy threw himself into his father's arms. "I thought the mountain ate you..."
The miner broke.
He buried his face against his son's shoulder and sobbed.
"I'm here...I'm here...I'm so sorry..."
Around them...
More reunions followed.
A young wife collapsed into her husband's embrace, unable to stop crying.
An elderly mother kissed her son's bruised face over and over again.
A little girl reached up with both hands. "Daddy... you're dirty."
The miner laughed through his tears.
"I know, Princess.I'll have a bath.... But first..."
He hugged her so tightly she squealed.
Aurora smiled.
Then... She noticed them.
A young woman stood perfectly still.
Her baby slept peacefully against her shoulder.
She looked at every wagon.
Every stretcher. Every rescued miner.
Her eyes searched desperately.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Finally...
The last wagon passed.
Her husband wasn't on it. She didn't scream. She didn't cry. She simply whispered, "...He's still there."
The words were so quiet...
Yet somehow they shattered Aurora's heart.
Nearby, an elderly couple remained standing with two lanterns in their hands.
Neither moved. Neither spoke.
They simply kept staring toward the road...
As though refusing to believe it had ended.
Aurora couldn't breathe.
These people weren't waiting for news.
They were waiting for miracles.
The carriage finally stopped.
Eleanor, Queen Amelia, Philip, Anne and dozens of servants hurried forward.
The moment Eleanor saw her daughter...
She froze.
Aurora looked nothing like the bright young woman who had left four days earlier.
Her dress was stained with mud and blood.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
Her shoulders, once always held high, had slumped beneath a weight no eighteen-year-old should have carried.
She looked...Heartbroken.
"My darling..." Eleanor whispered.
Aurora stepped down from the carriage.
She tried to smile. She truly tried.
Then...
A little girl tugged gently on her sleeve.
Aurora looked down.
The child couldn't have been older than five.
She held a tiny wooden horse tightly against her chest.
"My Lady..."
Aurora knelt despite every muscle in her body protesting.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
The little girl looked at her with innocent eyes.
"My daddy is still inside the mountain."
Aurora felt her throat tighten.
The child smiled hopefully.
"But Captain Turner will bring him home.... ..won't he?"
Aurora opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
For the first time since the collapse...
She had no answer.
The little girl continued smiling.
"My daddy said Captain Turner never leaves anyone behind."
Aurora's vision blurred.
She reached out and gently stroked the little girl's hair.
"...I hope so."
It was all she could say.
The child nodded happily and ran back to her mother.
Aurora remained kneeling. Tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
Not because of herself.
Not because of Turner.
But because an innocent little girl still believed that every father came home.
Eleanor hurried forward and wrapped her daughter tightly in her arms.
Aurora buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
Her voice cracked into a whisper.
"What if he can't...What if this little girl waits forever?"
Eleanor closed her eyes, tears slipping silently down her own cheeks as she held her daughter.
Neither woman had an answer.
Behind them...
Hundreds of candles continued to burn.
Some in gratitude.
Some in hope.
And some...For the people who still hadn't come home.
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