CHAPTER TEN
I laid a purple carnation on Kaylin’s grave, wishing her a happy birthday in my head.
Nix followed me into the cemetery, listening as I quietly informed Kaylin of all the recent changes around the island, the one-sided conversation still bringing me some comfort.
I broke off mid-sentence when Nix suddenly crouched low to the ground, his hackles raised.
The cat’s gaze swung to the lakeshore. “Are you expecting company from Solaris?”
“No… I don’t think anyone from Dewwick Village would visit me unannounced.”
“Think again,” he said, on full alert. “A boat is pulling up to the shore now.”
Nix was right.
A small boat was indeed pulling up to our southern shore from Solaris. A middle-aged man stepped out of the vessel, boots sinking into the sandy beach, before turning to lift his daughter out behind him. Kaylin’s family! Quite frankly, I never thought I would see them again.
Edwin had fair skin, tanned from working all day under the sun on his farm.
His coppery beard looked longer than normal, like it had been a while since he’d shaved.
His daughter Adriel’s hair, a lighter strawberry-blond shade, was messily braided.
Did they come to visit Kaylin’s grave? The flowers in Edwin’s hand suggested as much.
I took off for the shore to greet them, Nix following close behind, practically nipping at my heels.
“Can I help you?” I finally snapped after I almost tripped over him for the second time.
“Be careful of that man.”
“Who? Edwin? I’ve met him before. He’s harmless.”
“He’s conflicted about something.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Fine! Don’t listen to me. I should have expected you’d ignore my advice, just like everybody else.” He let out an irritated growl, slinking away into the underbrush.
I didn’t mean to upset Nix. There was little chance to dwell on my guilt, however, before Edwin spotted me and adjusted his path, striding in my direction.
He was a rather tall man. Normally, he cut an imposing figure.
Looking at him now, I saw fragility. It was evident in the dark bags under his eyes, in the gaunt lines of his cheekbones, in the agonized hunch of his shoulders.
I would have asked him how he was holding up since Kaylin’s death, but the answer was written all over his face and body. Not well.
“Elvira. I’m sorry to show up unexpectedly like this. Adriel insisted we visit for Kaylin’s birthday. And the courier refused to deliver my letter to the island.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Edwin. I meant what I said at the funeral—you’re always welcome here.”
Adriel stood glued to her father’s side. She was only six years old. I gave her a warm smile, hoping to put her at ease as well. “Hello,” I said with a small wave. Shyly, she returned the gesture. Edwin pulled her closer to his side, shielding her with his body in a protective embrace.
An awkward silence stretched between us.
We hadn’t spent much time together. At least not enough to feel relaxed in each other’s presence.
Adriel had been raised completely separate from me.
It was an uncomfortable truth, given our shared connection to Kaylin.
It was a thread that should have bound us, but ended up dividing us instead.
We were essentially strangers. I wondered if we could even really say we knew the same woman.
She had shown us such different sides of herself.
Edwin held up the flowers. “Do you mind showing us the way? It was dark the night of the funeral.”
“Of course. Please follow me.”
We weaved our way through the cemetery. I caught a glimpse of Nix leaping from gravestone to gravestone out of the corner of my eye.
Keeping watch on me? The cemetery was expansive.
I’d never been disciplined enough to count each individual gravestone.
I always lost count somewhere after the hundredth burial plot.
There were even a few mausoleums on the grounds.
The largest possessed large stone handles, each shaped like a crescent moon.
Not one to ruminate too much on my own mortality, I’d never tried to enter any of the mausoleums. I had no desire to sit among the dead.
It took a while for a fresh grave to settle.
That seemed fitting enough to me since I still hadn’t fully settled into life without Kaylin.
Perhaps never would. The mound of fresh soil piled on top of her burial plot stared back at me as we approached.
I hesitated next to the gravestone, adorned with the purple carnation I left behind, uncertain whether I should stay or leave her family alone to grieve.
Edwin knelt down, placing the flowers. “Do you mind if we have a private moment?” There’s my answer.
“I’ll prepare some drinks back at the cottage. Please stop by before you leave. Take as long as you need.”
It’s just a little small talk before they leave.
I placed the refreshments on the kitchen table.
A chance to make sure they were doing okay.
I owed that much to Kaylin—it was what she would have wanted.
It had been over an hour since I left Edwin and Adriel at the gravestone.
Surely, they would stop by any moment now…
Just when I decided they must have departed without saying goodbye, the chimes rang out, followed by a knock upon the cottage door. I reached for the doorknob to let them inside. A black bundle of fur came hurtling into my path.
“Don’t let him into the house!” Nix hissed, placing his small body in front of the door.
How do I convince him Edwin is harmless?
“Look, Nix, I know you want to protect me. That’s very kind of you. But Edwin isn’t a danger to me. Move out of the way, please. I need to welcome my guests.”
Stubbornly, Nix refused to move, blocking my ability to open the door. Unless I intended to hit him with it, which I did not. “I need you to move.” I stared him down. He lifted his chin, determination in his eyes. “Now,” I said firmly.
He stood his ground.
With no alternative option, I grabbed for him, forcibly shifting him to the side of the door.
Nix went limp, trying to prevent me from moving him.
He was too small for it to be effective.
The cat now out of the way, I swung the door open.
Edwin and Adriel stood on my doorstep with tear-streaked faces.
“Please come on in,” I said, ushering them into the cottage.
Edwin stepped inside first. Nix growled aggressively.
Embarrassed, I glared at him to stop. “Sorry about him. Please ignore the cat.”
Edwin didn’t look concerned. “We get lots of stray cats around the barn too.”
Adriel stepped inside next, trailing behind her father. To my surprise, as Edwin headed back toward the kitchen, she briefly paused in the entryway, crouching down to give Nix a quick pat on the head. He purred loudly. Evidently, his suspicion of Edwin didn’t extend to his daughter.
Our conversation got off to a slow start, filled with frequent pauses, each of which lasted just a touch too long to be comfortable.
I was, however, eager for news about the people living in Dewwick Village, many of whom I met or interacted with during Kaylin’s house calls.
Eventually, we fell into an easier rhythm, chatting about village news.
Adriel, bored by the grown-up talk, soon drifted into a deep sleep, curled up in a chair by the fireplace.
Edwin, a social man, was happy to oblige my questions about everyone’s lives.
He told me Rosemary Thorncrest was pregnant with her fourth child.
I perked up at the news that Agatha Somners was now traveling into the city to sell her pottery.
Apparently, she had become quite talented.
Edwin’s hand shook with a slight tremor as he downed a large drink of water from his glass.
I furrowed my brow. Was he ill? Surely, if Kaylin’s affliction was contagious, they would have caught it by now.
Her dizziness and nausea progressed rapidly into difficulty breathing, but her cause of death was never officially determined.
“Are you feeling alright, Edwin?” I asked, concerned. “Do you have everything you need at the farm?”
The look he gave me was tinged with guilt. “I feel fine. Yes, I have everything I need.”
“And Adriel? Does she have everything she needs?”
Edwin clenched his glass, knuckles turning white. “You can’t take her from me.”
“What?” I repeated dumbly. All the air left the room, tension filling its place.
“I. Will. Not. Let. You. Take. Her.” He enunciated each word, a hard edge to his voice.
I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but all I could manage was a queasy grimace. “You have my word, Edwin. I will leave your daughter alone. I promise. It’s the same promise I made to Kaylin—and I don’t intend to break it. You have nothing to worry about.”
I wasn’t even sure when I was supposed to take an apprentice…
Or how to select the best person to continue the line.
Juniper grabbed Kaylin when she was ten years old, just like she’d grabbed me.
However, I certainly wasn’t ready to raise a child.
I kept my eyes trained on Edwin’s hands, which were shaking uncontrollably.
What would happen if he didn’t believe me?
Edwin reached for something in his pocket, placing it between us.
A knife clattered to the table.
My whole body stilled.
“You should know…a man offered me a handsome price to kill you.” He gulped down the remainder of his water.
“I’m…I’m ashamed to admit…” He burrowed his face in his hands, a soft sob tearing from his throat.
“I considered it. Just now…I considered it. Adriel is all I have left. The only thing I have left.” His voice wavered, thick with emotion. “What’s wrong with me?”
I felt oddly detached. A loud roaring noise filled my ears. Icy tendrils slowly spread through my veins.
He came to kill me?
Nix jumped onto the table. “Ask him about the man.”
Edwin recoiled in surprise.
I did as he instructed, my voice hollow. “What did he look like, Edwin? This man?”
“Hmm?” He frowned, a glassy-eyed look on his face. “I…I can’t seem to remember.”
Had somebody glamoured him? The Fae were capable of altering a memory.
There was a time when they delighted in such trickery.
But Edwin lived in Solaris, where such offenses were harshly punished.
There were protections in place. And the humans living there had a degree of immunity to such magics now anyway, after sharing the same land for generations.
Adriel shifted in her chair, murmuring softly, “I remember, Papa. He smelled like fresh rain.”
Edwin exhaled with a deep groan. “I’m so sorry…but maybe it’s better that you know.”
“Know what?”
“You have enemies, Elvira.”
Edwin rose from his chair, gathering Adriel into his strong arms before carrying her out the cottage door.
He left the knife behind when he departed.
I sat in my chair, staring blankly at the blade.
Try as I might, I couldn’t drag my gaze away from it.
When I finally returned to myself, I admitted to Nix that he had been right about Edwin’s intentions.
Offering him a salmon dinner as an additional apology seemed to put me back in his good graces.
He followed me around the cottage the rest of the evening, the soft pitter-patter of his tiny paws never far behind me.
The same empty feeling that set in after Edwin’s confession haunted me as I pulled back the covers of my bed, ready to sleep away the day.
Presuming, of course, that it didn’t spill over into my dreams. Nameless enemies and traitorous acquaintances. Nightmare material indeed.
The island wouldn’t have let him harm me anyway.
Still, there was now one less person I could trust.
“You aren’t going to stay up until midnight?” Nix asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’m tired,” I answered, crawling under the sheets. “Besides, no one ever comes.”
Silently, Nix jumped up onto the bed, curling into a small ball at the end of my mattress.
I didn’t protest.