Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Ena
The five of them walked quickly and quietly back through her village to the Sacred Grove.
As they reentered the ring of trees, they began to ready their horses for their respective journeys.
It went without saying that they needed to be on their way by sunup to minimize their chances of being seen by the rest of her Coven.
No one spoke, but there was a feeling of finality between them all.
They’d been together for a while now with one common goal in mind, and now they were going their separate ways.
Soon, Ena found herself standing next to Ty and Turner, ready to leave as soon as Greya arrived with the supplies, while Mel and Cris stood opposite them with their single horse.
Ena found herself filled with a sudden emotion. A sudden reluctance to say goodbye to these witches. They may have been from different Covens, but they’d believed her, and supported her through both the balance and the chaos.
“Will you be alright going back to Occidens?” she asked Mel, not quite knowing how to say goodbye after all they’d been through.
“I don’t know,” Mel replied, kicking some dirt with their boot. “But it’s the only place I have to go. I think Syrelle will understand that I was following Gaia’s will and did what needed to be done. Eventually.”
Ena could sense the weariness in their voice. None of them had slept last night, and Ena knew the journey would be toughest on Mel, given the burdens of their Gift. She was glad they would have Cris with them, for part of the journey at least.
“And you?” Ena asked Cris. She’d been hesitant with him, especially after her pregnancy news and very obvious reconciliation with Ty, because she knew he was still healing from her rejection of him.
But he had come to her aid when she’d asked—he’d trusted her, and that meant so, so much.
So she hoped, given time, that they could be as close as they once were, because she knew he was a friend she wanted to keep for life.
“Will you be in a lot of trouble with Northe?”
“Some,” Cris sighed as he stroked the neck of his horse, who was stomping anxiously to leave. “My leaving was unapproved, but if I make up some excuse about going after a girl…” Cris said, turning a bit red in the face. “I think I’ll be alright in the end.”
“Good,” she said, giving him a small smile.
“But I was thinking,” Cris continued. “Do you think I should tell people too? About what I’ve learned?
I know Greya said she was going to slowly introduce people to the information that’s been kept from us, and Occidens already knows, apparently, so I thought maybe I should do that too. For Aquilo.”
“I do,” Ena said, pleased that he was willing to take that chance. “The more we can get Auster and Aquilo on the same page, the more we can be prepared for what might come with the daemons. But I’d be cautious about what you reveal and to whom,” Ena warned. “We don’t want to escalate tensions.”
Cris nodded in agreement. “I think maybe I’ll start with my brothers at least, and see how that goes. They can be stubborn as hell…but they’re good witches. I think they’ll understand.”
Just then, Ena heard movement along the path in the woods, and Greya and Perse emerged, their shoulders laden with several more saddlebags filled to bursting.
After some logistical wrangling, they got the saddlebags distributed between the four horses, and they stood ready to leave.
The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky, and Ena tried not to cry. She didn’t know when she would see her sister and brother-in-law again, or Mel or Cris, and it almost felt too big to contemplate.
Greya, as if reading her mind, came over to grip her shoulders.
“We will see each other again, Ena,” she said firmly. “This is not the end. You go and do what you need to do to keep my little niece or nephew safe, and I’ll make sure the Coven is ready to welcome you when you return.”
Ena pulled her sister in close and wrapped her arms around her. She smelled like clean laundry and baked goods. She was everything that was good and warm about her home, her Coven, and part of her never wanted to let her go, even though she had to. Even though it was best for her.
“I have something else for you,” Greya said, pulling a small, green-tinted glass bottle from her pocket. “This is some water from the Sacred Pool, the last that I have for now. I read that if you pour it into a bowl, you can use it to communicate with me if you need to, just like you did before.”
Ena gripped the bottle in her hand, clinging to it like a lifeline. The only thing tethering her to the shore, to keep her from being swept away from her sister forever.
“That’s smart, Greya. Thank you. For everything,” Ena began. “And I just want you to know…I’m so proud of you. I know you have some big shoes to fill, but something tells me you’ll be the best matriarch our Coven has ever had.”
Greya’s eyes teared up as she pulled her in for another hug, the two of them leaning on each other, growing together, like they’d always done.
And Ena was filled with a sudden confidence that, even though they had to grow separately now, they would always come back to one another.
As sisters, they were a part of each other, and they always would be.
Greya released her reluctantly, and Perse came to her next, pulling her in for a hug too.
“Don’t run off with daemons again without telling us, okay, kid?” he said lightheartedly. “Or maybe just bring us with you. I bet they have some wicked good parties down there,” he added with a wide grin.
Ena laughed at that. If he only knew about the allucinae…
Greya looked to Ty and Turner next to her, giving them a nod of approval.
“I’m trusting you both to keep my sister and her unborn child safe.
I know there’s been mistrust between our peoples in the past, but I sincerely hope that our generation can move past that, and I for one am going to do my part to lead it. I want you to know that.”
“Thank you,” Ty said, giving Greya a nod of respect.
Greya returned it, and gave Ena one last glance, eyes full of emotion, before turning to go.
But Ty stopped her.
“Wait—” he said, his voice coming out urgent, as if he’d been holding something back. “One more thing, before you go.”
He stroked his beard in that way he did when he was nervous, and he seemed to be filled with a frenetic kind of energy all of a sudden.
“Now that you’re the matriarch, I wonder…do you have the authority to perform handfastings?”
Ena’s heart leaped in her chest, and her head whipped to Ty. Was he serious?
Greya arched her brow, looking from him to Ena. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I can,” she answered, a small knowing smile gracing her face.
“Good. Because I want to prove to you, to all of you,” Ty said, looking around the group, “that I will do my best to keep Ena from harm. But most of all, I want to prove that to you,” he added quietly, looking down at Ena.
Ena stood in stunned silence.
“What do you think, viper?” Ty said, turning to her with a deep vulnerability in his eyes. “Will you handfast with me?”
Ena’s heart stuttered in her chest. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought this would be possible. Just hours ago, she was prepared to say goodbye to him forever, and deal with their child alone.
She wanted to break down sobbing. Because did he know that everything she did was for him—to love him, and be with him?
She had never dared to hope for such a thing—not after nine years of separation, and all the obstacles between them in the Underworld, but now she realized: nothing in this world would make her happier than to be his wife.
Nothing would make her feel more whole and safe and loved than being handfasted to him. To be his forever.
Raising her hand to his beautiful face, she looked at him, deep into his eyes so he would know she meant it. “I love you, Ty,” she said. “I’ve loved you for nine years. I’m already yours, and I always will be. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife.”
She saw a film of tears spread over Ty’s eyes as he pulled her in for a kiss.
His mouth was warm and soft and he smelled like home.
He kissed her deeply, and thoroughly, and Ena wanted to melt into it and never stop.
It had been far too long since he’d held her like this, since she’d felt his lips on hers, but she was suddenly reminded that they had an audience when Greya cleared her throat pointedly.
“One problem—I don’t have any handfast bindings,” Greya said apologetically. “I can run back to the house to get some, but I’m worried—”
“No need,” Ty said, reluctantly letting go of Ena’s face and reaching to pull something out of one of his bags.
It was the handfasting ropes. The ones he’d taken from Heran’s house and used to bind her wrists when they’d kidnapped her.
“You didn’t seriously keep those?!” she asked him, disbelief and amusement warring in her voice.
“Of course I did. They’re good ropes,” he said, snapping them tautly.
Greya smiled widely at them. “Well alright then. We don’t have much time, so let’s do this.”
***
The seven of them moved into the center of the Sacred Grove—witches and daemons alike. Friends and family. Allies and rivals.
The trees were illuminated with a soft glowing light from the creeping sunrise, casting them in wintery golds.
Greya stood in front of the burning remains of the fire. She gestured for Ty and Ena to come before her, while the other witches formed a sacred circle around them, Turner following their lead.
Greya looked to them both, pride shining in her eyes. “Mother Gaia, Giver of life and Bringer of death, she who maintains the Turning of the seasons and celestial bodies, and balances the Light with the Dark, I call upon you to bless the union of these two beings.”