Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
It was dark by the time Liam finally awoke, the thundering headache rousing him from sleep. His hand went first to the source of his pain, the swollen lump at the base of his skull, and his fingers came away damp with blood. At first, he panicked at the blurring of the cabin around him, then remembered he was only missing his glasses.
He was lying on the soft couch in the cabin, wrapped in warm blankets as a fire crackled in the stove across the room. He shifted, a dull ache traveling through his bones and muscles as he assessed the damage.
The motion caught Iona’s attention. At least, he figured it was Iona sitting in a chair not far from him, her red hair easy to recognize even without his glasses. She put down the book she’d been reading to move closer to him, sitting gingerly on the couch near his knees.
“You’re alright?” she asked. Her face was still too far for him to see clearly, but the concern in her voice was clear.
Liam was not alright, really. But there was little point in telling her that when it would only worry her more. Instead, he asked, “What time is it? ”
“It is rather late. But you were so tired, we didn’t want to wake you.” A tentative hand landed on his shoulder and slid gently downwards until she held his hand in hers. “I was so worried.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll survive.”
Iona was quiet a moment, then her hand wrenched back and smacked his chest. Liam swore in protest, then squinted back at her, trying in vain to read her expression.
“Good!” she said, more forcefully than Liam thought necessary. “Because I’m very angry with you. You left without me. I woke up alone, and you were gone—putting yourself in danger!”
“Iona, I can’t really see you,” he said warily. “And could you be mad a little… quieter? My head is killing me.”
She made an exasperated sound, but she was softer as she spoke again. “I would bet your head hurts. It’s quite swollen still, and Tove worries you may have a concussion. I don’t know what that means, but is it very likely that you deserve it.”
“You’re probably right.” Liam couldn’t stop his own chuckle, letting his eyes close. They weren’t much good to him, and the lights still bothered his headache. “I am sorry, for scaring you. I just thought… maybe I could handle it myself.”
“You didn’t need to handle it yourself. Though, it is best you thank Tove yourself. She is the one who came to all of our rescue, and she’s been here asking after you all day. She’ll want to speak with you, now you’re awake. If you are up to it, of course.”
Liam struggled to sit up, the room around him spinning as he did. He put a hand to his forehead, willing it to stop until mercifully it did. He propped himself up against the armrest of the sofa and pulled the blanket up to his chest. Iona shifted closer, so her face was clearer in his vision.
Tove… that’s right. Liam remembered her intervention. It’d been terrifying, seeing her use a power he hadn’t even known she had. At least she had spared the man’s life at his request.
“My head is pounding,” he told her. In truth, he was still quite tired, and having gone his whole life without knowing his grandmother, he figured a day or two meant very little. “Can it wait? At least until morning.”
Iona studied him a moment, before nodding and standing to leave. Liam grabbed her hand, a bit tighter than he’d intended .
“Stay?” he asked her. He realized in that moment how much he needed her company, and while she hadn’t heard his confession about their relationship and the future, he wanted her to stick around.
She moved, and Liam had to remind her again that he could not see.
“Sorry, I only meant to go fetch water and something for you to eat. But I will return.” She hesitated, before adding, “I am sorry about your glasses. I brought them back, but they are shattered, and there is little I can do.”
“It’s alright. There’s a spare around here somewhere. Could you grab them before you go? In the drawer in the kitchen.” Liam had learned early on that with eyesight as poor as his, it was important to keep extras around.
“Yes, of course,” Iona said. Then she stood, bending down to plant a quick kiss on his aching temples and then left the room, treading softly.
Liam closed his eyes again while she busied herself elsewhere. So much had changed over the past few days. He had spent so much time trying to carve out his place in the world, to make enough money that he would finally earn that feeling of contentedness, the feeling of home.
It had taken an embarrassingly long time for him to realize that his home had always been here, among the trees of the valley. Beneath Iona’s maple. At her side.
A moment later, Iona returned with his spare glasses, and a plate of buttered toast. Liam’s stomach rumbled, and he realized how much time had passed since he’d eaten. He smiled, grateful, and motioned for her to sit and join him.
Liam slid the glasses into place, and the cabin came into focus around him. It still looked bare, void of all his family’s belongings, but it was still a comforting sight. Best of all, though, was Iona, who looked at him with such gentle affection that he cursed himself for making her worried in the first place.
He cleared his throat, attempting to arrange his words despite fact his brain was still wading through sludge. It was important he get the words right .
“Iona,” he began. “First—thank you for saving my life back there. I was trying to… I don’t know, protect you? But I didn’t need to, not really. I thought all this time that you needed me and my help. Now I know that really it was me who needed you.” She gasped and placed a gentle hand on Liam’s thigh as he continued. “I didn’t realize how much I was missing in my life until I got here. I was so wrong about so many things.”
Iona blushed and cast her gaze down to look at her hand that rest upon his leg. “I care for you, Liam. In ways I didn’t think myself capable of.” She looked up, then, and a ghost of her earlier anger returned. “But I will not allow myself to be vulnerable. If you leave again, I could not bear it.”
He winced, and the motion caused another surge of pain. She was right, though, and had every reason to be upset.
“I won’t leave again, Iona. I belong here, with you. If you’ll have me, I guess,” he laughed wryly, then winced again as his hand grazed the tender spot on the back of his head.
Concern flashed across Iona’s face, breaking the careful expression she’d been wearing. She leaned forward, resting her fingertips on either side of his jaw, and looking at him with tight-knit brows. Her soft lips pursed, and she whispered to him, “I want to know you, Liam. To know your world.”
Then he smiled, knowing that he’d won after all.
“I’ll show you everything,” he promised, and closed the distance between them to kiss her. His chest surged at the touch, and it felt every bit as right as he’d imagined. It was a feeling he could get used to. Until another wave of dizzying pain washed over him, and he broke away, resting his head against the arm of the sofa. “Not for a little while, though, I think.”
***
Liam stalled his conversation with Tove a few more days, selfishly enjoying Iona’s doting on him and putting off what he knew would be a heavy reunion. For her part, Tove didn’t seem inclined to push him. Liam supposed that for a being with such a long life span, waiting a few days wouldn’t make that much of an impact.
Iona had barely left his side during that time, leaving only to worry over Vall and to visit her friends, who were quite irritated to have been left out of the exciting confrontation with Andrew .
Andrew was adjusting to his new transformation, and, according to Eli, it was going predictably poorly. Liam was not so good as to avoid finding the humor in that resolution, but Iona and Orla both had been outright maniacal in their pleasure. It eased Liam’s conscious enough to know that Andrew lived, and had the opportunity to reflect on his actions and grow.
This, of course, left Eli to do the babysitting, a task which he seemed increasingly annoyed by, but there would be no arguing with Tove. It seemed the two spent rather a lot of time together, and if anyone could change Andrew for the better, it would be Eli with his calm and righteous demeanor.
Luckily, Liam had not earned himself a concussion. His headache had faded, and he was finally ready to stretch his legs and face the conversation. He found his mood was not soured by the rain, which fell in a lazy drizzle. He pulled a hat on, which irritated the still-tender spot where he’d been bashed with the steel thermos. He zipped up his raincoat and pulled on boots before stepping out to meet Tove.
She was sitting on the rickety chair on the small wooden porch, rocking slowly and staring into the trees beyond.
“Oh, good,” she said as he emerged. “I thought we might take a walk.”
Tove stood, and Liam noticed for the first time had tall she was. Perhaps it was her great arching horns that made her seem taller, or the regal way she held herself. Either way, it was hard not to find her intimidating. Liam swallowed hard, then followed her down the creaking steps and into the forest.
They walked along the well worn trail that Liam had carved into the landscape decades ago, the path that led to Iona’s maple. Tove looked out as they walked, not saying much. Here and there, when they encountered a wilted fern or a broken branch, she would reach out with her magic and mend it.
“I have existed in this valley for many human centuries, Liam.” Tove broke the silence, her voice calm and pensive. “It has long been my duty to love and protect all that you see here. Not once had I considered there might be more to my own existence… until I met Brian. He was a lot like you, really. The same utterly human earnestness—the spirit of one who was born as much to protect what th ey love, as I was. I thought there was nothing in this world I could love as much as him. I cherished him more than every living thing in this valley, until Maggie came along.”
Tove paused. Liam glanced over and saw the pain and regret that washed over her.
“When your grandfather died… I thought my spirit had broken. The way I left things with Maggie has haunted me every day since. You must know how much I regret leaving her. I retreated into my forest for decades, before the pain subsided. But then my pride would not allow me to return. She had moved on with her life, met your father, built a life for herself in this valley. A life that did not include me. There was little I could offer her, then, aside from reopening a long healed wound. So I let her be.”
Liam remained quiet, letting her words sink in as they walked along.
“There are many things I regret these past centuries. Iona came to me some time ago with her concerns over the… intrusions, into our valley. I dismissed them. Like many such intrusions, I assumed they would take what they needed and leave.” Then, despite her heavy tone, a small smile spread across her lips. “Iona surprised me with her ferocity. Though she is young, and not yet grown into her full power, she fought for this valley as I ought to have. And then I saw you…”
“Mom never told me,” Liam said softly. “About any of it.” At some point, he’d stopped walking, and the two stood facing one another under the towering Douglas fir.
Tove looked down at him with a sympathetic expression. “Of course not. I do not blame her for this,” she said. “Yet even when you did not know why, you were compelled to help protect the trees in this valley. This truth has always been a part of you.” Tove reached out and rested the tips of her fingers on his chest. “You are just as much a part of this valley as we are, Liam. But if your life is elsewhere, I would understand. You have a place out there, among the humans, that we do not—you are not bound to this valley.”
Liam considered this, his eyes sweeping across the forest around him. She was giving him permission to leave, he realized. He smiled, because the words were kind, but he had already made up his mind .
“Actually, I think I’d like to stick around a while,” he said, his hand running through his hair.
“I am happy to hear that, Liam. I want to make amends for what pain I have caused.” A tentative smile curved her lips, but under it was something else. Apprehension, maybe. “But in that case, I must ask something of you in return.”
“What do you mean, exactly?”
Tove heaved a sigh and continued walking along the path before him, becoming pensive once more.
“I have tried to protect my kin and my forest by isolating us, drawing a distinction between our world and the human one. But I was wrong, Liam, you have shown me this. Our worlds were never separate, not truly. You have woken me from my indifference, and since then I have noticed changes in our valley. Things are not as they once were, and I believe we will only understand by learning of the world beyond the bounds of our own kind. This will not be the last of the threats we face, and I am afraid I must ask for your help, if we are to live safely in this new future we face.”
Liam considered her words. There were many things that impacted the valley, he knew from his studies and the work he’d done in the world.
“I have some idea, what you mean. But I don’t see how I’d be much help. I spent a whole career trying to make some impact and look where that got me.” He swallowed his bitterness, trying not to dwell on the dismal state of his career.
Tove placed a hand on his arm. “You understand this world in a way that we do not. You and your kind have quantified the life that exists in this valley, studied it in ways we have not needed to. For us, life simply is. But I am afraid there are limits to that knowing, and we will need to rely on you, and others of your kind to face these problems together. Besides, do you not wish to stay near to Iona?”
Liam’s face went hot, both at the flattery and the mention of Iona. He chose instead to change the subject. “Well, I think my mom would be much happier if we didn’t have to sell the old house.”
“How is she?” Tove asked in a small voice, her expression falling .
“Maybe you should ask her yourself,” Liam said gently. “I don’t think she’s angry with you, really. But your words, your apology… I think it would be better for her to hear it from you.”
“Okay,” she said. “I will trust you, but only if you go now and rest.”