“Yet you go to him for one night.”
Would one night sustain her for a lifetime? Maybe it would.
Sophia sighed heavily and opened the door. She stepped through it and looked back over her shoulder. “I will meet you tomorrow on the rising-dawn wind. We’ll complete our journey together.”
Margaret snorted. “I will believe that when I see you step back into our world.”
“I never left our world. I’m still firmly planted there.”
“You will return one day, Sophia. Won’t you?” her mother asked. Her voice was hopeful and almost afraid.
“To visit you, yes. Of course. Now that I have a mother, I do not plan to stay away from her for long.” Sophia tried to offer an encouraging smile. But returning would be difficult.
“Are you certain you don’t want to take Margaret with you tonight? To keep you from being distracted by his beauty and charm? Or his need for you?”
Perhaps she wanted to be distracted by it. She didn’t answer, and simply hooked her reticule around her wrist and walked down the corridor. Away from her mother. Away from Margaret’s scolding look. Away from her conscience. Away from the land of the fae for one night. When moon sank low in the sky, she would have to leave. There was no other way.
***
Ashley tossed a card onto the growing pile in front of him. Who would have thought a garden gnome could best both him and Finn in a game of whist? He never would have believed it in a million years. Yet the little fellow smirked at them both from across the table, his feet pumping back and forth in front of him, high off the floor.
Finn ran a hand through his hair and tugged it gently. “I can’t believe I let a garden gnome beat me.”
Ronald said, “Pfft! Let me? I think not.”
Finn laid his hands flat on the table and leaned forward toward Ronald. “You are an odious little man.”
“Better to be odious than odiferous,” Ronald replied as he pinched his nose. “You smell like the horse you rode in on.”
“Just because your legs are too short to allow you to mount a horse,” Finn snarled back.
“Too short?” Ronald cried as he jumped to his feet. If Ashley didn’t put a stop to it, they would be at fisticuffs within moments. The same way it had been for the last few days.
“Stop it, both of you,” Ashley snapped. “Watching the two of you is like caring for unruly children. The pair of you need a governess.”
“I’ll take that one you hired for Anne off your hands, Ashley,” Finn said with a rakish grin.
The gnome raised his fists. “You will do no such thing.” He rushed toward Finn.
“Bloody hell,” his brother growled as he stepped to the side to avoid the gnome. “Keep that thing away from me, Robin,” he bellowed.
“Ronald,” Ashley called, using his most
imperious tone. The gnome stopped, with Finn’s hand upon the top of his head, holding him back. “Stop tormenting Finn.”
The little fellow adjusted his waistcoat with all the dignity he could muster. “Is that your wish?”
“You know it’s not.”
The gnome growled low beneath his breath. “Blast and damn,” he said. “You have to set me free so I can meet the midnight wind with Sophia. She needs an escort back to the fae.”
“Sophia has been notified that she will have to retrieve you herself if she would like to see you. Two days ago.” Two days of pure hell. Two days of being unable to go to her. Two days doing nothing but look for her arrival. Wishing for it.
Dreading it.
He had a feeling it would be the last time he saw her.
Finn glanced at his watch fob. “It doesn’t look as though she’s coming tonight, either, Robin,” he said with a look of pity on his face. “Shall I escort it back to its chambers?”