I let out a sigh of relief. “We made it.”
Tavlor looked around, his face strangely open and relaxed. “This... is your mother’s realm?” he asked. “Where you grew up?”
He seemed surprised and yet comfortable. There were no winkles of tension on his face.
“Did you expect something else?” I asked, gesturing for him to follow me in the direction of my sisters’ cottage.
We walked slowly, enjoying the tranquil nature of the realm around us.
He nodded. “Yes.” He looked around the same way he had back in the human realm but he wasn’t as jerky. He seemed to be taking in the sights rather than looking for danger. “I thought that there would be more technology, facilities... but perhaps it all fell to pieces when your mother passed?”
I shook my head, chuckling. “Hardly,” I said. “I grew up in a large country cottage, with a library, and big bedrooms, and a kitchen. I had chores, and chickens to look after. I learnt my magic in the living room, and practiced spells in a field surrounded by cows. It was... simple.”
“Sounds heavenly,” he said, his tone strangely strained.
I glanced up at him, wondering, not for the first time, just how bad his childhood had been. How they’d tortured him for a parentage he had not chosen.
I opened my mouth to ask him a question—which one, I wasn’t sure—but the silence around us was broken with my name being called.
“Ava!”
I turned towards the horizon as a dark-haired figure ran at me. Bella. My heart soared at the familiar voice; one I hadn’t heard in a long time. One I’d missed more than I’d realized.
Tavlor stiffened. I reached for him before he did something stupid, or dang
erous. Like hurt my sister.
“Don’t.” I put my arm out so he didn’t draw his sword.
“Why? Who is it?” he demanded. “Who knows you’re here?”
Bella slowed down as she neared us, and I got a glimpse of the face my father said looked just like our grandmother.
I turned to Tavlor. “I’d like you to meet...my sister.”
Chapter 5.
Tavlor’s intake of breath was swift and startled. He staggered back, his mouth hanging open in surprise.
His gaze swung back to Bella, as she inched toward us.
“Ava?” she called, eyeing Tavlor standing at my side. I wouldn’t say she was scared. Bella wasn’t scared of anything. But she was wary. And judging by the studious look she was currently giving Tavlor, she didn’t trust him.
I rushed forward. Arms wide open.
“Bella!” I exclaimed. I would explain Tavlor in a moment. All I cared about right now was wrapping my sister into a big hug and never letting go.
I embraced my her and she hugged me back, slowly at first, then tighter and tighter, until I heard an almost silent sob leave her throat. Her body trembled once, twice. I rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.
“It’s okay.” I said. “I’m here. Everything is going to be okay.”
“We’ve been so worried,” she whispered, squeezing me tight.
I held my sister until the tension began to leave her body and I could slowly pull away.
She wiped at the tears on her face and snuck a look at Tavlor. “You, ah... brought someone with you?”
She shot a look at me. I should be grateful that she wasn’t outright accusing me of something in front of Tavlor. Bella had grown in the short amount of time I had been gone. She had matured more than I realized she would have. Tears tickled my eyes. I felt like I was missing a lot and yet, there was nothing I could do to slow down time or to go back and relive it with my sisters.