The Offering (The Pledge 3)

It had been so long since I’d seen Aron, since I’d sent him to 11South to set up the new communications hub. That seemed like another lifetime ago, and Aron looked older. Aged by the weeks—and the events—that had passed.

I felt it too.

He gave me a fatigued look and said, “Brook’s making sure everything’s set with Eden’s body . . .” He paused when his voice became thick. He turned his attention back to his work, avoiding my eyes. “As soon as she’s done, I think we can go.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Part of me couldn’t wait to get away from this place, from all the death and the reminders of all we’d sacrificed. Couldn’t wait to leave it all behind and try to forget.

But another part of me . . .

A part I was still trying to reconcile felt like this was a place of great closure for me, and for Ludania.

It was the site where a queen had been born, once and truly.

Where I’d finally been freed of Sabara’s tyrannical reign at long, long last, allowing me to be myself. To rule without her constant misgivings and disruptions.

“Here,” Sage said, coming up behind me and interrupting my thoughts. I looked at her, realizing I’d been wrong. This was the place where two queens had been produced. She held out her hand, and in it was another vial of the red liquid the doctor had given to Xander. “He’ll need this.

It won’t cure him,” she added, forcing me to meet her gaze. “For all the advantages we have over your country because of Sabara, Elena was far too dependent on conjurers and sorcery for herself. She was always looking for someone to fix her, which made her easy prey for tricksters. Her doctor isn’t a true apothecary. She dabbles in the dark arts. The best she can do is mix a decent potion to keep him comfortable. He’ll need better care when you return home.”

I nodded, and only then did she release the vial to me. “Good.” She nodded too, seemingly convinced that she could trust that I would take care of him. “And in return we’ll offer you our assistance. I can help you with fuels and communications. We have some of the best minds, and some of the most technologically advanced systems in the world.” She smiled. “Even though she didn’t have a power of her own, my sister understood what it took for Astonia to be formidable.” I wondered again at what had transpired between her and Xander in the short time they’d been together. Their bond, whatever it was, was important enough that she was willing to barter valuable resources in exchange for his well-being. “You don’t owe me for taking care of him,” I said. And then I stopped myself, smiling good-naturedly. “But I won’t turn you down either.”

“No good queen would,” Sage answered with a small smile of her own, and then she turned away, giving me her back as she strode toward Xander.

Epilogue

It was as if Eden herself had planned her own funeral. The black sky had opened up, and it was raining torrents upon us as we assembled in the small cemetery, a place where guards and members of the household staff and family had been buried for as long as the palace had been standing. Huddled together, we converged around the freshly dug grave in the earth, beneath canopies and umbrellas as we tried our best to stay dry despite the gales that continued to push and pull at our makeshift shelters.

I clung to Angelina’s small hand, as I had for almost every moment of every day since our return, afraid that she might suddenly change her mind and stop allowing me to do so. That she’d stop letting me touch her and hug her and kiss her. So far, however, she continued to permit such behaviors, and I continued to be grateful that she remembered what we’d been like before Sabara.

Angelina had known I was different the moment I’d crossed the threshold of the palace entrance. That Sabara was gone, now and forever. I’d nearly been thrown over by her enthusiastic greeting as she’d come barreling at me like a miniature gale force of her own, her gossamer blond hair tangled and twisted around her face. I’d caught her with equal fervor, throwing my arms around her and whispering promises to never let her go again.

Promises like the one I’d made before I’d left her, that I’d do everything in my power to return home. And like the one I’d broken, about bringing Eden home safely.

Yet, here we stood, sister and sister. Hand in hand. Angelina had taken the news of Eden’s death exactly as I’d expected she would, and her swollen eyes glittered even now, days later. I wondered how long it would be until she slept an entire night without waking from a nightmare, or when she’d be able to do so in her own room.

Until that time, I was more than happy to share my bed with her once more like when we lived in the city.

Despite the weather, everyone had come to say their farewells to Eden, and I stared out at a sea of mourning faces: my parents, Max, Brooklynn and Aron, Claude and Zafir, and two hundred other members of the palace guard and household.

Caspar and Xander were there too, standing side by side, the two men who’d known Eden best.

I was grateful that Xander was here at all, a testimony to my sister’s power to heal.

By the time we’d returned home, I’d been convinced he was beyond saving at all. The fevers had ravaged him, becoming so intense, so brutal, that even the apothecary’s brews had no longer been able to ease his discomfort. He’d spent the last stretch of the journey thrashing and crying out incoherently, as he’d begged for death.

Max had vigilantly remained at Xander’s side the entire trip, refusing to allow anyone else to relieve him, even when Max had become bone-weary from sleep deprivation. He would not abandon his brother.