The Lightning-Struck Heart (Tales From Verania 1)
“THE GOOD KING ANNOUNCES ROYAL WEDDING IMMINENT! PRINCE JUSTIN TO WED KNIGHT COMMANDER RYAN FOXHEART IN A MONTH’S TIME! READ ABOUT IT HERE FIRST! THE WEDDING OF THE CENTURY IS UPON US!”
CHAPTER 26
Homecoming
I WASN’T surprised to find Morgan of Shadows waiting for us a mile outside of the City of Lockes, even though I hadn’t spoken to him in days. The traffic on the Old Road had gotten heavier as we approached the city, and people continued to give us a wide berth, eyeing Kevin warily as he smiled at them, showing way too many teeth for anyone to feel comfortable around him.
One minute I was fighting the urge to run for the city gates that I could see on the horizon, and the next I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I took a stuttering step, stopped. Took a breath. Let it out slowly.
The crowd parted before us and there he stood.
Maybe I should have been embarrassed by my actions. Maybe I should have shown the slightest bit of decorum. I was the apprentice to the King’s Wizard, after all.
But fuck that. I hadn’t seen my mentor in almost three months. I’d faced things I’d never seen before. I’d been loved and broken. I’d eaten a shitload of corn laced with a truth serum.
So I don’t know that I can be blamed for running full speed at him. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the way my eyes burned when he smiled widely and opened his arms. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the sound I made, that broken, wounded noise that crawled out of my throat when his arms wrapped around me. I felt his magic wash over me, and for the first time in weeks, I thought I was able to breathe. I let my forehead rest in the crook of his neck as he held me tightly.
He said, “I know. I know.”
Because he d
id. He knew. He’d missed me as much as I’d missed him. This was the man who had rescued me from the slums with his pink shoes and exploding nipples. The man who had allowed my parents to follow us to the castle. The man who saw fit to give us a better life than our station dictated.
But most of all, he knew because he was my friend. One of my very first.
He knew how much I was hurting.
He knew what it’d cost me.
He said, “I am so very happy to have you home.”
I nodded against his neck, not trusting myself yet to speak.
He said, “Your parents will be so thrilled. They have missed you so.”
He said, “The King will never let you out of his sight again.”
He said, “You’ve gone into the wilds and brought back a dragon. How unexpected. And how so very like you.”
He said, “Hush, little one. Don’t be sad.”
He said, “I know, Sam. I know. But you must listen.”
He said, “The Prince and Ryan arrived home two weeks ago.”
He said, “They returned without incident on horseback to make up time on the road home.”
He said, “Justin requested the wedding happen immediately.”
He said, “The King wanted to wait for you.”
He said, “The Prince agreed, but only just.”
He said, “So I must ask of you the hardest task I’ve laid at your feet. You must be brave and strong and stand by my side at the wedding. You must honor your future king and the choices made, though your heart may be breaking. But you will never stand alone, because I will always be by your side. And once this impossible task I have asked of you is complete, I will take you away and we will see what we see.”
He pushed my head up with his kind hands and brushed the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes were warm, and I could see the love he felt for me on his face. And I loved this man too. More than I could say.
Morgan of Shadows said, “Can you do this, Sam of Wilds?”