One tear slid down my cheek and I opened my eyes.
The soft light from colorful lanterns all around and coming up from the city illuminated Tor’s courtyard where Salem was standing. I saw the ships bobbing at sea, their lanterns slanting long reflections across the glassy water. I heard the gentle water of Tor’s big, beautiful, circular fountain tinkling. Above us, billions of stars blinked brightly, a glittering curtain of night sky.
Tor’s mouth moved to my ear.
“We’re home, my love.”
“Home,” I whispered.
Salem stamped a hoof.
I sucked in breath.
Then I twisted in my man’s arms, threw mine around his wide shoulders and held on tight as I stuffed my face in his neck and burst into tears.
One of Tor’s arms held me close while his other hand slid up my back to play with the ends of my hair and he did this for a long time as I cried.
Chapter Thirty-One
Compassion
Six weeks later…
I could hear the city of Bellebryn bustling with activity and see the white garlands of fresh blooms adorning the shops and houses. There were so many of them, the very air smelled like a blossom. All the lanterns had been changed, even the ones on the boats that rocked at anchor on the emerald green sea. They were all now white. The huge wrought iron, silver-crested gates to Tor’s castle were festooned with draping sheets of ivory held up at the sides in massive rosettes decorated with flowers. And in the fountain in the courtyard, blossoms drifted as the water drifted down twinkling like diamonds in the sun’s rays.
Today was a day of celebration.
But first, there was some unpleasant business to attend to and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
To say the least.
The fingers holding my hand squeezed.
“Tell me again about our parents in your world, Cora,” Rosa whispered from my side and I turned to my sister and smiled.
She asked me to do that a lot and I figured she did it because she thought it helped the ache in my heart.
And she was right.
“They’re funny and crazy and they would love you,” I told her what I always told her which also happened to be the truth. Rosa, I had discovered what I thought to be true when I first met her, was very lovable.
Her head tipped to the side and her pretty blue eyes lit. “Do you think our mother has talked our father into getting rid of his…” she hesitated then finished, “car?”
I shook my head, looked back to the amazing view and whispered, “Probably not.”
And this was probably true.
Rosa moved closer to me and I let her hand go so I could slide my arm around her waist. She reciprocated the gesture.
Aggie, on my shoulder, hopped gently and gave a soft, “Chirpy, chirp?” which meant, “All right, Cora?”
“I’m all right, Aggie,” I whispered.
Aggie gave my neck a soft peck and that made me smile a soft smile.
Rosa was doing well after the loving care Dash and her parents had showered on her once she’d been rescued from the clutches of Minerva. She hadn’t talked to me about it, rather she seemed intent on learning more about me. This was likely in an attempt to create a replacement for the sister who had betrayed her, a sister she loved, a sister she could never again trust.
I was letting her have that play because Rosa was delicate and she needed it but it wasn’t entirely altruistic.