her arm with his.
Shit. Brody watched as the two of them smiled at each other before sauntering out the door. What was he going to do about them? And where the hell was Maeve? Why hadn’t she come to see him when she’d wakened? He was so close by. Did she not care for him anymore? Had she given up on him because he was cursed?
“Get some rest now.” Ruth tied off the bandage, then picked up her supplies and left.
With a groan, he realized his two hours for the day had come to an end. As he shifted into the Seer, tears came to his eyes.
Wouldn’t it be better for Maeve if she did give him up?
* * *
In the throne room, Leo’s boots crunched on the broken glass as he paced to a window. He peered down at the harbor below and the fourteen damaged ships docked along the pier. Rupert and Brennan the Woodsman looked as if they were discussing repairs while the surviving seamen rested on the castle lawn. Leo made a mental note to have the servants deliver some bread and jugs of water to the men.
The elfin navy had anchored close to the harbor, and elfin seamen and soldiers were still rowing to the pier in lifeboats. Out at sea, he spotted the three dragons circling about, searching for survivors.
Here in the castle, Leo and Nevis’s father, General Harden, had taken charge until Maeve was ready to take on her duties as the next queen. The general, with help from Gabby and the Spiders, had located all the guards and locked them in the dungeons, along with Darroc. The last guard had been found cowering in the lookout tower, hoping he had been forgotten.
The younger members of the Embraced army were being detained in their dorm rooms with Eberoni soldiers guarding the doors.
Down on the pier, Leo spotted Sorcha talking to Rupert and her husband, King Brennan. After hugging Brennan, she hurried toward the castle. No doubt she wanted to see Maeve. Unfortunately, Leo had heard that Maeve was unconscious in her room. The shock of seeing her mother die and realizing Brody would never be free from his curse must have been too much for her.
Poor Brody. Leo shook his head. The man would have to learn to live with it, much as Leo endured the pain of never being able to embrace his own children.
He turned and spotted the pool of blood where a guard had been mauled to death by a tiger. Gabby had insisted her brother was harmless, and indeed, as a tabby cat, Gavin did appear that way. Still, Leo had thought it best for Gavin to stay in his room under guard for the time being. The shifter was understandably upset, but Leo didn’t want Gavin to lose control and accidentally hurt someone in his highly emotional state.
General Harden had ordered his soldiers to remove the guard’s body from the throne room. Cahira and the Chameleon had also been taken away, their bodies laid in a cool cellar for now. Maeve would probably want to give her mother a proper burial. As for the Chameleon, Leo felt obliged to bury him. The man was his cousin, after all. But if Brody hadn’t managed to kill him, Leo would have.
He took a deep breath. So all five members of the Circle of Five were dead. The entire world of Aerthlan could now be at peace. Even so, there were still tasks to be undertaken. Months ago, he had discovered a hidden stash of documents in the library at Ebton Palace, left behind by Lord Morris. The papers listed the Embraced children he had acquired over the years, and the families he had taken them from. So it was possible that some of the children from this island could be reunited with their parents.
The sound of booted feet drew his attention to the golden doors, where General Harden was entering with two of his soldiers. They were escorting two girls equipped with brooms, pails, and baskets.
The girls spotted Leo and dropped their supplies so they could each sink into a curtsy.
“This is Farah and Irene,” the general introduced them.
“From the Embraced army.” Leo nodded, recalling their names from his list. “Farah has the gift of fire, and Irene can make things grow.”
Farah bowed her head. “We’d like to apologize for any damage we caused. And we thank you for saving Mikayla.”
Irene glanced up at him, her eyes filled with tears.
The