you again when it’s time to leave, so a rest would be a good idea.”
Pegasus twitched his nose, then jerked his head in a semblance of a nod.
Angelique turned to the window, but paused. “Pegasus?”
The starry equine flicked an ear.
Angelique bit her lip, but she gave into a deep impulse and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s fine if you’re still mad at me, but…”
She didn’t know how to put into words what she was feeling.
Shortly before Evariste had been taken, she’d gotten into a spectacular argument with him. They’d never made up after it, and now it was too late.
Their argument was a constant, painful reminder of just how much she had failed him.
She didn’t want to experience it ever again.
Pegasus pressed his jawline into her back in his version of a hug.
“Thank you.” Angelique threaded her fingers through his flaming hair—which warmed her fingers but didn’t burn like a regular fire, and somehow it still had a solid, hair-like texture to it.
She sucked in a deep breath, then stepped back and mustered up a smile. “I’ll call for you in a few days.”
Pegasus swished his tail and bumped Angelique with his muzzle, pushing her closer to the tree.
It was easier to climb into the portal this time—granted, she wasn’t sobbing, in shock, and terrified like she had been the last time she had to use it. But Angelique suspected part of it might be that she’d been keeping up with her fighting practices and routines, and her increased upper body strength made it easier to climb her way up the tree.
Squeezing through the window-sized portal wasn’t a pleasant sensation. The smaller space pressed down on her as she passed through a curtain of Evariste’s magic, and the full skirts of her dress got stuck on the window frame, so she was stuck with her front half in Torrens and her legs in Farset until she was able to yank herself free.
She fell on a cushioned settee with an oomph, upsetting the air.
Angelique slowly sat up and really looked around the room.
She’d thought the house would feel neglected—maybe there would be stale air, or the furniture would have a layer of dust. It should be at least a little desolate having gone without its master for years.
Instead, it was exactly as Angelique remembered from her early days as Evariste’s apprentice.
The air smelled clean, with a faint whiff of potent spices from the kitchen. None of the furniture had been moved or rearranged since the restoration mages from the Veneno Conclave had cleaned the house up after the dark mages had blown the sitting room to smithereens in the attack.
The defensive spells Evariste had woven into the house pulsed with power—Angelique’s, to be precise. She’d recast them once the original set were broken by the black mages that took Evariste. But she could also feel a few of the other pieces of magic that kept the place going. (One felt suspiciously like a cleaning spell, which would explain the gleaming wooden furniture, spotless floors, and perfectly pressed hallway rugs.)
Through the windows, Angelique could see a deer sniffing at some dead leaves on the front lawn. The swans that lived in the pond out front were gone—it was too close to winter for them to be around still—but a pair of ducks had taken over and were happily splashing in the clear water.
Surrounded by so much familiarity, for a moment Angelique half-expected to hear Evariste’s footsteps as he came down the stairs.
But the moment passed, bringing Angelique back to reality.
She took a deep breath and turned around to peer at the Farset portal.
Pegasus stood on the other side, dark and brooding.
Angelique waved to him solemnly, and he turned and trotted off—most likely preparing to return to the skies. Hopefully preparing to return to the skies.
As a constellation, it seemed important that he return to his heavenly domain from time to time. Angelique had no proof of this, but it felt logical.
When she was certain he had moved on, Angelique sighed. “I’m home.”
Her words seemed to rattle around the empty house, but for once Angelique didn’t mind being alone.
She’d been gone for so long, and she’d done so much.
The house—empty as it was—seemed to wrap around her like a warm blanket. For the first time in a long time, Angelique relaxed.
She would survive this.
She’d go to sleep, and in the morning, she’d wriggle her way back through the uncomfortable portal and scream for King Themerysaldi some more.
She