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Because Arianna was the only one who’d ever seen past the monster.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Arianna
Arianna kept her head down as they marched along the massive bridge that led into Levea, Móirín’s capital city. She watched the cobblestone path pass in slow steps, counting, praying no one would notice the female in their midst.
Great arches towered above them, painted in a deep blue with silver spiraling down its columns. Sentinels watched from the top of those towers while others stood at their base, greeting the warriors returning home.
She could have stayed on the horse, but Arianna didn’t want to attract attention. She honestly wasn’t sure she could handle it. Talon walked at her side, a young commander leading his warriors home. A crowd had already gathered, positioning themselves on either side of the central road to greet lovers, friends, and family.
She refused to look up.
A variety of scents hit her all at once. The bakery on the corner she and Ellie used to visit, gorging themselves on sweets and rolls. The bookstore across the street where she’d spent countless hours studying magic and the histories of their nation. The weapon shop three doors down where Talon had taken her for the best quality of steel on her fifteenth birthday.
Then there were the citizens. So many bodies. So many scents.
Her heart rate spiked, and her breathing turned shallow.
Home. She was home, she tried reassuring herself as they paraded through the throng of voices. Talon’s arm tightened around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. He knew. Talon always knew.
Soon she’d see her father, her sister, the servants who’d taken care of her since she was a child.
Home.
But when had home felt more like a prison?
TALON’S WARRIORS split off one by one, but Talon stayed at her side as they ascended the stairs to her family’s estate. The roar of the great waterfalls grew louder with each step. She used to run to the top of those falls with Ellie chasing and Talon not far behind. They’d leap from the height, wrapping water around their bodies to soften the landing below. And laugh endlessly long after sunset.
Up and up the stairs they climbed. Her legs burned, threatening to give way, but she kept pushing. That’s what she’d done for the last two years. Pushed herself no matter what she faced, even if she felt she couldn’t go on. She’d done it for Talon. For Ellie.
The guards stationed at the estate’s main gate lowered their weapons. Her heart jolted and she stepped back, pulling her magic from the mist coming off the falls. She’d forgotten how easily it responded here. How fast. The guards responded in kind, but it was Talon’s fierce snarl that had them all pausing.
“Step aside,” he growled.
The sentries stood their ground, eyeing her with a suspicious gaze. “Who’s the female?”
The female? She knew these males, though not by name. She’d seen them around her father growing up. They should have known her anywh—her scent. Of course they didn’t recognize her. She no longer smelled like the young Fae who’d disappeared two years ago. Her scent carried a trace of Brónach now. A trace of Rion.
Her shoulders shook at the thought of him, but Talon squeezed her closer. His anger grew, slowly coating the reassuring scent she’d been clinging to for the last few days. He was the only thing keeping her going and if that scent disappeared beneath his fury, she wasn’t sure she’d survive another minute.
Arianna reached for her hood and pulled the cloth away. The guards regarded her for a moment, then their eyes widened. One look and they knew exactly who she was.
Talon guided her from their view, glaring in a way that had the warriors hanging their heads in shame. It wasn’t their fault. They’d been posted to protect the High family at all costs.
She sighed, Talon had wanted to keep her return a secret, but word would spread now.
They walked around the first fountain, the statue a depiction of a phoenix with its wings spread wide. Water cascaded down its feathers, dripping on the head of a dragon curled beneath it, as if ready to protect the firebird from harm.
It sat sheltered beneath a gazebo, with stone benches on either side and a slow current of water that flowed between carved pockets at their feet. Every structure in Móirín flowed with water, a design meant for defense in case their city was ever attacked. Yet also a construct of utmost beauty, the sounds akin to music. And gods had she missed it.
They walked on the outskirts of the mansion, following the wooden path built into the rocks. She paused at the first pool of water and leaned against the railing. The spray of cold mist hit her face like a welcoming breeze on a hot summer day. Despite shivering, she tilted her head back, reaching for her magic. It vibrated all around her, ready to answer her call.
Arianna opened her eyes and looked at Talon. He didn’t usher her on, and some of the sadness in his gaze had softened. Perhaps seeing her home, enjoying some small part of it, was enough for him. But would it be enough for her?
Dread swept through her as they continued. She knew Talon was leading her to her father’s meeting room, but what would her father think when he smelled Rion’s scent mixed with her own? Would he congratulate her for escaping or berate her for not fighting to the death?
Arianna kept moving. Servants gaped at her in passing, some running to spread the news while others fell to their knees with tears in their eyes. Warriors watched her too, but they were harder to read, and she didn’t have the strength to try.
