Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(94)

Her stomach began to twist into knots. Becka smiled, touching her arm comfortingly, as if she understood how Cettie felt.

Cettie entered, amazed at the size of the crowd gathered before her. Cettie’s heart quickened at the sight. Sera and Trevon spoke with Lady Maren with smiles and nods, while Mr. Durrant, the prime minister, spoke to none other than Phinia and her husband, Malcolm. Aunt Juliana and Caulton Forshee stood nearby, huddled close together. Sir Jordan and Lady Shanron and their children were also present, and Sir Jordan was in the middle of a story about a hurricane—the storm, not the ship—he’d been in off the coast of Florentine when he was a young officer. Her heart swelled at the sight of so many people she loved and cared about. Then it constricted painfully.

Adam was also present, standing beside Anna Fitzroy, and their heads were bent low in private conversation. It caused a prick of pain in her heart, but she plucked it out.

She tried to convince herself it was good to see them together. Her heart was conflicted, but her mind would overrule it. She loved them both and wanted them to be happy.

This would be her penance, the price she should pay.

“Thank you for bringing her, Becka,” said a voice at her shoulder. It was Stephen Fitzroy, who had been waiting by the door for them.

“My pleasure, Lord Stephen,” Becka said.

Stephen offered Cettie his arm.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Cettie whispered, her chest squeezing so hard it was painful.

“One step. Then another,” he suggested with a wry smile. “They all want to see you.”

“I’m surprised to see the Hardings,” Cettie said, taking his arm and entering the room with him. The music did not come from Leerings in the walls. The instruments were being played by living musicians. This was a palace, of course, and could afford its own performers. The music caused just enough commotion that the others hadn’t noticed her arrival yet.

“You saved Gimmerton Sough from crashing,” Stephen reminded her. “All of the Lawtons’ assets have been seized by the crown. They had no children. I believe the empress is going to offer them a fair price to reclaim it. They’ll be our neighbors again.”

She smiled broadly at that.

Sir Jordan noticed them finally and quickly made their presence known to the others with an ebullient laugh and said, “Well, there she is! Now the set is complete. Does this mean we can eat soon?” Cettie bit her lip as the others all stopped what they were doing. Everyone made way for Lady Maren to hug her first, and Cettie felt tears squeeze through her lashes as she fell into her warm embrace. The subtle scent of her perfume brought back floods of memories.

“I’m so sorry,” Cettie said, grief-stricken.

“Hush, Daughter. None of that,” Lady Maren said. “You’re back. You’re back!” Maren kissed her again and again. “You’re my child. My child. I’ve missed you. How I’ve missed you!” Then there were no more words. They just held each other, weeping.

One by one, the well-wishers embraced her. Even Phinia, who had a jealous sort of expression on her face and complained, a little too loudly, that no one had ever made such a fuss over her, and she’d always been good.

Adam stared at her from across the room, giving her a relieved and tender smile. He looked so beloved to her at that moment, her heart ached. He nodded his head to her, letting the family have their turn first.

Then it was Anna’s turn to greet her. Beautiful, perfect Anna, who swept Cettie into an embrace, blond curls almost smothering her. She couldn’t speak—neither of them could.

“I love you, Cettie,” Anna whispered. “You’ll always be my sister. Please come home. We need you.”

The reunion abounded with emotion and goodwill. After each guest had greeted and welcomed Cettie, Sera suggested they indulge in a little dance before dinner. That was received with warm applause and one of Cettie’s favorite pieces was chosen: “Sky Ship’s Cook.” They broke into pairs. When Adam asked Anna to dance, Cettie made herself smile in approval, but she couldn’t watch for long. Then Stephen asked for her hand, and she gratefully joined him. Sera and Trevon led the set.

With one exception, it was about as perfect a moment as could be found. A memory, Cettie knew, that she would always remember. And always feel.





CHAPTER THIRTY?FOUR

RUINS



Sera and Trevon walked hand in hand on the abandoned beach beneath the ruins of Pavenham Sky. The sun had set after dinner in Lockhaven, but Pavenham Sky was far enough west that they got to watch it going down a second time the same day. They went slowly, their shoes crunching on the rough sand. This beach was much colder and more melancholy than the beach of glass beads in Ploemeur, but it was important to them in its own way.

“This is where we first met,” Sera said, looking up at him. “An auspicious moment that went awry in so many ways.”

“Thanks to a clumsy oaf,” Trevon said, chuckling to mask the pain in his voice. “I don’t know what you saw in me.”

Yes, it was painful being there with him, knowing they’d have to part despite the love they’d found for each other. But Sera had learned to lean in to pain. The tide would settle eventually. It always did.

“You caught my eye for some reason,” Sera said. “There was something different about you.”