The Blood Forest (Tree of Ages #3)(75)

“Keiren had hoped to stop you from finding answers,” she explained. “Now that I’ve heard Slàine’s prophecy, I believe it has something to do with that. She wanted to manipulate you in some way. After you left the Island, she sent me to wait for you on the Sand Road.”

“Were you truly never my friend?” Finn interrupted, heartbreak clear in her voice.

“I always was!” she quickly corrected. “Or at least, for the most part. After you saved me from the wolves, and didn’t care if I told you why I wore armor or traveled through the woods alone, and especially after I learned you were the one who left the potion for me, my thoughts changed. I began to hope there was some way I could save you from Keiren, and she knew it. She knew my heart had changed, and I would never lead you to harm.”

Finn took a deep, shaky breath, and was quiet for several seconds.

Bedelia was so overwhelmed with waiting for a reply, she had to resist the urge to reach out and shake her friend.

“And what of àed?” Finn asked finally, not meeting her waiting gaze.

Bedelia closed her eyes for a moment. This was the hard part. The part Finn would never forgive. “Keiren turned him into a tree,” she breathed. “He now stands where the Archtree once took root.”

Finn blinked at her in shock. “So he’s not dead?” she gasped.

“N-no, but-” she stammered, unable to interpret Finn’s attitude.

“Well this is wonderful!” Finn exclaimed. “When he did not come to find me, I knew something terrible had happened. I couldn’t help but fear the worst, that he’d been in Migris when it was attacked. But if he has simply been turned into a tree, there is still hope of saving him. I was a tree for a hundred years, after all, and it did not do me any harm.” She frowned. “Well except for the loss of my memories, but those came back.”

“But,” Bedelia began again, totally taken aback.

Finn took both her hands in hers and eyed her intently. “àed told me about his daughter, Keiren. That she was powerful, and cruel. Now I know it must be true if she would turn her own father into a tree. I will forgive you fully, if you promise to help me get him back.”

Bedelia thought her heart might burst. She would forgive her, after everything she’d done? “I will give my life if that’s what it takes. I swear it.”

Finn released one of her hands to pat the other one. “Now now, if that’s what it takes, we will find another way. Thank you for telling me.”

She couldn’t quite believe her ears. This had to be some sort of trick. “I don’t understand,” she blurted. “How can you forgive me so easily?”

Finn beamed at her. “I cannot claim to know much about the mortal realm, but one thing I’ve come to know quite intimately is friendship. My friends are not perfect, they have made mistakes, just as I have, but what makes a true friend is the ability to see beyond that. I see your heart, Bedelia, and that is all that matters.”

Bedelia blinked rapidly as her tears began to fall, and foreign sensations overcame her. Sensations she had blocked out long ago. She never would have guessed that what it would take to bring her back to life was not a lord, not a lover, but a friend.

She pulled Finn into a fierce hug, which Finn happily returned. She did not care if half of those in the common room had turned to look at them, and could clearly see the tears on the warrior woman’s face. All she cared about was that she finally had a friend.

Pulling away, Finn took her hand and stood, leading her back across the room. Kai and Iseult resumed their posts on either side of Finn while she told the rest of their party àed’s fate. The general consensus was joy that he was still living in some way, and could possibly be saved.

Bedelia shook her head in disbelief as her friends continued to drink and make merry. She couldn’t help but feel that they were almost like a family. They might not all get along, and they might have their secrets, but they were there when it counted, and that was all that mattered.





Chapter Seventeen





Finn awoke, filled with sudden memory. The final pieces slowly coming back to her, bit by bit. The curtained window had darkened the room, though it was still night. Anna snored loudly in the bed next to hers.

Anna. Finn sighed. In the morning, she would attempt to use the shroud to remove her magic, but it seemed she still had several hours before she needed to figure that out.

The shroud was now tied around the waist of her breeches. After a much needed bath, she’d felt it best to keep it near. She didn’t relish having the magical item so close to her skin, but she had listened closely to what Slàine had told them. She couldn’t risk this third queen coming along and stealing it away from her, not when they didn’t know what she’d do with it.

With a final glance at Anna, she donned her cloak and boots, then let herself out into the hall, just like she’d done the night she’d stayed with àed at this very inn. The same night Iseult tied a man up by his boot strings for accosting her.

The hall was dark, but lantern light could be seen from the common room below. She smirked. Would she have to jump out a window again? At least she was wearing boots this time so she wouldn’t freeze her toes off.

She crept down the stairs, then halted at a sound. Someone setting a drink down on a table? Morning was just a few hours off. Who would be sitting in the common room at this time? Curiosity getting the better of her, she finished her journey down the stairs and peeked around the end of the bannister. A familiar shape sat alone at a table, his back toward the sole lantern.