The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(116)

“Take care of her, Kalen. Because when my own time comes, you’ll be answering to me.” He leaned back and blinked away his tears.

“Fox?” A soft voice came from behind us. Princess Inessa stood, hopeful and sad and unsure all at once.

He smiled. “You’re not supposed to see me before the wedding,” he chided and kissed her.

“I’ve never been one for custom.” She sighed against him. “If you’d like a few more minutes…”

“No, my love. I’m ready now.”

I assured them I would be along shortly and prayed silently for a long, more lasting peace to make up for everything they had lost.

“It’s a nice enough piece.” I whirled around, my heartbeat quickening. But I was disappointed to find an unfamiliar face. The woman had a freckled face and bright, brown eyes, tufts of short, red hair escaping from her bonnet. The man beside her was tall, sandy haired, and darker, with green eyes. They were clad in the heavy wool that was typical among the Gorvekai.

She nodded at the retreating royalty, curious. “Are they part of the wedding? Was the lady their friend?”

“Yes.” It angered me sometimes, to know the extent Lord Fox and Lady Tea had gone for the kingdoms, only for very few people to recognize them or their efforts. “The wedding will be a happy affair…but they are still grieving.”

The redhead squinted. “She’s the one to kill the magic, wasn’t she? Made things harder, even for us common folk.”

“With runes, we took things for granted. I doubt most people would even begin to understand their sacrifice. There is more color to life than in a heartsglass. You may not understand today, but your sons and daughters might one day.”

The woman smiled. “Well, if there are enough people like you to remember her, then she’ll always be alive, won’t she?” She looked at the monuments again, a most peculiar expression on her face. “Sons and daughters,” she echoed, “sons with my fire, daughters with my eyes. Mayhap one day, they will. A life worth dying for is a life worth living after all.” She laid a hand on her companion’s shoulder, squeezing. “Let’s go, my love.”

I gazed up again at the bone witch’s likeness, so lost in my own thoughts that it took a few seconds for the woman’s words to seep through. When they finally did, I turned, a low cry leaving my mouth.

But I was alone in the royal gardens. The young girl and her companion had vanished.