The Void of Muirwood (Covenant of Muirwood Book 3)(111)
She saw his determination and did not doubt it. “Yes, but I want her here so desperately. I want her to be the one to marry us.”
“It begins with a thought,” Collier reminded her, brushing her chin with his knuckle.
“Thank you,” she murmured, feeling her heart swell with gratitude for him.
“Tell me about the King of Paeiz,” Maia asked, nodding toward the man Collier had persuaded to be his ally. “Tell me of his wife, his children.”
Collier smirked. “I know the least about those things,” he said with a chuckle. “He is a fencing master, though I think his training masters let him win. He was more than willing to seize part of my kingdom. Which I do not regret at all now that I know you revoked the Blight Leering.” He looked at her with awe and adoration. “The cursed shores took up half of my kingdom. Think of what that means for us.” He put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “I am not sure I have thanked you properly for that kindness yet.”
“Consider it my wedding gift to you,” she answered in a playful tone.
Maia noticed Tomas winding his way through the crowd toward them. He looked flustered, and his eyes were wide with excitement. She could see the dimples, so she knew it was good news, and her heart started to beat faster in anticipation.
As soon as he reached them, he said, “The Aldermaston . . . Richard—my apologies, I cannot help but call him that still—he wanted me to let you know that the Holk is docking at Muirwood as we speak. Would you both come with me? He thought you might appreciate a private reunion before the others know.”
Collier took her hand, squeezing it so hard it almost hurt. “My mother arrived this morning as well,” he said, whispering in her ear. “She came so that we could be married quickly when the High Seer arrives. If she is truly here, I do not want to wait any longer. Today, Maia? Can we marry today? If the sun actually sets, of course!”
Maia’s heart thrilled at the thought. Pulling his hand, she led him out of the manor, following fast on Tomas’s heels. Even Collier’s long legs struggled to keep up with her as she hurried across the grounds. Several bystanders stood around gossiping, and Maia heard a few of their comments as she hurried toward the docks.
“The High Seer has come!”
“She is the queen’s grandmother you know.”
Maia ignored the words, her eyes searching ahead as they passed the fish pond and then rushed down the well-worn path leading to the docks. Finally she caught sight of the Holk, tethered to the bend of the river where there was more room to maneuver. A lone skiff manned by oarsmen clove the waters, slicing the way to where Richard and Joanna and Aldermaston Wyrich waited on the docks. Her heart began to pound as she recognized Sabine sitting in the skiff. Next to her was a wild-haired old man, a man she would have recognized at an even greater distance. It was Walraven, her longtime mentor and friend.
Maia surely would have tripped and fallen down the steps to the dock if Collier had not been gripping her hand so tightly. The skiff was already secured by mooring ropes by the time she reached the end of the pier.
Sabine looked tired as she disembarked, helped by Richard and Joanna, but her face brightened the instant she saw Maia and Collier, and she rushed over to them. Maia started to weep as her grandmother wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly, murmuring softly in her ear, “Well done . . . well done, dear heart!” Both women trembled with joy, clinging to each other for a long, sweet moment.
Then Sabine pulled away slightly and reached for Collier’s hand. “I have news for you both. News I wanted to share immediately.”
“What is it?” Maia asked, wiping her eyes. Her grandmother looked burdened, as if she had witnessed and experienced unspeakable things. But her fortitude and strength had carried her through. It was just like her to want to help someone else when she could easily have justified asking to sit and rest from a long journey.
Sabine pulled Collier closer and pitched her voice low, for their ears alone. “The Medium has taught me, through a vision, that you two were always intended for each other. While I was imprisoned in Hautland, before they sent me to Naess, I had a vision through my Gift of Seering of the Earl of Dieyre in Rostick. I saw him cavorting with hetaera after the mastons left. His wife was a hetaera! I saw her kiss him. So did others. But it did not harm him. The Medium taught me that his descendants are immune . . .”
But she must have noticed their flushed smiles and the knowing glance they exchanged, for she interrupted her own chain of thought.
“I think . . . you have already learned this truth yourself,” Sabine said with a wry smile. “You cannot know how happy this makes me. Come, Maia, your friend wishes to see you again and to meet your intended. Walraven was tortured in the dungeons of Naess. He was broken and maimed when I found him there. The Medium bade me to heal him and adopt him into my Family. I would like to introduce you both to the future Aldermaston of Naess.”
Looking over her grandmother’s shoulder, Maia saw that her old friend was speaking with Richard, Joanna, and Wyrich. But upon Sabine’s introduction, Walraven looked up and caught her eye. After speaking a few words to the others, he approached and bowed to Maia.
“To see you wearing the crown,” he whispered huskily, tears gleaming in his eyes. “To see you at long last!”
She flung herself into his arms, sobbing as he hugged her. She was surrounded, completely surrounded, by those who loved and cherished her, those who had seen her through all her trials. When she finally pulled herself away from Walraven, she reached out and squeezed Richard’s hand, then Joanna’s. Her heart was so full.