This isn’t the end of the world. I can call to the castle once I’ve had time to rest and collect my spinning thoughts.
My heartbeat quickens at the thought of seeing my mate again.
I will find Senan and the answers I seek no matter what it takes.
Inhaling a deep breath, I turn away from the Black Hole and hurry up the hill toward my old neighborhood.
The streets grow more familiar with every step. I pass the apothecary Wynn used to visit when she needed medicine for her father.Wynn.After I see my aunt, I really should speak with Wynn’s mother down in the kitchens to explain what happened to her daughter. She’ll hate me for bringing Wynn to the human realm, but at least she’ll have closure. It’s the least I can do for my friend.
The library where I used to borrow books sits between two taller buildings, stretching into the sky. Escaping into stories helped me manage my grief when my parents passed. I never would have survived without them.
Up ahead sits the restaurant where my aunt would order shellfish farmed from the Folly Sea. Those things used to make the entire dining room reek of fish.
After what feels like forever, the base of my aunt’s tower comes into view. If I had my wings, I would’ve flown straight to the main doors on the first balcony hiding above the layer of clouds.
Without them, I’m forced to knock at the servant’s entrance.
What will my aunt say when she sees me again? Should I tell her the truth of what happened? Not about Senan. I can’t bearto speak that part aloud. But about the humans and what they’ve stolen from me. I suppose she’ll find out eventually when I no longer fly anywhere.
Hopefully, she’ll be so excited about seeing me that she’ll save her questions until I’ve had time to really consider my responses. I yawn into my fist. Stars, I’m tired. My limbs feel like they’re made of stone. I’m going to fall into my bed and sleep for a week.
The door eases open, and a servant sticks his head out. The black mask and hood throws me for a moment. I forgot how unnerving it is to speak to a faceless person.
Knowing he can see me through his mesh mask, I give him a smile. “Hello, I’m?—”
He cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “We don’t take kindly to beggars in these parts. Best be gone, or I’ll call the guards.”
His voice doesn’t sound familiar, but the only servant I really interacted with was Wynn. Still, if the man was here four years ago, he should recognize me. My hair isn’t its normal shade of blue, and I’m paler, my face gaunter, but my features are still the same.
“I’m not a beggar.” Although, from the state of my clothes, I can see why he’d think that. “My aunt lives here.”
The man’s head tilts. “You must have the wrong house, girl. There are no female Tuath in this tower.”
No females at all? What happened to Wynn’s mother and the other maids? “I’m not Tuath. I’m Scathian.”
“If you’re Scathian, then what’re you doing down here?”
That is none of his business, is it? “If you could please let Lady Marjory know that her niece has returned, I will be more than happy to explain.”
“Lady Marjory? She passed, gods, must be about two, maybe three years ago?”
My aunt isdead? That can’t be true. She can’t be gone too. What happened? Sure, she’d been ancient, but she had been in good health. “How is this possible?”
“Caught the wasting, I believe, though it was before I started working for his Lordship.”
First the wasting sickness stole my parents, then it took my aunt as well? Such a cruel, terrible disease. I hope she did not suffer, that she succumbed quickly. That someone was at her side so she did not die alone.
I should’ve been here.
Guilt and grief run hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. She and I never really got on, and I’d rebelled against the many rules she’d tried to put in place. Now that I’ve had so much time away to reflect, I realize the woman had done her best. I will be forever grateful for the home she provided when I had nowhere else go to.
Nowhere else to go…
“Who lives here now?” I ask.
“With no living descendants, Lady Marjory’s property reverted to the crown. The king awarded the tower to Lord Hasselbeck.”
Not only is my aunt gone, so is the home I’ve been trying so desperately to return to. The only thing that would make this day right is if I could go straight to Kumulus Castle and speak to Senan. But without sleep or a bath or something respectable to wear, they’ll take one look at me and send me away.