“I don’t know, my flower,” Maud said.
“Do not despair,” Lord Soren said. “This is her home. My grandfather had all but given up on life. He lay down to die and refused to take food. Yet when House Wrir came to break down the doors, my grandfather rose from his deathbed and led our House to victory. Lived another three years after that until his heart finally gave out. You should’ve seen the funeral. Now that was—”
Arland looked at him.
“Right,” Lord Soren said. “The point is, the Draziri will come for the Hiru. They will bring every fighter they have left. They will attack this inn. Your sister will never let that stand.”
Tony walked into the room. “We’re about to head out.
“We’re also on our way,” Arland said.
“Good luck, everyone,” Tony said.
The corruption slipped through the inn, gathering above them, inching ever closer. They didn’t feel it, but I did. There was something similar about the corruption and I. We existed in a similar place, shrouded in darkness, disconnected but aware. I watched it slither its way through Gertrude Hunt. It was moving through my inn.
My inn.
Tony stepped out. The corruption halted, waiting.
Arland turned and knelt on one knee before my sister. “Wish me a happy journey, my lady.”
Lord Soren turned to Helen. “Come with me, little one.”
“Why?”
“They need to talk.”
They walked away. My sister and Arland were alone.
“Don’t do that,” Maud said.
“Do what?”
“Don’t kneel in front of me. My husband used to kneel before me. It didn’t keep us from being exiled. It didn’t keep him from throwing away everything that we built together. I hate this vampire custom. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m not your husband. It means something to me.”
“Please don’t.” Maud sat on the root and covered her face with her hands. All her strength disappeared. I did that, I realized. A painful twinge gripped me and faded slowly.
“I will return,” Arland said. “I would be by your side if you’ll have me. I would have you if you allowed it.”
She dropped her hands and looked at him. “Arland, I’ve been married and widowed. I have a child. She isn’t your child…”
“Right now she’s no man’s child. She should have a father, who will teach her and treasure her. I will do that for her. I love you, my lady.”
“Don’t tell me that.”
“And I would love Helen as my own.”
“Don’t.”
Arland rose. His face was grim. “I’m no poet. I’m a soldier. So, I’ll just tell you the way it is, as clumsy as it sounds. When I first saw you, it was like being thrown from a shuttle before it touched the ground. I fell and when I landed, I felt it in every cell of my body. You disturbed me. You took away my inner peace. You left me drifting. I wanted you right there. Then, as I learned more of you, I wanted you even more. You want me too. I’ve seen it in your eyes. You taught me the meaning of loneliness, because when I don’t see you, I feel alone. You may reject me, you may deny yourself, and if you choose to not accept me, I will abide by your decision. But know that there will never be another one like you for me and one like me for you. We both waited years so we could meet.”
He left the room.
Maud looked at me. “Say something, Dina. Please say something to me.”
I wanted to tell her that she was afraid of being loved, because her husband betrayed her. That she shouldn't throw away this chance at being happy. But there was too much darkness between us.
*
“I will be back,” Sean whispered into my ear.
A fire built inside me. A pressure that strained at the empty darkness. It hurt. The pain suffused me. I tried to escape but there was nowhere to run.
He brushed a kiss on my lips.
The pressure broke and I screamed. Don’t go! Don’t leave me! I’ll be all alone.
“I’ll be back soon.” He let go of me and went for the door.
He didn’t hear me. How could he not have heard me?
He stepped through the door.
Wait. Don’t go.
It closed behind him.
Wait.
Wait for me.
*
I sat on the porch, watching late afternoon slowly bleed into the evening. Maud had put my favorite robe on me, the blue one that our mother made. I looked like an innkeeper even if I didn’t feel like one. My sister had decided I should have the front row seat, so I would “snap out of it.” Beast lay on my lap. At first, when Sean had brought me in, she hid as if she didn’t recognize me and it scared her. Then, little by little, Sean coaxed her into my bed on the third night. Now she sat with me, sad and occasionally trembling.
Caldenia sat in a chair on my left. My sister stood on my right, holding my broom in one hand, and her sword in the other. In front of us the backyard stretched with the clearing behind it. Helen sat by my feet, holding her knives. The Hiru waited in the kitchen, out of sight.