“We’ll postpone it on your advice,” Reagan said, noting the way Jane parted her lips as if to protest. “In the meantime, she’ll be travelling with me.”
Chapter 28
Jane
Anticipation built low in my stomach. I shouldn’t have felt it.
But despite my father’s state, despite the need to continue the lessons, when Reagan told me to join him and Finn in Banfgaard, I couldn’t say no. That was all I wanted.
Glancing down at the burgundy cloak, I realised I’d been fidgeting with my nails.
Moments ago, Joy had walked out of the foyer without a word, without even a goodbye. She couldn’t fathom why I had agreed to this trip or why I even wanted to visit another place. She had never asked to leave Ehrfurt. Even though, lately, I’d thought she was beginning to change her mind.
Next to me, Finn wrestled with the cuffs of his shirt, fumbling with buttons I’d never seen him struggle with before.
“Need help with that?” I asked, lifting a brow.
He exhaled and held out an arm. “Yes, before I burn this one.”
My lips quirked as I caught the bite in his tone. “You really don’t want to see your family?”
“Why?” he asked. “Don’t I look thrilled?”
I adjusted the buttons, waiting for him to continue. He opened his mouth, but his gaze drifted to the high windows, where a wan shaft of morning light slipped through.
He shook his head. “It’s family. Why would I want to see them?”
I flicked a look at him, but Finn was already focused on putting on his cloak.
“Are you ready?” Reagan appeared from a side corridor, Cerridwen at his side, his cloak already draped over his shoulders.
We’d barely exchanged words in recent days. He’d spent most of the time visiting towns and outposts and following any leads about the Foley girl’s death. And avoiding me.
Reagan’s frustration, as far as I could tell, split into two possibilities: either angry confrontation or cold indifference.
“You have Joy, right?” I asked Cerridwen.
She nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her. I’m thinking she might like to visit my lab. I have a guess that she might like lab work.”
Her office full of glass jars and cauldrons filled my mind. “Right. And you can reach us if he wakes?”
“I’ll send a familiar,” she replied. “Now off you go.”
Reagan hefted two pieces of luggage, focused on their weight rather than on any of us. Finn offered me a tight-lipped smile and his free hand, the other clutching a bag, ready to fling us.
“I can take mine,” I murmured, reaching for my duffel, trying to meet Reagan’s gaze. I couldn’t.
“You can’t carry it,” Reagan said.
Charmed so only he could lift it, of course.
I considered asking whether he planned to ignore my presence for the entire trip, but guilt kept the words from coming out. Instead, I took Finn’s hand, steadying myself, and we flung.
Mere seconds passed before the foyer dissolved into sweeping greenery, the sudden brightness stinging my eyes.
A palace rose before us, draped in vines and blooms that reminded me faintly of Erisea Hall. This one didn’t stretch nearly as tall, but it was broad, sprawling outward rather than upward. The vines shimmered as though threaded with gold, and the white stone glimmered like marble.
The air was heavy with the scent of flowers. A forest clung to the hillsides behind and to either side of us, while the elegant stone beneath our feet caught the luminous shine of morning. Flowers crowded the path in orderly rows, guiding us toward a gate. Tulips, and a white variety of lilies shaped like milk glasses.
