Page 147 of Keldori By Daybreak

Ciarán stopped to pet Una on his way out, pulling the scrap of red fabric from her teeth. “If you need me, just call and you know I’ll come running.”

“Yeah.”

“And Wren? It’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure you’re happy here.”

“I know you will.”

He stepped out into the daylight of the opal forest, and I lay back in my makeshift bed in the dirt, suddenly missing my bed back in Gams’s home. The uneven floorboards, the smell of ocean air wafting through the windows, the knowledge that Gams was nearby…

And every dream and aspiration I’d ever had.

I’d traded all of it for Willow’s Grave.

Ciarán would know I was crying, but he kept quiet in my head as he traveled through the stone forest, and the illusion of privacy was nice as I grieved the home I’d never return to.

I didn’t keep my promise, but in my defense, crying always made me tired. Una watched over the cave as I slept curled against her wiry flank. I woke up when she stood to meet Ciarán upon his arrival at the narrow cave entrance.

His eyes had their old glow back, and he leered at me through the orange haze they cast.

“No sleeping, then?” he asked.

“Not a wink,” I lied, rubbing the fatigue from my eyes. “You found Skal?”

“And meat.” He procured buns like those we’d eaten on our first night in Willow’s Grave. “Eat. I need you looking more alive when your mother gets here.”

My appetite fled as my nerves mounted. “Right. When’s that happening?”

“As soon as you are ready. She’s still knocking, and it’s getting annoying.”

“Family trait. Sorry,” I quipped and took a bite of steamed bun. The meat curry inside was still warm.

Ciarán waited for me to finish my meal before swirling the dust at the bottom of our cave. It glowed orange, and an arm swathed in the sleeve of a plush robe pulled itself from the dirt.

My apprehension twisted like the dust as Mom took shape in her favorite robe and slippers. She would be relieved I wasn’t going forward with my plans to take the secret door into Keldori, but I still didn’t want to see the look on her face when I told her we’d never exist on the same plane of existence together again.

“My Lady.” Ciarán bent on one knee, and Mom swatted at his head, taking care to only catch the knot he kept his hair tied in, but letting her frustration be clear.

“Stand up! What took you so long? Where’s my daughter?”

Ciarán raised his face to look at me, and Mom followed his gaze to where I sat in my corner.

“Wren!” Mom fell to her knees to fling her arms around me. She nestled my head under her chin, then pulled away to hold me at arm’s length. She scoured my face, searching for injury with a knit brow. “Are you okay? You look okay. Did you get away then?”

“Yes, thanks to you.” I pulled her back into a hug.

“Don’t thank me yet, because I’m going to kill you!” She pushed off me to stand again. “You were supposed to stay with Sorcha! You! You let her come!”

She whirled back towards Ciarán and shoved an accusatory finger into his chest.

He bowed his head in respect. “I do not ‘let’ the Saergrim do anything, my Lady. She commands me. I obey.”

“Oh-ho! Is that right?” A sardonic grin spread wide across Mom’s face. “I’m her mother. What I say goes, alright? You hear me, Wren? If I say you go back to Sorcha, then you go back to Sorcha!”

“We are.” I turned away, unable to look her in the eye. “We’re going back to Sorcha. I’m not coming home.”

A pregnant pause fell over the cave, pressing against its confines, until Mom broke through.

“Oh. Well, good.” She couldn’t hide her tone’s disappointment, and I wondered how much of her had been hoping I’d disobey. “Wren, that’s good. You’ll be safe. I—have you been crying?”