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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ivy
Ivy sat with her back up against the log, the soft earth, and beneath her backside somehow feeling more luxurious than the padded bed in the cell she had been forced to sleep in. They had taken a long and circuitous route, staying well away from the main roads, and had gotten back to Therline. To their safe haven in a world that seemed to be descending into chaos around them.
The night was dark and moonless. Though the rain had stopped, the sky remained crowded with dark, ominous clouds. Thunder continued to roll in the distance, and the air just felt heavy. They sat in a small clearing under the thick canopy of branches above. The fire between them all roared, cutting some of the chill in the air, and Ivy closed her eyes for a moment, soaking in the warmth.
Ivy melted against Fin, who sat next to her, also reveling in the warmth of his hard, toned body. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tightly to him. She looked across the fire at Mira, who seemed sullen and subdued and had since their flight from the castle. Hollis spoke with her quietly, jesting with her. He was trying to make her laugh, but aside from the occasional flicker of a smile upon her lips, she did not seem in the mood for levity.
“Are you all right, Mira?” she finally asked.
As if coming awake from a dream, Mira looked up, meeting her eyes with a dazed expression on her face. She swallowed and gave Ivy a weak smile and a nod.
“Yes, I am quite all right,” she said.
“I can tell you are not,” she said. “What is bothering you?”
Ivy sat up, and Fin pulled his arm away, allowing her to lean forward. He, too, looked concerned for Mira, but he remained silent.
“I just - I do not know what is to become of us now,” she said. “We obviously cannot return to Elix. Your brother would have our heads off in the blink of an eye. It is… it is the only home I have ever known.”
Ivy nodded. She could understand Mira’s feelings because she, too, had them as well. Cherrythorn Manor, her ancestral home, named after Elix’s main crop, was all she knew. Like Mira, she had grown up there. And knowing she could not return to it - perhaps ever - sent a lance of pain through her heart. The only way she would ever see Cherrythorn Manor again was if her brother was removed from power - something she was not sure would ever come to pass.
“Home is what ye make of it,” Fin interjected. “No matter what happens, just ken ye both have a home at Westmarch Hall. Gillian would never turn ye away. In fact, I ken she’d love tae have ye both there.”
“Aye. I’ve heard her complain ‘bout nae havin’ enough lady friends,” Hollis added. “Truth told, I ken she’d appreciate the company.”
She and Mira both smiled, and for Ivy, at least, it was genuine. Knowing that Fin would help give them a new home filled her with joy. And to be so close with Gillian again… that was something Ivy knew she would enjoy very much.
As much as it delighted her, though, it was not home. Not truly. She knew she could be happy there, but it would never be her home. Cherrythorn Manor was where all of her memories were stored. Her life and everything about it was soaked into the stones that made up the castle. It had seen her joy. Her sorrow. It had absorbed her laughter and her tears. She was Cherrythorn Manor as much as it was her. And regardless of how much she loved being there, she knew she would never be able to say that about Westmarch Hall.
“It will be all right. I will be all right,” Mira said. “It will just take me a little time to adjust to this and put my feet back on the ground again.”
Silence descended over the group, and nobody spoke for a while. Ivy had gone back to nuzzling herself against Fin, and together, they simply stared into the flames. Her mind was spinning as thoughts and feelings from the day continued to whirl through her head, and Ivy was having a hard time making it stop, let alone put it into any sort of coherent order.
Mira yawned and got to her feet and stretched. “If you will excuse me, I believe I need a little sleep,” she said. “I am certain this will all look differently in the morning.”
Ivy reached up and gave Mira’s hand a squeeze as her handmaiden passed by, on her way to the small home that was mostly intact, that she had claimed for the night. Hollis climbed to his feet as well and followed her. Fin chuckled softly to himself but said nothing as he watched his friend disappear from sight among the decaying and empty cabins and buildings of the abandoned town, no doubt intending to sit outside Mira’s quarters and keep watch over her.
Finally, they were alone. Fin had been looking forward to spending time alone with Ivy all day. He just enjoyed being in her presence. Perhaps it was selfish, but Fin enjoyed having her attention solely upon him and not having to share his time with her with anybody else.
“I believe he is smitten,” Ivy said, her voice low and conspiratorial.
“Oh, I ken it’s well beyond smitten at this point,” Fin chuckled. “I’ve never seen him act like such a bampot about a lass before.”
Ivy laughed and slapped his chest playfully. “I think it is sweet.”
“I worry he’s settin’ himself up for a bad fall,” Fin replied. “I daenae ken Mira likes him the same way he does her.”
Ivy shrugged. “Circumstances being what they are and with so much uncertainty in the air right now, it is hard to say. She is clearly not herself right now,” Ivy said. “But I think that Hollis is the sort of man she would like. And he is clearly devoted to her already.”
They shared a soft laugh between themselves, but it quickly faded away, leaving them in silence once more. Ivy cocked her head and looked at him, seeing a confusing swirl of emotions in his eyes.
“Are ye all right, love?” he asked. “What ye went through-”
“I am fine. I promise you,” she said. “What I went through was nothing. I spent a day in a luxuriously appointed cell. I know others who have had it far worse than I.”
“Aye. But twas nae yer time in the cell I was talkin’ about,” he said. “Tis everythin’ else. Yer home. Yer braither. Everythin’ ye’ve learned about yer family.”
