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“I’ll miss these two.” Ida stooped to run a hand down Ember’s back. “I’d try to lure them into staying except I know it would do no good.”
My smile steadied as I squeezed Ember tight. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of them.”
Ember pressed into me, as if she understood what I was saying, and Phoenix made a small chip note that made us all smile. He didn’t usually like coming into the manor, but he liked the rain even less.
The following hours passed too quickly. A final walk through the town and a farewell dinner with Isolde, Costas, and Ida had to suffice for my goodbyes, and the rest of the time was consumed by sorting and packing my various belongings. I had come with very little, but somehow I had acquired more things during my stay than I could account for. It took time to decide what to take back with me, but at least I wasn’t alone in having this problem, since Luna was even worse. Between the two of us, we filled five large bags.
“You must be especially excited to get back,” I told her as we lugged our bags to the manor entrance on the designated morning. “You’ll finally be graduating and returning home.”
She had refused to tell me which winter day had marked her two years as an apprentice, saying we would celebrate together at her official graduation in the capital. She wouldn’t even accept my apologies for getting her caught up in the entire mess with Grey. If she’d been back home, she wouldn’t have had to wait to graduate.
“I’m excited and sad at the same time,” she told me. “I can’t wait to see my parents and all the progress in Calinara. All last year they were writing to me about the restoration work in the city, and I want to see it for myself. But then I think about leaving you and Hayes…” She stopped abruptly, dropped all her bags, and flung her arms around my neck, sobbing into my shoulder.
I froze in place, unable to put down my bags due to her tight hold and equally unable to keep moving forward.
“I’ll miss you too,” I told her, “although we’re not saying goodbye yet.”
She pulled away, mopping at her eyes. “It feels like a goodbye, don’t you think?”
“It is a goodbye,” I agreed, starting forward again. “But not between us two. And even once you do graduate, we’ll see each other again. If you don’t come back to Tartora, I’ll go find you in Calista. I’ll be free to travel once I’m a graduate too.”
“Will you really?” Luna brightened instantly. “I’ll show you everything! Promise!”
We reached the front door to find the others already waiting for us. Amara and Hayes were both watching us with amusement, but Nik turned away as soon as he saw me look in his direction. He didn’t turn fast enough to hide his expression, though. One among us had no positive feelings about what was waiting for him back on the mainland.
He said nothing, however, and we quickly moved through the town toward the harbor. I threw a final glance over my shoulder as we left the manor and its beautiful gardens behind. Would I ever be back to the island? If they allied with Tartora, it was possible, although I couldn’t imagine what the isolated community might look like in the future.
The islanders had gifted us a boat in gratitude for our extended service, and Costas had given Amara detailed instructions on the route back to the crevasse. She had traveled the path once before, but Costas had led the way on that occasion.
There were only five of us going back since both the Tartoran guards had elected to stay with Clay. They claimed to be staying to guard him, as if he was an official Tartoran delegate to the island community, but in reality we all knew they had more personal reasons for their decision. They had been chosen in the first place because they didn’t have families waiting for them at home, and both of them had become attached to forester girls during the winter months.
For a while everyone was busy in the bustle of loading onto the boat and setting sail. But as the island dwindled to nothing behind us, I sat beside Amara on the small deck.
“Can you really do this on your own?” I asked.
She laughed. “Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking that question?”
I grinned. “I suppose it is.” I turned my face into the ocean breeze. “It’s hard to believe we’re really going home.”
“Don’t worry,” she said after several minutes of comfortable silence. “With the winter storms behind us, I won’t have any trouble navigating a boat this size.” She gave a rueful smile. “I just might be very, very tired by the time we arrive.”
True to her word, Amara barely slept for days as she negotiated us through the tricky passage. By the time land finally came into sight again, I was immensely relieved. My master was strict on my not pushing myself near exhaustion, but she was apparently willing to take herself right up to the line.
I wasn’t the only one glad to see land. We were all sick of the confined space, with the tiny cabin providing the only relief from the elements. Even Luna had run out of topics of conversation, and Nik had barely spoken five words in at least a day.
As soon as we were positioned in a straight line for shore, Amara turned to Nik and gave a weary smile. “I trust you can bring us the rest of the way in?”
He nodded. “You can leave her in my hands.”
I knew he was talking about the boat, but Amara still shot me an amused look before lying down right where she was on the deck and going to sleep. Nik frowned down at her, and even though he didn’t say anything, I could see the concern in his eyes. As much as he might have fought it at first, Amara had worked her way into his inner circle.
Phoenix launched himself from my shoulder and winged straight for the distant land. Ember immediately padded to the boat’s prow and stood watching him go.
“Don’t tell me you miss him!” I took my place at her side, grinning down at her. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell him.”
I laughed to myself, too delighted at finally finishing the interminable journey to care who might be listening to my nonsense.
The remaining distance flew past, the land growing closer and closer. At first we had been too far out for me to identify the crevasse, but soon I could clearly see the thin line of green standing out from the surrounding desert.
