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Luna’s eyebrows rose. “You’ve reconciled with them, then?”
I nodded, remembering the long-awaited reunion.
In the aftermath of gaining my freedom, I had learned that my uncle had followed my instructions and gone to Amara. He and his family had received funds from her and left for Tarin before I emerged from my cell. I had sent an urgent communication after them to reassure my parents that I had been released and all was well, as well as to inform them of my betrothal. From their reply, I had learned that my uncle, aunt, and cousins had arrived safely on the farm.
My mother didn’t go into detail on the meeting between the brothers, but I could read between the lines to know it hadn’t gone smoothly. She seemed to be hopeful for the future, however, and with Amara and me stationed in the capital, my mother and I were able to exchange several more letters.
I learned from afar that my cousins had embraced farm life and that my uncle and father had slowly reconciled. By the time Amara sent my parents an invitation to her wedding, Uncle Olan and his family were sufficiently settled to run the farm in their absence. For the first time in my life, both my father and mother would be able to leave the farm at the same time for an extended trip.
I had thrown myself into the wedding preparations with fervor in an effort to distract myself from the wait for their arrival. Amara, in her usual perceptive manner, had understood my mindset and kept me run off my feet from morning to night until their arrival day finally came. Suddenly I had found myself without any tasks at all and no excuses to delay the meeting.
Nik had offered to be with me, but just like his own reunion with his parents, I knew it was something I needed to do on my own.
I had imagined how the interaction might go a hundred times, but I needn’t have worried. The moment I saw them, all the pain and worry was overwhelmed by an entire childhood of memories.
I ran into my mother’s arms without hesitation, tears streaming down both our cheeks. My father hung back, but when I finally finished hugging my mother, I turned to him with a smile.
“Thank you for coming, Father.”
He cleared his throat. “Our daughter’s influencer is getting married. How could we stay away? Even if she is a master mage.”
I froze, but both he and my mother chuckled. Relaxing, I smiled back. If they felt calm enough to joke about it, that had to be a good sign.
“I’m sorry, lass,” my father said softly, catching me off guard. “Your mother and I have had some long talks in your absence, and I know I was in the wrong with how I handled things.”
“Obviously.” My mother put her hands on her hips. “What am I going to do with the two of you? Of all the ridiculous things, keeping something like your squeamishness from me…” She shook her head.
“You’ve forgiven Father?” I asked, wanting to hear the reassurance, even though her manner made it clear she had.
She smiled. “He had to clean the henhouse on his own for a good month, but we got there in the end.” She linked her arm through mine and squeezed. “You’ll find out yourself soon enough, but you can’t maintain a partnership through an entire lifetime unless you’re willing to forgive each other along the way.”
I nodded. Nik and I weren’t even married yet, but we had already learned that lesson.
“Where is this man of yours?” Father asked. “He’s not here to greet us?”
“He wanted to be,” I said quickly. “But I wanted to meet you on my own first.”
My mother nodded her approval, squeezing my arm again, but my father went quiet.
“I’m sorry, Delphine,” he said. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I’m sorry for teaching you my anger and fear.”
My mother nodded approvingly. “And he was sorry even before that brother of his showed up and made it even more clear how wrongheaded his ideas were.”
“I forgive you, Father.” I tried to surreptitiously wipe the moisture from my eyes. “I forgave you a long time ago.”
My mother beamed at us both. “You were always a better daughter than I could have hoped for, Delphine. I’ve missed you, even if the house is full of people now.”
“Are things going well with Uncle Olan?” I asked eagerly.
My mother smiled. “Better than I feared in the first week. Those cousins of yours have proved a mighty boon on the days my back aches.”
“I’m so glad you finally have proper help,” I said. “It makes me feel much better about not returning to the farm.” I watched my mother’s face, trying to gauge her reaction to my words, but she just chuckled.
“Don’t look so worried. We already knew you weren’t coming back. You outgrew the farm a long time ago.”
“But not you!” I wrapped my arms around her, reveling in the familiar embrace. “I’ll never outgrow my mother.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad to hear you say it because I have every intention of spending a good portion of my old age bouncing my grandbabies on my knee.”
