Nell and I, Altair and Lethe at our rear, left behind the shore of Beggar’s Hole, approaching the rock island which would lead us directly onto the soil of The Hearthlands.
Perhaps the gods had been watching all along.
Could it have been mere coincidence that the love of my life would live so near to our earthly portal? Mere coincidence that her town would be famed for its natural wonder, unknowingly celebrating—and likely suffering— their connection to the dimension of ghouls?
The more I recalled the recent weeks in my mind, the more connections I saw, like the joints of a constellation. If a single shard of the magical mirror, an Aena family heirloom, had not remained behind for Lethe Eraeus to collect and use in his espionage, he never would have known that I had been led by Pythia’s call to Maine. He never would have procured the services of the harpies in distracting and disturbing me, which in turn had caused Nell to consider them for help when I had abandoned her, safe with her parents, so that I could return to the war. It was the harpies who had suggested the use of that oft forgotten and unused portal.
Perhaps even Penelope’s infertility had been a thread in the grand, unknowable design. After all, had it been the order of the gods, woven into the stars over The Hearthlands, that I have a son who would be king? A daughter who would be a queen? Or had that merely been mortal machination? Nothing more than a tradition, an expectation. Not fate. Decree.
And it was that infertility which had allowed her to strike the deal with Parnassia she knew she would never be able to satisfy. The deal with Parnassia which had led our paths to cross when Parnassia became lost in the sky, and brought about the alliance which ultimately disposed of the ice dragons…
They might have been a threat to us still, as they would doubtlessly rebuild their society—even if only by concentrating on themselves—but it would be a long time until they struck again. Perhaps another fifty years. Perhaps the grandson of Lethe, if he chose to remarry, or to rekindle his sham marriage to Michelle, even. The poor sap. Maybe, though. Maybe there was some way we could rebuild which might de-incentivize a rebellion by our brothers to the south.
I pointed downward and dove into the center of the ring of rocks, the dazzling cosmic portal at its center. There was the unpleasant sensation of being stifled, of darkness, and then we burst into the fresh air of my homeland. The clouds, which had been low and thick since I had returned, had broken apart. A pale blue morning sky shimmered down on us, and with it a few threads of sunlight. The snow had split into patches and appeared to be melting, but slowly, and the city…
The city on the horizon was black and smoldering still.
Theon
As the four of us descended to the ground at the city walls—the moat had stopped its infernal burning and was now the burbling, effervescent river I had always known it to be—Lethe, Altair and I shifted into our human forms, again nude. Penelope had the grace to let this go unacknowledged, which was kind of her, as the men of fire heritage were seldom aware of their own nudity unless a female was present.
“Theon,” Altair called to me, frowning and shaking his head. There was a message scrawled across the city wall, fading into thin air before us.
Children, the letter began, if you are in condition to read this letter, know that the castle has been almost wholly retaken, with the exception of one willful ice dragoness who refuses to vacate. Find me the moment you return. I am in the throne room.
All my love,
Your mother
“It was a gift from the oracle of Thundercliff,” I explained to Altair. “A letter which allows the writer to transcribe across any distance to anyone they truly love. I suspect Mother has taken charge of my satchel.” We pushed through the ruined gates and into the blackened shell of a city beyond. Large swaths of snow had melted away to reveal the dead and brown grass beneath.
“I suspect that is not all she has,” Altair grumbled.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
Altair cleared his throat. “I know a particularly willful ice dragoness,” he said, shaking his head. “She would have stayed behind… and she wouldn’t have bent to the will of the former queen, attempting to banish her.”
I frowned and caught a glimmer of smile playing at the edges of Nell’s lips. “What?” I asked. “What am I missing?”
“You’ll see,” Nell replied. She shared a knowing glance with Altair. “Hopefully your mother hasn’t tortured her too much.”
The castle loomed before us now, clearly damaged but not nearly as destroyed as the surrounding village. There were some burnt portions of the wall, some windows that had been knocked out, but it seemed that the acquisition of the palace had been a quick and relatively painless one.