Page 168 of Cast in Atonement

“In the end, she chose the man, the future children. They did have children. If she could see me now, she would understand why I did not want her to carry this burden. I wanted happiness for her. I wanted her to have and build connections with people. I did not want her to suffer a life of isolation and duty, shorn of those things.”

“And the garden was angry.”

Evanton nodded. “Perhaps that is why I have yet to find a successor. Do not anger things ancient and wild if you have any choice. But come. I have spoken far too much, and Mrs. Erickson is waiting.”

Mrs. Erickson was comfortable in the confines of Evanton’s small shop. The hallway that led to the garden’s door—a door that seemed like it had seen better decades, it looked so normal and run-down—was narrower, by a couple of inches, than the halls in her home.

Evanton offered Mrs. Erickson his arm; she accepted immediately. Bellusdeo and Mandoran trailed behind them, in single file; Kaylin and Severn picked up the rear.

Did you know? she asked Severn.

About his personal life? No. About his apparent immortality? Yes. He has aged, but extremely slowly.

Is this something you picked up with the Wolves?

We have different Records than the Hawks, yes.

She fell silent, thinking about Evanton. Thinking about a future Kaylin. Would she fall in love the way normal people seemed to? Would she want children? And if she had them, would she want them to bear the marks of the Chosen in her stead?

Absolutely not.

She’d had no choice. Mrs. Erickson had had no choice. The hands they’d been dealt seemed to be composed of twos and wild cards. But Mrs. Erickson had probably saved the world with the hand she’d been given, and that had turned a very ambivalent gift into a source of pleasure, of pride.

Evanton opened the door for Mrs. Erickson and held it open as she stepped through its frame, vanishing instantly from Kaylin’s sight. Evanton followed.

Bellusdeo and Mandoran weren’t too far behind.

“Are you ready?” Severn asked, which surprised her.

She nodded and followed Severn through the door.

The garden was not exactly as she remembered, although the modest house remained unchanged. Gone was the small, but deep pond, and its surrounding soft moss which was so soothing to the touch. She would have frozen in the doorway, but she could hear Mrs. Erickson’s exclamations of wonder and delight.

What she hadn’t expected—and probably should have—was the damn dress.

The moment she had both feet in the garden, her clothing transformed. She cursed. In Leontine. Which Mrs. Erickson, thankfully, didn’t understand. Mrs. Erickson did understand the tone, and turned back immediately.

“Kaylin? Oh! You’re wearing the dress again!”

She was indeed. The lovely, practical, and ultimately attention-grabbing dress that the green gave to indicate its choice of harmoniste.

“Is your dress like Evanton’s robes?” Mrs. Erickson asked.

Evanton was attired in the blue robes of the Keeper. “It is very much like them,” he replied. He turned to Kaylin, smiling; the smile contained just a hint of an edge.

“What does that mean?”

“While you are in my garden—and while you are in the green, should you feel the need to return to the West March—you will wear this dress. When you leave my garden, you will be wearing the clothing you arrived in. It is raiment of honor,” he added, clearly understanding just how honored it made Kaylin feel.

“So I get to keep my clothing? I don’t have to scrounge up money to replace it again?”

“You get to keep your original clothing.”

Which was a huge relief. Having to replace the first set of pants and shirt was going to be difficult, but possible; having to replace a second set? “What did you do to the garden?” Kaylin asked, changing the subject.

The garden was now surrounded by forest—a forest of strangely familiar-looking trees that reminded Kaylin of her trek to the West March. The elemental garden—and the small house it contained—resided in the center of a natural clearing, but there was another structure opposite that house that was grander and taller by far.

Pillars rose to the sky; Kaylin couldn’t easily see the tops of them without almost falling over backward. Those pillars were of worked stone, at least at first sight; she realized that they were the emblem of earth here. Of fire, there was no sign, but the fire had often been contained in either outdoor campfire or indoor hearth; she could feel the breeze move her hair and the skirts of her dress. Air.

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