Page 89 of Forged in Flame and Shadow

Yet I had put Leon on that list too, and I thought I’d hate him forever for it. Since then, I’ve learned that choices can be more complicated than I’d realized. More importantly, he also showed me that he could work to make up for his mistakes—that he could be open with me and make sacrifices to give me what I needed.

I felt safe with Leon before I had any actual reasons to trust him. But maybe sometimes it’s worth sticking with your choice to have faith in someone.

“Oh, it’s so cute,” Tira breathes as the cottage comes into view.

The little wooden house looks like it’s burrowed its way into the sand, banks rising up around its walls. A porch out front provides room for a deck chair with fishing gear propped up beside it. A string of seashells hangs above the door, clacking lightly in the breeze.

“Shall I?” I say as we all stop in front of the house.

“Go ahead,” Leon says.

I take a deep breath and knock.

“Just a moment!” a familiar voice calls from inside. The sound of it makes my heart jump. For just a second, I’m a little girl back in Gallawing, Will calling through the grounds for me.

The door swings open, and a gray-haired man comes into view, stooping slightly in the low doorway.

Will was always too collected to be easily shocked, but his eyes widen now.

“Morgana?”

“Hello Will,” I say softly.

Without another word, he holds open his arms, and I gladly step into them.

“I thought you might be dead,” he says, squeezing me tightly enough to push all the air out of my lungs. “I’ve heard terrible things about all kinds of goings on in Elmere, and about you disappearing.”

“The last few months haven’t been the easiest,” I admit. It’s now that he looks beyond me to take in the seven strangers, Tira, and what looks like a large dog. He blinks at them, then his eyes narrow. He suspects something isn’t entirely as it seems with the group. He didn’t spend a lifetime working as a guard without picking up a few things—such as, perhaps, how to spot a glamour. At the very least, he knows soldiers when he sees them, no matter how they’re disguised.

“And these are…?”

“You know Tira,” I say, who holds her hand up in greeting. “And these are friends of mine,” I say, looking around. The beach is pretty empty, but I still don’t want to say more out in the open. “Do you mind if we come inside?”

It’s pretty surreal, watching Leon’s unit traipse into the house, ducking their heads in polite greeting as we pile into the little cottage. Will shows us into a room that serves as the living room, dining room,andkitchen. The soldiers perch where they can, wedged shoulder to shoulder on the windowsills or on the armsof the plump armchair in the corner. For want of more room, Tira settles down on the floor with Dots, who curls up beside her. Leon stays standing by the door, a quiet sentinel, as Will and I sit down at the small round dining table.

“It’s lovely, Will,” I say sincerely, looking around at the cozy space—at least what I can see that isn’t blocked by bodies.

“It does what it needs to,” Will says modestly, still glancing warily around at the others. “I just don’t usually have so many visitors.”

There’s a clatter as Stratton knocks a book off a shelf he’s leaning against.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, ducking to pick it up. “Haven’t read this one,” he says, waving the cover at Will. “Erm…looks good.”

Damia snorts, and I start to wonder if I should’ve made the fae wait outside. They’re acting like they’ve never had a normal interaction in their lives. I ignore their awkward expressions and dive straight in.

“If you heard about what happened in Elmere, then you probably heard what my aunt, Lady Oclanna, has been saying about me.”

“Yes,” Will says slowly. “I have. Some tripe about you murdering your parents.”

“My parents, the king and queen,” I say pointedly.

Will’s face falls. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. They would’ve kicked me out of that manor the moment I did. And you were so alone all the way out there—except for you and your family, of course, Miss Holms,” Will nods at Tira. “But I figured it was better that I stick around and try to teach you what I could.”

“But you still left,” Tira says from her spot on the floor. I’m glad she makes the accusation instead of me. “Everything went to shit for Ana after that,” she adds.

Will shakes his head. When he speaks, his voice is thick with remorse. “I’d reached retirement age, and General Becane was putting pressure on me to leave. He said it was time I gave myself a break. You were nearly of age. I thought they’d tell you when you turned twenty-one and let you move to the capital.”

“You thought they’d let me out in the world, even though I was a solari?” I ask, my voice cool.

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