Page 94 of Wilds of Wonder
Driscoll wiped away a tear. “It’s a little dusty in here is all,” he said as we looked at him. More tears spilled down his cheeks. “Okay,fine, I’m crying. This is a very sweet reunion, and you all are emotionless voids of humans.”
El rolled her eyes and signed, Aron clearing his throat and translating, “Now that we’ve found the girl, are you all going to accompany us back to our home? Or are you going your own way?”
Maverick still hugged his sister tight, but she turned. “Oh, I’d love to go with you. Can we, Mav? I can show you around a little more. Introduce you to some friends.”
“Friends?” Driscoll squeaked.
Maverick sighed, massaging his temple. “Does your home have a bath, by any chance? And food? And a decent place to sleep?
For the first time since I’d met her, El smiled and held up two fingers, both of them pressed together. I’d learned enough to know that meant yes.
Maverick slung an arm around Annalee’s shoulders. “Then let’s get going, and once we’re there, we have a lot to discuss.” He met El’s gaze, and she stared at him for a long moment before giving a sharp nod.
“Does that mean the tea party is over?” Driscoll asked.
The bugs quieted, slowly floating to the ground while the hat slumped. Annalee ducked under Maverick’s arm and patted the hat. “Don’t worry. We’ll have another tea party again soon.”
Maverick opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but then he snapped it shut.
El signed, and Maverick nodded. “Okay, let’s get going, then.” He reached for Annalee’s arm. “Want to take a walk with your big brother?”
Annalee gave him the brightest smile. “Absolutely.”
He roped an arm around her shoulders. El turned and began walking, all of us following. I only hoped this place was safe like El claimed. I wasn’t sure my heart could take any more. I chanced a glance back at Maverick. Not when it was already so thoroughly broken.
Chapter Forty-Four
MAVERICK
Iheld Annalee’s hand tight, not wanting to let it go for even a second. I looked over at her as she smiled, her light brown skin dewy with a glow to it that I didn’t recognize, her eyes so bright and full of life.
This was a side of Annalee I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. She seemed so at home here, which should’ve been... impossible. This place wasn’t a home. It was a wasteland, where death and danger awaited around every corner, yet Annalee had no problem navigating any of it.
“Hey,” I said as we walked through a field of trees that had been razed to the ground, nothing left but their stumps and dead leaves and branches. “I owe you an apology, you know.”
She arched her neck to look up at me. “It’s okay. I know I was asking a lot of you, of Mama and Father. I knew it all seemed impossible.” She gripped my arm. “But that’s why I wanted you to see it.”
I let out a laugh of disbelief. “How did you even know I’d follow you? That was a huge gamble to take.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “I had to come here, no matter what.Every time I slept, I dreamt of this place, Mav. And it felt like the longer I stayed away, the more it was eating me alive. I almost believed I was crazy, just like Father said. But everyday when I woke up, back to reality after a night spent dreaming of the Wilds, I lost a piece of myself.”
She jumped up onto a tree stump, then stepped down, her blue-checkered dress swaying with the movement.
“Do you know why you had dreams of this place?” I asked, still not able to put any of it together. “How could you have known what was here? The madness? The wonder. I—” I rubbed my jaw.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t know why I started dreaming of the Wilds or these creatures. I don’t even know what happened here after the Shadow War, how Shiraeth became this.” She gestured to the field of stumps. “But I think, in a way, I was meant to come here. To understand the Wilds and its inhabitants. To help them. You know they wouldn’t ever be accepted in Arathia. If word got out what existed here, they’d send armies to slaughter everyone and burn everything.”
For a moment, I wondered if that might be such a bad thing.
Like she could read my thoughts, Annalee swatted my arm. “There’s some beauty here, you know,” she said. “I’ve found it, and everyone else can too. There’s been no one to govern these creatures, no one to lead them or show them how to behave. They need help, not to be wiped from existence.”
“How did you get so smart?” I pressed a kiss to Annalee’s temple. “And when did you grow up?” I’d missed so much after I left for the academy, and Annalee had gone through a lot without me by her side.
From an early age, she’d been having these dreams about a place no one else believed was real, she’d had to deal with my mother’s wild emotions, my father’s stern hand. She’d been called crazy and been made to feel like she was lying, making all of this up for attention. And all the while, she’d been steadfast in her beliefs.
I swallowed my rising guilt, then glanced behind me at Emory, who walked alone, Driscoll and Aron behind her, while El marched ahead of us all.
I caught Emory’s eye and gave her a nod, then turned.
