Page 20 of The War of Wings
“Marita!” I threw myself at the woman, her scent so familiar and reminiscent of one of my only sources of comfort during a time I had very little. “You’re here!”
“You’rehere, girl.” She reached up to tuck an errant strand of hair behind my ear. “I knew I’d see you here someday, just not so soon. But I suppose this will do.”
“It was him,” I said, not restraining the anger that coursed through me at the sight of her unmarked skin. “Castemont was the one who hurt you when you worked in the brothel.”
Her lips closed, and though she was still smiling, I could tell keeping that smile in place was painful. “Yes, girl. It was him.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“He was your step-father and a lord of Eserene. There wasn’t much I could do but pray to the Saints he wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”
Tears welled in my eyes at the sight of the woman before me, strong and beautiful and familiar. She wore her blonde hair in a long plait down her back, not covered like she had in Eserene. My brain sifted through the details of the story she’d told me. I gasped with realization. “You said the Lord’s guard helped you escape, right? Was it Castemont’s guard? Tyrak?”
“Aye, girl.”
“But…” I narrowed my eyes as if squinting could help me remember the exact details of her story. “Didn’t you say his sister helped you get a job at the castle as a royal tutor? I didn’t know he had a sister.”
“I never actually met her,” Marita answered. “I just thanked Onera I was able to get out of there.” She stared at me as if she was memorizing my features. “I always knew you were special, Petra.”
I scoffed, raising a brow. “Oh yeah? You knew I was the daughter of Saints?”
“Nothing to do with the blood in your veins.” She leaned forward, pointing to the center of my chest. “Everything to do with that heart of yours. You’re tough, girl. I knew they wouldn’tbreak you. I knew you were a phoenix, and look at how you rose. You should be proud of yourself.”
I swallowed hard, willing the prickle behind my eyes to go away. “Not yet,” I mumbled around the lump that had formed in my throat. “I’ll be proud when this is over.”
“They can exist side by side, you know? Pride and guilt,” she said, a knowing look on her face. “Because I know you, girl, and I know you’re carrying guilt you shouldn’t be carrying. But I know better than to try to convince you otherwise, you stubborn thing. So just remember, pride and guilt can exist side by side. As can conviction and uncertainty, and love and pain.”
Some of the turbulence within me calmed at her words. I’d remember them. “Thank you, Marita. I mean,LadyMarita.”
Her eyes shone with tears as she placed a gentle palm against my face. Her eyes flicked beyond my shoulder, and she nodded.
I turned, seeing the tops of two heads as a pair of unfamiliar women curtsied before me. “Your Majesty,” the first one said quietly before they both rose. I held in a gasp at the sight of her eyes — striking, piercing green, contrasted against warm brown skin and hair the color of midnight. Breathtaking didn’t begin to describe her. “My name is Arimara Myrin Raussau.”
A flicker of recognition in my gut quickly ignited. Myrin. This was… She was…
I wasn’t sure I was breathing. I threw my arms over her neck. The woman stiffened in surprise, but it didn’t take long for her arms to relax then tighten around me.
Cal and Miles’ mother.
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t find the words to thank her for raising such honorable men. She held me as I grappled with the emotions battering every part of my heart. A teary-eyed smile met me when I finally pulled back. Beside her, the second woman stepped forward, petite and sandy-haired. I’d been so focused on Arimara I hadn’t even noticed the woman beside her.
“Berna,” I breathed, pulling her into an embrace just as tightly as I had Arimara. I couldn’t believe this was happening. “Cal told me all about you,” I said, wiping my eyes as I pulled away. “Both of you. You found each other here.”
The women beamed at each other, an unmistakable look of pride passing between them. “That’s the way it works here,” Berna said, her face still lit with a dazzling smile. “Arimara knew who I was the moment I walked through the Gates.”
“Thank you,” I finally managed to say. “Thank you both for all you did to make them who they are. They’re such good men, and I–”
“Men?” Arimara breathed. Her brows were upturned, something like hope sparking to light in her eyes amid the tears as she and Berna stared at me. “You…know them both?”
I inhaled sharply. She didn’t know. Of course she didn’t know. Berna thought Tobyas had died. “Yes, I know them both.”
“We’ve been looking for Tobyas since Berna first arrived,” Arimara whispered, choking on the words. “We were sure there had to be some mistake, why we hadn’t found him yet, and–”
“You won’t find him here,” I answered quickly. Both their eyes widened in horror, and I blurted out the rest of my sentiment when I realized what it sounded like. “He didn’t die that day in the harbor when he fell from the cliffs.”
Arimara’s hand found Berna’s. “What?”
My mouth opened to tell them he was still alive, but promptly slammed shut. Miles… He’d been on the brink of death when I left. His torso had been split almost in two. If he hadn’t arrived here in Heaven yet, he would very, very soon.
