It took six days to reach Arren. Neither the hardy warhorses nor the trained Guardsmen needed to rest very frequently, which allowed them to remove a day from the usual travel time. Coulta had a feeling they'd take the return journey easier after only a day or so of rest in the city.
Even knowing that Windwick had been destroyed, it was still a shock to see the entire village reduced to ash and fallen timber. Shelton's spies had burned what was left out of respect, including the bodies, before returning to Ryal. Coulta couldn't even tell where the healer's home or the stables had been.
It was late in the afternoon of the sixth day when they passed into the city of Arren and Coulta hid himself. Quiver's reins were tied to a Guardsman's saddle so that the black stallion looked more like an extra pack horse. People in the streets watched curiously as they made their way to the castle, but didn't say much.
The city didn't appear to have changed to Coulta's eye. It was still rundown and had an air of desperation to it. Coulta hadn't expected much change in such a short amount of time, though. Malryf had a massive task in front of him to ease the damage Varin and his forefathers had caused to the city and the minds of its people.
What he did notice was a small shrine in the market for Favi, the goddess of hope. It seemed that worship of the goddess had become more common since Varin's death. Coulta was glad he and Roane, Varin's other assassin, hadn't managed to completely destroy the cult despite Varin's orders.
They reached the castle yard and Coulta managed to dismount and get out of the way without issue as grooms took their horses and a guard greeted Rohan.
"Lord Malryf didn't expect you until tomorrow, but I'm sure he's eager to speak with you," the man said after giving the Prince-General a salute.
Rohan nodded to him. "I'm eager to speak with him, as well." He ordered the Guardsmen and Ralix, who had been given a plain Royal Guard uniform as honorary membership after his actions in battle, to help with the horses, then relax outside until he returned with Malryf's orders for them. Then he started to follow the guard, but Coulta put a hand on his arm, still invisible.
"I'll find him later and speak to him," he said quietly.
Rohan gave a slight nod, then continued on his way.
Coulta drew a deep breath and followed. The castle door was left open, something Varin would never have allowed, and Coulta slipped inside without being noticed. He took a side passage that he remembered by heart, and eventually found himself in a familiar hallway. The door to his former room was firmly closed, but Teeya's was standing half open, which he knew meant that she was accepting sewing work from anyone who needed it. He glanced inside and his heart leaped to his throat at the sight of her sitting at her work table, looking just as she had when he'd last seen her. If Varin had done anything to her, it hadn't left any obvious physical scars.
He made sure no one was in the hallway, then knocked on the door. She glanced up as he slipped inside and made himself visible.
Her eyes went wide and her hands flew to her mouth. He fought hard against the lump in his throat as he shut the door. Then she was in his arms, crying as she held him, and he could hold back his own tears of relief no longer.
It was several minutes before they ended the embrace, and it was when Teeya pulled back and whispered, "I should be bowing, not crying on you."
Coulta pulled her back into another hug. "Not you. Never you."
"Why are you here?" she asked when he finally let her go.
"I had to know what happened to you," he answered. "I have to visit Lord Malryf, but I came here to find you. I'm sorry for leaving you here."
She wiped her eyes and gave him a weak smile. "Don't be. I was just happy when I knew you'd gotten away, and with the prince."
"Varin didn't think I had told you anything?"
She glanced away for a moment. "He did, and he tried to starve it from me, until he decided that he needed too many uniforms made to keep me locked up. It wasn't bad. He didn't hurt me and I was only in the dungeon for a day. Please, don't feel guilty."
She still knew him so well. "I didn't even expect to go against Varin's orders, let alone leave the city."
"I told you the prince was the one your mother foresaw," she teased. "Will you tell me everything that happened? Why aren't you hiding the marks on your skin anymore?"
"Of course, but it's such a long story. I should go see Malryf first, then come back here and tell you."
She smiled. "I'll be waiting."
Lord Malryf was a kind, middle-aged man who appeared honestly interested in fixing all the problems in Arren. He also knew that Coulta was only speaking to him because ghosting in and out of the castle without doing so wouldn't have been polite. He was very understanding of Coulta's reasons for being in Arren, and didn't object to him asking Teeya to leave with him. They were still sorting through the treasury and ledgers, but Wildas had forgiven all of Arren's debts to the crown in order to allow the city to be essentially rebuilt, so there was some money already set aside to give the servants who left the castle something to live off of. Teeya would be granted her due if she chose to leave, which Coulta hoped she would.
Then he returned to her room and helped her with her mending while he told her everything, from the moment he'd tried fighting Varin's orders outside the inn window to the moment he left to look for her. She listened eagerly and gave him a ridiculous smile when he told her – in very few, vague details – about the night Wildas had asked him to be his husband. She covered her mouth at the details of the battle, and squeezed his hand when he told her how the curse had broken. She was incredibly interested in all the people he spoke about, as well.
"I would love to meet them all. Everyone sounds so wonderful."
He smiled. "Then come back with me. The castle always needs more seamstresses."
"Do you mean that?" she asked, staring at him.
He nodded. "Of course I do. You'll have plenty of work and I'll be sure to introduce you to everyone. I already spoke to Malryf and he's happy to let you go. He'll even give you some extra payment to get you settled. Will you come?"
She barely took a moment to think about it before smiling. "Yes."
He grinned and hugged her. "Thank you. Is my room still as I left it?"
She nodded. "No one's been in it since you left."
"I'll stay there tonight. We'll be leaving tomorrow."
"I'll be ready," she assured him, watching him move toward the door that separated their rooms.
Inside his old bedchamber he found everything as he'd left it. He'd been gone only two months, but spiders had already made a home of the place, and a thin layer of dust covered everything. He removed his boots, sword belt, and cord of station that he wore across his body and placed them all beside the door to Teeya's room. Then he shook out the pillows and lay down on top of the blankets for a restless night.
The old ghosts haunted him until Wildas's dream presence chased them away. Strong, familiar arms held him closer and more tenderly than in any other dream before, and he finally slept without nightmares. When the first rays of light woke him at dawn he decided it was time to go home. This place had once been the semblance of home, but it wasn't anymore.
And it never would be again. Home was where Wildas was, and that wasn't going to change. Anil and Myri were also a part of that home, and now Teeya would be a part of it again, too.
It took seven days to return to Ryal, and they entered the city at the end of dusk. Teeya had spent the days asking question after question about life in Ryal and the people she would meet. Coulta answered all her questions, though he was vague when it came to talking about his intimate life. Thankfully, she left that topic mostly alone, aside from wanting to know more about power shares.
When they reached the castle at Ryal, Ralix went ahead to tell Wildas, Anil, and Myri of their arrival while Coulta showed Teeya the entry hall with the kings' statues, the the Great Hall, and the throne room, though those rooms weren't well-lit at that hour.
"Where is the late Grand King's statue?" Teeya asked.
"It hasn't been completed yet," Coulta answered as he led her up a flight of stairs. "It was only just commissioned the day after the coronation as Wildas's first official act as Grand King."
"There must be a lot of tradition here," she commented softly.
"There is."
Most of the passageways were shadowy and only dotted periodically with torches until they reached the hallway holding the two suites of rooms, two sets of attendants' quarters, and a nursery at the end of the hallway. Several more torches were lit and two Guardsmen stood at the entrance to the wing. Now that they were less likely to be facing Varin's assassins the normal, lower number of guard rotations had been reinstated. The Guardsmen saluted Coulta, who nodded to them. Even being Second King didn't seem to change the fact that he'd become an honorary member of the Guard by becoming Wildas's protector, so he was saluted to as a Guardsmen of greater rank, not bowed to like Shelton still was.
Coulta was sure it would take him his whole life to fully understand everything about being the Second King. To say there was tradition in Ryal was an understatement.
The door to Wildas's office was slightly ajar and Coulta heard voices from inside, but he paused to point out his own office door to Teeya. "If you ever need me, check there first. If it's not open at all, I'm not there."
She nodded. "I might get lost first, though."
"You'll learn your way fairly quickly. And there are always servants or Guardsmen willing to help you."
She nodded again and followed him to Wildas's office. Inside they found Coulta's spouses as well as Shelton and Yvona. The room fell quiet as soon as they entered and Coulta introduced Teeya to everyone.
"No, don't bow," Wildas said when she started to. He stepped up to her and smiled. "You're Coulta's family and you're more than welcome here."
"Thank you," she replied weakly, then blushed when Wildas took her hand and kissed it.
Then Myri and Anil each hugged her and told her how glad they were to finally meet her. They were followed by Yvona, then Shelton, who kissed her hand as Wildas had before welcoming her to Ryal.
Teeya was soon relaxed and comfortable in their presence, and stayed there for a couple of hours getting to know them all. Finally, when it grew late, Coulta hugged her and allowed Dala, Anil's lady-in-waiting, to take her to her new room downstairs. He promised to see her in the morning to take her to meet the castle's other seamstresses, and she seemed excited to start her new work.
Shelton and Yvona also left a few minutes later, leaving Coulta alone with his spouses. He had been surprised to see them all still bearing their marks from the magic he'd shared with them, though maybe slightly smaller; he could only see a small hint of Anil's above her dress, Myri's didn't quite reach as far around her wrist, and Wildas's no longer went all the way to his collarbone.
"I'd thought you would all have used up your magic by now," he observed.
"We've been using it a bit everyday," Wildas replied. "Shelton seems to think you've given us much more than any usual power share can transfer."
"But we wouldn't object to being given more," Myri said with a smile.
"I can't control it," he pointed out, "but I wouldn't object to trying."
Myri stepped up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I think Wildas needs you most at the moment."
"But I would like to say something first," Anil announced.
Coulta watched curiously as she moved closer to Wildas and took his hand. Myri was smiling at Coulta's side and he wondered what the announcement could be.
Anil looked Wildas in the eye and quietly said, "I'm pregnant."
Wildas's hazel eyes went wide and he practically gasped. "Really?"
She smiled as she nodded. "Myri was able to sense it."
Wildas pulled her into a hug, laughing. Then he kissed her and grasped her hands, seemingly at a loss for words.
Coulta leaned over and hugged her, smiling. He didn't know why he was so happy when it wasn't truly his child. But he found himself hoping to be the child's friend and mentor like Shelton was to Wildas.
She smiled and looked up at him. "It's as much your baby as Wildas's," she whispered, almost as if she read his mind.
Little did any of them know how true that statement would eventually prove.
