by M. Lynn
Edmund sighed. “Fine. But if he’s grown while I’ve been away, I’m blaming you for allowing me to miss it.”
Etta crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s a baby! Of course he’s grown.” She smacked the back of his head before returning to Tyson. They sat together on the couch and Tyson leaned his head back.
“So,” she started. “I have a niece.”
Tyson shifted to lean his head on her shoulder. “It doesn’t feel real. I don’t know how to move past Amalie keeping her a secret. How do I forgive her?”
Etta brushed a hand over his head. “Do you still love her?”
He nodded.
“Then you’ll be okay. The forgiving part is easy as long as it hasn’t taken the love part. You just have to make sure she knows how you feel.”
“If she doesn’t, I don’t know what else to do.” The story poured out of him. His mother placing the task of hunting down the Hood on him. Weeks and weeks spent living under Amalie’s roof in search of the outlaw. The revelation of just who it was she sent him to arrest. The hanging.
By the time he’d finished, Etta’s people led the others to where they could sleep on floors or in hay lofts. Better accommodations would be made for them.
Only Tuck remained sitting by the fire with Alex listening to Tyson tell the sequence of events that led their group to abandon Gaule for Bela.
Etta laid her arm over Tyson’s shoulders and squeezed. “It’ll be a change to receive an influx of people who have no magic, but they’re welcome in Bela.”
Tyson met her gaze. “Even Maiya?” She couldn’t help but think of how Etta and Maiya hadn’t acknowledged each other yet. Maiya once worked for La Dame, betraying Etta to do so. But it hadn’t been entirely of her own will.
Etta sighed. “Yes, even Maiya.” She unfolded her legs from underneath her and stood, holding a hand out to Alex. “We’re going to bed now, but Ty?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you’re back.” She smiled.
Alex wrapped an arm around her. “And we can’t wait to get to know our niece.”
As they walked away, Tyson couldn’t help but think of how he knew so little of El. She was of his blood and held some of his family’s magic, but she was a stranger to him.
Tuck leaned back in his chair, the glow of the fire lighting up his face.
Sometimes, Tyson forgot just how much others had lost as well. Tuck’s sister along with his friends Will and Cam should be with them now, yet their chance had been stolen.
Tyson closed his eyes, letting the darkness be his shield. “Do you ever wonder why we ended up here, safe, and they didn’t?”
Tuck didn’t answer at first, and Tyson opened his eyes to find him staring into the flames.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “Every day.” He shook his head. “When I met you and Amalie, La Dame had just almost ripped the world apart. Magic folk were being persecuted in Gaule. The people had no food to eat. Yet… you two were the hope I saw. When I performed your ceremony, it made me feel like there was something good in this life. It’s why I joined Amalie’s fight. But even as we brought food and other goods to the people, I saw the light dimming.”
He turned toward Tyson. “The two people I saw pledging themselves to one another would have lit the world on fire before ever being separated. That doesn’t just disappear.”
Tyson shook his head. “Amalie had made it clear—many times—she feels nothing for me.”
“Because she tries to feel nothing at all. She thought that made her strong, but look at what happened. She tried to protect El by giving her up, and it only put her in more danger. No one is ever better off alone.”
Tyson opened his mouth to speak, but his words were cut off by a cry coming from the spare room Amalie occupied. Elayne.
He jumped to his feet and crossed to the door. When he pushed it open, Elayne was sitting up in bed beside a sleeping Amalie, tears rolling down her face.
Tyson plucked her from the bed and cradled her against his chest as he walked back into the living room. She stopped crying immediately.
Tuck smiled when he returned. “I’m off to find a place to sleep.”
Tyson only nodded as he sat and stared into the face of the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Her cheeks were red from crying, but her eyes were clear and piercing.
“Hey,” Tyson whispered. “I’m your father.”
She blinked, staring at him as if she understood.
“I will never let you down. That I promise you. I’m going to love you with everything I have.”
Her eyes slid closed as if his words allowed her the peace she needed to sleep.
Chapter Thirty
Amalie clutched the doorframe as if it was the only thing that could hold her up. Tears welled in her eyes. Tyson’s words surrounded her, filling her with regret. Regret for everything she’d done, for the life she’d chosen.
Not the Hood. She’d never regret that. But for choosing not to allow Tyson or Elayne to go through the mission with her. For deciding it was better to be alone than to put them in danger.
They were in danger regardless if they were with her. She just hadn’t seen it at the time.
She couldn’t look away, couldn’t turn back into the room as Tyson bent his head to kiss El’s soft curls.
He whispered something she couldn’t hear. Everything inside her wanted to be part of their moment, to belong with them. She’d lied to Tyson when she claimed her love for him had left. It was the only thing she still had.
And yet, she didn’t deserve him. His love. His forgiveness. She saw that now in the way he looked at Elayne like she was all that mattered in life. Like he still couldn’t quite believe she was real.
Amalie had separated them. Kept them from all they had to give each other. She should have known John was lying when he told her Tyson refused to come. She should have had more faith.
With a sigh, Amalie turned away from the scene she intruded upon, re-entering the room and closing the door.
Etta and Alex were simple people, even as king and queen of Bela. As much as Amalie had fought against any connection to nobles or royals, she knew they weren’t like any other. She respected the sparseness of the room. They had no need for grand canopied beds or marble floors.
They’d built the palace themselves with the help of their townsfolk. It belonged to the people of Bela. A simple wooden bed sat pushed up against the far window, moonlight streaming across the soft fur blankets.
Amalie ran her hand along the hand-carved table stretching along the opposite wall.
“That was a gift from Dell.” Tyson’s voice made her jump. She hadn’t heard the door open.
Sucking in a shaky breath, she turned to find him standing with a sleeping Elayne in his arms.
At a loss for what else to say, she nodded. “I suspected as much.” Dell was the new king of Madra. He’d married Queen Helena only the year before. Amalie had declined her invitation to the wedding.
Dell had amazing hands, crafting beauty where there was once only rough wood. Amalie had always envied those who could create rather than only destroy.
Tyson shuffled past her and laid El on the bed, covering her with furs. She murmured unintelligible words and rolled over.
A smile curved Tyson’s lips. In the dark, the silver light illuminated his eyes as he faced Amalie.
“Thank you.” She lowered her gaze. “For getting her back to sleep.” She sat on the corner of the bed and rubbed her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t wake up when she did.”
“It’s okay.” He offered her a sad shrug and moved to the door.
But she couldn’t let him leave. “Ty.” The desperation in her voice forced him to turn back toward her. “I…” She shook her head. “How am I supposed to do this?”
“Do what, Ames?” He sat beside her, careful not to wake Elayne.
“This.” She gestured to the sleeping girl. “I don’t know how to be a mother. It was ne
ver supposed to be me.”
Tyson stiffened at her words before sighing. “I’ve thought about this a lot. You thought I wasn’t ever coming back and any child of the Hood’s would always be in danger. I don’t agree with your decision, but I understand it. Just because you didn’t feed her every day and hold her as she cried didn’t mean you weren’t her mother. Have you ever thought by giving her up, by trying to keep her safe, you were being the best mother you could be this entire time?” He moved to stand, but Amalie placed her hand over his.
“Thanks, Ty. I don’t just mean for your words.” She swallowed a sob. He deserved more than her tears. “You’ve always taken care of me, saved me.”
He shook his head. “You’ve never needed me to take care of you, Ames. Even as you stood with the hangman’s noose around your neck, you didn’t need me. If you’d died, you would have been okay. I saw your face. You were ready to give yourself for something you believed in.” He dropped his voice. “I didn’t save you because you needed me to. I came because I couldn’t live in a world where you no longer existed.”
“Tyson,” she whispered. His words traveled straight to her heart. When she learned Elayne still lived, she’d felt it begin to beat again. But now, the cracks in her heart had actually started to heal.
Tyson peered sideways at her. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t want me to say things like that to you.”
Honesty had always been one of the things she loved about Tyson. He cared little for how people would react to his words. If he felt the truth in them, he didn’t hold back. He’d always been the least self-conscious person she knew… until she’d broken him.
It warmed her to hear the old Tyson coming through.
“Amalie—”
“No. Say nothing else. I’ve screwed everything up, Ty. And I know you better than anyone. There are some things you need to hear from me.” She inhaled. “For so long, I’ve thought the best way to face the world was alone. It was something my father instilled in me. Then you came along and I lost sight of everything else. I blamed you. For a long time, I told myself you were the reason I didn’t see the plight of my people. But that was wrong. I don’t have to follow the Leroy road in anything but name.”
“I don’t understand.” He shifted his eyes away as if afraid to see what resided in hers.
“Ty.” She reached for both his hands. “I love you.”
His eyes snapped to hers. “You love me?”
A smile slid across her face. “I never stopped. I only lost my way. The Hood will always be a part of me, but I realize now it isn’t the only part.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “You’re here too.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry for everything. I—”
He cut off her words by pressing his lips to hers and sliding his hands around the back of her head. It only took Amalie a moment before she wound her arms around his back. Every bit of longing of the last few years poured into a single moment.
Amalie once thought being unable to return to Gaule, to continue her self-proclaimed mission meant her life no longer had meaning. She was wrong. This was a new kind of mission. As she kissed the boy she’d married in a tiny chapel on the border of three kingdoms, the boy who’d given her hope after the darkest battle of their lives, contentment settled over her. Home. It wasn’t a feeling she’d ever known. Until now.
Until the best man she’d ever known saved her one final time. He thought she didn’t need him, that she was strong enough to take care of herself. But the truth was, she’d only broken herself, and Tyson gave her the strength to heal. His true magic wasn’t controlling the water of the earth.
It was in allowing those waters to wash them clean of the past.
Tyson leaned his forehead against hers, their breath mingling. “It’s a good thing we’re already married.”
She grinned. “Why is that?”
“Because now I don’t have to drag Tuck out of bed and tell him to make you my wife.”
“Your wife, huh?”
His brow creased and his smile dropped. “You’ve been my wife this entire time, you know. Even when you denied me, we’ve remained connected.”
Her hands snaked up into his hair. “I know,” she breathed.
His next kiss was softer, letting her know they had all the time in the world. Because they did.
A cry came from the bed and Elayne sat up.
Amalie broke away from Tyson with a smile and turned to the red-faced girl. “It’s okay, honey.” She pulled El into her arms. The child still barely knew her, but she would soon. They were forever too.
Tyson crawled over Elayne to sit on her other side. He brushed the hair from her face. Elayne shifted so she leaned against both of them. Tyson grinned in the boyish way he had. Even after everything, his face held an innocence she was drawn to. As if he didn’t carry around the events of the past like everyone else did.
“Sleep,” he whispered, shifting his body down to lie beside her. Elayne curled against him.
Both father and daughter fell asleep with little trouble. Amalie watched their chests rise and fall in sync, not wanting sleep to take the moment from her. A moment she’d never thought she’d have.
She bent to kiss each head beside her and then settled in for a too-short night of watching her world turn.
Epilogue
Edmund bounced on his toes as he stood next to Tyson at the edge of the docks. Tyson smirked sideways at him.
Estevan, standing on Edmund’s other side, gripped his arm. “You’re going to fall in the water if you don’t calm down.”
“I won’t fall.” Edmund shielded his eyes from the sun, peering at the ship as it neared.
“Let me translate what Estevan said.” Tyson lifted a brow. “If you don’t relax, I’m going to push you in the water.”
Edmund stepped back from the edge with a grunt. “Since when did you two become so serious?”
Estevan laughed. “I’ve missed my sister too, Edmund. But she won’t disembark any faster if you stand there acting like you’re going to piss yourself.”
Tyson grinned. The more time he spent with Estevan, the more he liked him. But it was nothing to how he felt about Helena Rhodipus. The queen of Madra was unlike anyone he knew—perhaps besides Etta.
She hadn’t been to Bela since recovering her kingdom in the Madran rebellion. Etta and Alex visited Madra, but Tyson had been in Gaule at the time.
A dark-haired woman peered over the wooden rail of the bow.
“There she is.” Edmund jumped up and down like a child getting a new toy.
Helena’s gaze found them and her smile lit up the already bright day. Blue skies hung overhead as if welcoming the foreign royals to their shores.
Dell appeared next to Helena and lifted a hand in a wave.
Edmund waved excitedly. Tyson and Estevan only laughed.
“Why isn’t Etta here to greet them again?” Edmund asked.
“Last minute meeting with Alex and Matteo.” Tyson heard the conversation between Etta and Matteo when he walked into the palace before leaving for the docks. They hadn’t yet told Tyson, but his mother had been making moves. The Moreau lands, which had been taken by a rebellious noble, were recovered and returned to their rightful owner. The duchess was the queen’s biggest ally. That signaled a shift in Gaule.
It had been months since Tyson returned and they’d had no word from his mother or Simon. Not even an apology for what her people almost did to Amalie. He’d long since reconciled himself to the fact that a relationship with his mother would only prove more difficult.
He shook off his dark thoughts as Helena leapt from the ship without waiting for the ramp to cover the gap. She landed on the deck with a thud and sprinted toward them. Dell and her guards scrambled to catch up.
Helena launched herself at Estevan. He caught her around the waist. “I’ve missed you, your Majesty.”
She swatted his arm. “Don’t you dare call me that, Brother.”
Dell finally caught
up, panting. “She’ll hurt you if you do.”
Edmund rocked back on his heels. “You can’t keep all her attention, Stev.”
Helena laughed and threw herself at Edmund with the same vigor as her brother.
“Lenny.” He whirled her around in a circle, and she laughed.
Dell pulled Helena off Edmund and for a moment, Tyson thought it was because he didn’t like the length of their embrace. But he was wrong. Dell stepped forward and gave Edmund a much rougher hug.
“Edmund,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”
Edmund reluctantly released him so Tyson could greet the king and queen he loved like family. He looked over Helena’s shoulder, hoping to see one more person come from the ship. But she wasn’t there.
Helena followed his gaze. “I’m sorry, Ty. Camille couldn’t travel this close to the baby coming.”
It made sense, but it didn’t lessen his disappointment. He hadn’t seen his sister in years. “Come on. We aren’t the only people in Bela who wish to see you.”
They found Alex inside the palace sitting on the ground with Viktor and Elayne. Both children crawled on top of him as he screamed that he was being attacked.
It took him a moment to realize he had company. He grinned. “Queen Helena. King Dell. Welcome to Bela.”
Etta appeared from an adjoining room and rushed to Helena. “Welcome back.” The two women spoke with rapid words as the men watched the children play.
Arms wound around Tyson’s waist, and he smiled as Amalie rested her chin on his shoulder from behind.
Dell flashed them a grin. “I knew it. When you took me to the Leroy estate to be healed and Amalie acted as if she’d rather kill you then help you, I knew there was something there.”
Amalie shrugged. “I could never kill him. I’m just a sweet young damsel.”
A laugh burst out of Tyson.
Dell shook his head with a grin. “We’ve heard the stories about you all the way in Madra.” He leaned forward. “You’re the Hood.”
