I shook my head. “You’re more than a bastard or a thief. And I think she knew. One way or another, after all that time, she knew you cared about her.”
“I hope so.”
We stood in comfortable silence. It would be so strange to go on without the others. I kept waiting for Rayick’s booming laugh or to see Idris lurking, waiting to speak. I’d gotten so used to being with all of them I wasn’t sure what I’d do when they left.
The silence was broken by the crunching of snow beneath boots, and I looked over my shoulder to see Tamsin and Aurynn approaching. His head was low, apprehension written on his pale face. “Morgana said you left early, I thought you might have gone already.”
Wesley scoffed. “Never. You ready?”
“I told you, Tam,” Aurynn said with half a smile.
Tamsin adjusted his pack on one shoulder. “As ready as I’ll ever be. We should have enough food to get us most of the way there.”
Wesley grinned and removed a hand from his pocket, bringing jewels with it. “We can pay our way if we need to. Thank you, Neyva, for your family’s so generous donation.”
“Stolen jewels are not a donation, but you’re welcome. Try to keep the thieving to a minimum, would you? I know you’re good at it but you’re also better than it.”
He tucked the stolen baubles away and promised, “Only necessities. Cross my heart.”
Aurynn laughed. “I’ll make sure of that, don’t worry.” She got a mock glare from him.
“Now come here.” Wesley held out an arm and I hugged him, savoring the last moment. “Thank you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You saved me, I saved you. It was fair.”
“It was more than that and you know it.”
He pulled back and stepped away, and I moved to Tamsin. “Are you still afraid of witches?” I asked.
He cracked half a smile and stepped forward for a hug. “I guess some of them are alright.”
“Good. Find me if you ever need reminding.” He broke the embrace with an eye roll, but I couldn’t help a grin. “And find some kind of good life in Fraida, or wherever you end up, promise me. Whatever you’ve secretly been dreaming of doing and won’t tell us about.”
“I’ve never really dreamt of anything, but I’ll figure it out.”
“My turn,” Aurynn interrupted, pushing past Tamsin to put both hands on my shoulders. “You keep up this good witch thing, Morningspell, or I’ll hunt you down and set you straight.”
“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” I pulled her into a hug and she relented. “Are you staying in Fraida, too?”
“No. Plenty of ships there I can get onto. Maybe see what else is out there.”
“There are more witches outside of Selliira,” I reminded her.
She pulled away with a broad smile, blue eyes twinkling. “I know. I can keep them in check.”
“We’re wasting daylight,” Wesley said. “Are you coming?” Tamsin smiled, and Aurynn patted my arm one last time. Wesley shot me a grin. “Look us up if you’re ever in town.”
“I will.”
Then they were off, making their way along the long, quiet road. I watched them go until they were shadowy forms in the watery dawn, and Kye appeared beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned into them. “You’re late.”
“We said our goodbyes already.”
“I’ll miss them.”
“I will, too. But I guess we were bound to end up like this.” They tugged on my hand. “Let’s go. I’m ready for breakfast.”
I glanced back to the road, to where my three friends were quickly disappearing toward the horizon. To the rising sun of a new day, a day where anything could happen. Where there were no curses or looming dangers. I had Kye and a warm breakfast, and nothing had ever felt so freeing.
“Breakfast, and then what?” I asked as I followed them.
Their smile was dazzling, so full of relief and joy my insides melted. “Then whatever we want, Neyva.”
The horses' hooves splashed through puddles of melted snow and slush, clomping dully on the stone beneath. The sky had warmed from icy blue and the sun was strong enough to keep goosebumps from crawling up my arms.
It slanted gold across Kye beside me. A week now and I still couldn't keep from staring. I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to seeing them soaked in anything but cold moonlight. I kept expecting feathers to ripple across their skin, but they never did. When they moved their head, there wasn’t even the hint of feathers wound through their hair.
“Is it strange?” I asked. They glanced to me. “The sun, I mean. The curse. Or lack of it.”
They paused, searching for words. “It'll take some getting used to. But I went nineteen years like this. I think it was harder to get used to being a bird.”
Sometimes it was hard to believe they'd been anything else. “Do you miss flying?”
“I don't have anything to fly away from anymore.”
That definitely wasn't the sun warming me to my toes. I fought a smile and looked ahead again, down the path. “Good.” Eloquently put, Neyva. Eighteen years of private tutors and high education, and Kye could still render it useless.
“Are you alright?” they asked after a stretch of silence.
I considered. Weeks ago, I would have said yes, never letting my true feelings show. I drew a breath and shook my head. “Not entirely. But I will be.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I need to, Kye.”
They watched me as if searching for a lie. There was none; I couldn't move on before I finished this. There was one last piece to take care of. It would be dangerous and ugly, and I would have been happy to turn my horse around and run off the other direction. Keep going until Kye and I hit a new place altogether, where we could start fresh. But it would haunt me all the way.
Kye nodded, and we continued. It wasn't more than another few minutes when the gates came into sight. “There,” I said.
They slowed and I stopped my horse, slid to the stone road. The high fence ran through a portion of the grounds, shielding the majority of it from all but welcome visitors. A heavy lock held the gate closed, and I stepped to it and traced my fingers around the keyhole. Magic protections hissed at me, but then they recognized me, the scent of my blood, and relaxed. A little nudge from my magic and the lock clicked open. I pushed on the gates and they swung wide.
Back to my horse. An easy, slow walk toward the house. Kye didn't speak, but I felt their eyes on me. Watching for any sign of fear or hesitation. The tiniest tremor of worry twisted in my chest, but nothing more. It would be fine. I knew what I was doing.
The house rose up from the trees. Less than half the size of the Morningspell estate, designed for the family and a small staff, but no less extravagant; pale stone with dark shuttered windows and tall double doors. The grounds swirled with remnants of the sleeping landscape, bare trees and quiet flowerbeds waiting for spring. “You spent your summers here?” Kye asked.
“Parts of the summer. It's beautiful when the weather improves. Flowers everywhere. There's a patch of berry bushes in the back, and riding trails. When we were young we'd play hide-and-go-seek around the grounds. When Mother permitted it.” Which wasn't often. Studies cannot be ignored for childish games, she would tell us, except on the rare occasion Alaric had convinced us to beg. After my brother had died we'd stopped asking.
“It's a place children should be allowed to play.”
It was. I stopped in front of the door and looked at them. “I want my children to be able to play. Whatever they have, an estate or a patch of dirt.”
“Then they will.”
Simple as that. I took another breath and walked to the door. Kye hung back by the horses, giving me space, and I paused before I knocked.
The silence as we waited might have killed me. My pulse roared in my ears. My magic stretched.
One last thing to do and then I was free. That was all.
The door opened.
Not by a servant, as I'd expected. My magic reeled in surprise and coiled, but I forced it to steady. Thought of Kye behind me, always there and ready to help or wait, whatever was needed.
Still, my voice came out a touch hoarse. “Hello, Mother.”
Devaria Morningspell, for the first time in my memory, looked tired. On the surface she might have been the same lady of the house I'd always known—hair perfectly coiled at the nape of her neck, gown impeccable, posture flawless—but her green eyes were darker than normal. New lines traced her eyes and mouth.
My magic, what little of it was recovering, tensed, but she didn't strike. She pulled the door open more, her greeting cool and emotionless. “Neyva. You're just in time for tea.”
As if nothing had happened. As if I'd come home after an excursion riding or shopping. I gestured for Kye to follow and stepped into the house. She led me without a word to the parlor.
A teapot was already on the table between the couches, cups and dishes surrounding it. She sat and poured one for each of us and then herself, and then gestured to the couch across from her. “Sit.”
I did, cautiously, and Kye followed. What game was this?
“I'm sure the guards in Acalta have put the pieces together by now,” I commented as she spooned sugar into her tea. “They'll be searching for us. It seems risky to stay here. Plenty of people know this is our summer house.”
She sipped her tea. Neither Kye nor I touched ours, and my magic probed at it. No sign of ordinary poison or a curse. "Do you plan to run again?"
“Not run. I plan to start over.”
“Where will you do that?”
“Wherever I like.”
Her gaze flicked to Kye and she murmured, “I see.” It was the clearest sign of civil disapproval she’d ever given, but I ignored it. “May I ask what’s prompted this unexpected visit? Are you here to finish what your thieving friend attempted?”
I smoothed my skirt, forcing nonchalance though my insides were trembling. If she decided she wanted to finish what had started then, neither of us were in much shape to stop her. “I came to say my goodbyes.”
“Your goodbyes?”
“Both Tulia and Sarafine tried and failed to follow your orders and end me. I believe by your own rules that makes me worthy of your respect as a full witch, whether you agree with my choices or not. I don’t need your approval, but I do need to know there won’t be any more games. No more hunting.”
She contemplated my words, or perhaps analyzed me, from the way she looked me up and down. I wondered what she saw that was different. What she would make of it. “You propose we go our separate ways, then?”
“Exactly. I won’t be a part of your so-called family anymore. Whatever blood is in my veins. You gain nothing from killing or pursuing me anymore. From today on, I’m nothing but a nameless, forgettable face in a distant land.”
“Interesting.” She thought for another moment. “Alright. You wish to be considered a full, respectable witch, I’ll treat you as such. I’ll accept. So long as we don’t cross paths or interfere with one another again, we have no connection. I’m happy to let our bloodline live on in you. One day you or your children or grandchildren will come to your senses.”
Perhaps that was true. Perhaps I was the one to come to mine after generations of madness. I couldn’t say. I opened my bag and removed the apple I’d carefully chosen before we’d left and set it on the table. “A parting gift. I’m sure you’re eating mostly out of the stores below the house.” She gave the faintest smile as I stood. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Neyva.”
Nobody tried to stop us as Kye and I walked out. No curses fell on us. Our horses were waiting in as good of health as we’d left them. Neither of us spoke until we were well past the gates.
“What curse did you put on the apple?” Kye asked.
I hesitated, suddenly half-questioning my decision, but shook the doubt off. “None. I don’t want to keep killing to get what I want.”
Kye was quiet for so long worry spiked in me again. I cast them a quick glance, but they were smiling. “I’m proud of you.”
My entire body warmed but I asked, “Where next? Back to Morgana’s? To the nearest port?”
They hummed. “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?”
Anywhere in the world.
I was free. The others were free. Bruised and scarred, but free. My family was gone. We could do anything now.
There were things to decide. Things had changed in both of us that night in the crypt. That spell had left something in Kye and broke something in my magic. I didn’t know where that left us. Maybe it didn’t mean anything, in the long run, but maybe it did.
But we had years to find that out, didn’t we? Years and an entire world.
I answered, “Anywhere but Selliira. We could find some island to be ours. Or go North to start a war. Or find a little town halfway across the world to disappear into…” I trailed off at the look on Kye’s face, the way their eyes had softened. “What?”
“You’d go North for me?”
“I settled my business. You deserve to settle yours. If you want to.”
They looked straight ahead, but I could see the slightest tilt of a smile in their profile. “Maybe one day. Someone did once tell me no one can disappear forever. It’s not worth being haunted. But for now, an island far, far away from any sort of battle sounds perfect.”
“An island it is, then.”
Maybe forever. Maybe only for a while. Maybe we’d see the entire world or maybe we’d find a spot to be home. I didn’t want to decide now. No plans, no controlled futures.
Kye had been right, all those weeks ago. Neyva Morningspell had been ruined beyond repair. And I didn’t mind it in the least.
Acknowledgments
Well, it’s out there. Finally. After three different versions, two breaks to regain my sanity, and nine months of editing, we got there in the end. It’s been a long, long process to get The Ruin of Snow where it is now and it’s a little bittersweet to have it all done. But I couldn’t have gotten here without a whole list of people, so here we go. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to:
Bri DeMaree, as always, for not only being the best editor anyone could ever ask for but the best friend.
Sam, for listening to all my story rambles and always cheering me on.
Shaedyn, my other half, for helping, listening, and supporting me always without a single complaint, and for making sure Idris got an ending.
My family, for their constant support in this crazy endeavor I’ve gotten myself into.
Annee, my indie sister, for believing my writing ability has absolutely no limit and pushing me out of my comfort zone.
Everybody involved with Enchanted Quill Press and the Enchanted Kingdoms project, for letting me be a part of this amazing opportunity and work with such an incredible group of authors.
Maria Kozureva, for the gorgeous cover and for putting up with me at the most chaotic time of my life.
* * *
Until the next adventure,
Lacy
About the Author
Lacy has been writing since she picked up a pencil at 5 years old and decided she had too many stories in her head to ignore. After devouring every book she could get her hands on and writing short stories for many years, she completed her first novel at 12 years old and began the path to publishing. Though that particular novel remains buried in the depths of her computer files, she published the first of a trilogy in 2016 just after turning 19, and has been working her way down her list of works ever since.
Lacy currently lives in Meridian, Idaho with her partner, son, overenthusiastic dog, and socially awkward cat. When not writing or buried in mom life she enjoys crafting and cosplay. You can follow her publishing journey at lacysheridan.com.
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