While I was leaving one set of dear friends, I was rejoining with another. Knowing I would be with Malita again, whatever her eventual fate, eased some of the hurt lingering in my heart.
Svieta reached into her skirt pocket and withdrew a little mechanical bird—a chickadee. She passed it to me, and I cupped the tiny creature in my hands as it fluttered its copper wings. “When you’re settled back in your homeland,” Falak said, peering at the bird, “set her free. She’ll find us, wherever we are, and that way I’ll know you made it home safely.”
The ringmaster exhaled and shook his head. “Set her loose even if you don’t make it home. If ever you need our assistance again”—he stroked the chickadee’s head—“this is how you can find us.”
I held the bird close, protected in the cage of my hands. “I can’t ask any more of you, Falak. It’s me who owes you a favor now. A huge one.”
He smiled sadly. “I haven’t forgotten, Lady Thunder. But once a member of this family, always a member of this family. That’s not something I take lightly.”
A hard knot formed in my throat, and my eyes watered again. I balanced the chickadee carefully in my palm, leaned toward the ringmaster, and slid an arm around his neck. Briefly we hugged. I embraced a reluctant Svieta. “Take care of Sher-sah. And when you find his spirit again, tell him I miss him. Tell him...” Tell him to find me, I didn’t say. The lion wasn’t mine to claim, no matter what my heart said, otherwise.
I dropped a brief curtsey to the three friends in front of me. “You’re all in my thoughts, my prayers, and in my heart. I wish you all the best.”
“Good luck, Evie,” Genevieve said. “May we meet again.”
Falak clicked his heels and bobbed a brief bow. “Bon voyage.”
Svieta touched her fingers to her forehead in a little salute.
I turned my back to them, and then, as I’d done with so many others I cared about, I walked away.
***
As the Charosvardo rose into the clouds, I stood on the deck and watched the circus shrink until it was nothing more than a few colorful dots and a collection of red-and-white-striped patches against a green background of field grass. In the distance, the multicolored city of Barsava, dotted with red roofs and soaring spires, sat along the banks of the winding Wistasha river. Traffic crawled in and out and all around the city, oblivious to both me and the small party at the airship’s railing. We might as well have been nothing more than a strange bird taking flight.
Perhaps a few stared and wondered what a lone Fantazike airship was doing, soaring over their city, but by the time we disappeared into the blue, they had undoubtedly forgotten us and returned to their ordinary lives. That was the way the world worked, when you weren’t an elemental goddess with a mechanical heart and heir to the throne of a fallen kingdom.
At my right stood Gideon, my protector, my guardian, my granite foundation, and my heart. At my left stood Malita, the light to my spirit. At that moment, I was happier and more satisfied than I’d been in an extremely long time.
Better enjoy it while you’ve got it, I told myself. Moments like this aren’t meant to last. They’re simply the reprieve before the next battle, a chance to renew, recuperate, and remember what things are worth fighting for.
“Lady Thunder,” said Timony, Niffin’s father. I turned around and faced him. Like all of us, he wore the oiled slicker and goggles that protected him against the winds and moisture of upper-atmospheric travel. His crimson hair fluttered in the breeze like a flag. Behind him, Niffin darted about the deck, pulling levers and lowering lightning rigs. “If you don’t mind, we could use a little fuel. It’s a long way back to Varynga, and we burnt a lot of what we had in our stores in our hurry to get to you.”
I bent in a brief bow and came up smiling, my heart swelling at his words. Yes, there was darkness in the world, including inside myself—but there was also much kindness, generosity, and love. Whatever it took, no matter what came next, I vowed I would be worthy of the sacrifices others had made for me and my cause. “Of course, captain. I’m always happy to oblige.”
—-THE END—-
But... please keep reading for more, including our Bonus Content—not just one, but two Special Sneak Previews:
CROWN OF THUNDER by Karissa Laurel
and
FRENDYL KRUNE AND THE BLOOD OF THE SUN by Kira A. McFadden
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
EVIE’S COURT
Gideon Faust: Evie’s personal guard and former horse master to the Lord of Thunder
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Marlis Faust: Gideon’s sister and Evie’s lady-in-waiting
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Malita Abiola: A girl from the village of Chagda, in the country of Nri. Evie’s best friend
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IN BONHEMM
Křisnová Tereza Jagiellon: Empress of Bonhemm
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Karolina (Genevieve) Jagiellon: Princess of Bonhemm; Tereza’s sister
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Otokar Kouzlo: Imperial Magician of Bonhemm
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Sister Maria: A kareeyatid or priestess of the Church of the Risen Son
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