We made our goodbyes to the men and wandered away. Tamsin had nearly wept after I’d written the letter, thanking me profusely, but her face was alight now, in that endearing, cunning way.
“Are you finally going to tell us, Mira?” she demanded. “Surely you won’t let poor Adelaide go off into some forsaken land without telling her what you’re going to do. It’d be so cruel. She’ll worry the whole time.”
Mira had told us recently that she’d “made a decision” about her future, but we had no idea what it was. Maybe she’d decided to marry the elderly gentleman. Maybe she’d decided to go back to Osfrid and work. Neither of those seemed likely, though, given the smile I kept seeing on her face. After her spectacular attack on Warren—which I’d learned was credited to Aiana’s training—nothing Mira did surprised me anymore.
And it seemed the mystery would continue a little longer.
“Sorry,” Mira said. “I can’t tell you yet. But soon.”
“So cruel,” repeated Tamsin.
Mira caught me in a tight embrace. “Mostly, I just wanted to come tell you goodbye. It seems like we’re always doing that, doesn’t it?”
I pulled Tamsin into our hug. “And we always keep coming back together. I’m sure I’ll be able to get back to Cape Triumph once in a while. And I hope you’ll come visit me in Westhaven.”
“Of course,” said Mira.
“Just let us know when you have an actual house built that has enough beds—real beds, not straw on the floor—for everyone,” said Tamsin. “And you can bet we’ll be right there.”
We laughed a little. And we cried a little. I could tell the Westhaven party was getting ready to depart, and the reality of what was about to happen hit me hard. Another journey. Another upheaval in my life.
“There you are, Adelaide. It figures I just had to look for where the most tears were around here. You two wouldn’t believe all the tears in her household when we first met.”
Cedric came up behind me, and I pulled back from Tamsin and Mira so that I could hug him. Then I gave him a light punch in the arm. “He was the one who caused most of those tears.”
“And you’ve been smitten with me ever since.”
He turned as a shout came to assemble, and his face grew serious. We had another tearful round of farewells with Tamsin and Mira, and then Cedric took hold of my hand. “My lady. Shall we?”
We walked up to where our horses were waiting—young, spry ones. Not poor Lizzie. He helped me mount, and I cast one last, fond look back at my friends. Ahead, the road stretched out of Cape Triumph and into parts unknown. Whereas the same sight on the way to Hadisen had been foreboding, I suddenly felt like all the world’s possibilities were before me.
Cedric leaned toward me. “You know, I hope this new insanity works out for us.”
“I think it will,” I told him. “After all, the old insanity turned out pretty well.”
And we rode.
Acknowledgments
The conception of this series started with a few small sparks of inspiration, and once they came together, there was no stopping the blaze that swept me up as I raced to finish this book. Above all, I owe many thanks to my family during this process, especially to my husband and sons, who indulged me as I took my laptop everywhere and frequently spaced out while my mind spun ahead to the next chapter. Thank you also to my agent, Jim McCarthy, and the incomparable team at Razorbill, who all saw the potential of this story burning inside me and helped fan its flames.
Lastly, I want to thank anyone who has picked up this book and joined me in Adoria. For my longtime readers, you always take the leap of faith in following me to new worlds, and I’m grateful for that. To my new readers: welcome to the ride. There’s a great adventure in store for all of us.