Page 55 of Stolen Thorn Bride
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Their journey was fasterthis time. Kasia was a far better rider, and they were able to run swiftly over long distances. Tiernan was a silent, comfortable companion and seemed willing to leave Kasia to her memories, her regrets, and her anxiety.
Now that she was truly going home, she tried not to think about everything she was saying goodbye to. Tried not to cling more tightly to Aral because she would be forced to leave him soon.
After four days of travel, the Hedge suddenly loomed up before them, tall and ominous in the shadows beneath the oak trees. Tiernan seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go, because they turned to the left and rode beside the tangled branches of firethorn until Kasia caught sight of another wolf lounging on the ground ahead of them.
Her heart leaped, begging it to be Dechlan, but it was not Dechlan who greeted them.
It was the king of Sion Dairach.
Miach stood beside the wolf, arms folded regally, watching their approach with a brooding frown on his handsome face.
“You are certain?” he asked Kasia, once she dismounted from Aral and stood in front of him.
“This has nothing to do with me,” she said, and if her words were clipped and utterly without emotion, it was only because she dare not let Miach hear the truth.
That this was breaking her heart.
“I know that I promised to help you find your way home,” the king said, “but I did hope that the two of you…”
“Then perhaps you didn’t know Dechlan as well as you thought,” Kasia interrupted. “He never wanted this to work. And maybe he was right. Maybe it’s all for the best. But I would appreciate it if you would get this over with quickly.”
Miach sighed deeply and, with a deceptively simple wave of his hand, parted the branches of the Hedge. Within moments, his magic created an arched opening much like the one she’d come through… how many weeks ago?
Kasia picked up the one pack she’d been willing to bring and threw her arms around Aral’s furry neck.
“Goodbye,” she whispered, before letting him lick her face with his enormous tongue. “I will always miss you.”
The wolf whined and flattened his ears as he somehow realized he wasn’t going to like what came next.
“A pity you can’t take him along,” Miach said. “He seems to have bonded with you. And you with him.”
Kasia forced a laugh so that he could not hear her pain. “I can only imagine what my village would think,” she told him truthfully. “And I know I would be unable to feed him.”
“I will look after him for you,” Tiernan said from behind her, “so he will be ready for your return.”
“Tiernan, I…”
“I know,” he said, and nodded in that calm, mysterious way of his. “But no one can predict the future.”
“Goodbye, then.” By now, she just wanted it to be over. “Be well, Tiernan.”
She turned to Miach. “Tell him…” What was there to tell Dechlan that she hadn’t already said?
Nothing. There was nothing more to say.
“I will,” Miach said, with a sad and yet understanding smile.
Suddenly, Kasia couldn’t bear it any longer. She raced forward and plunged through the gap in the Hedge, emerging into the woods on the other side gasping for breath, as if she’d run an entire race rather than a few short steps.
By the time she looked back, the door in the Hedge was sealed as though it had never existed at all.
As if it had never existed.
As if none of them were real.
No one would believe her, even if she tried to tell them.