Anne Bishop: The Shadow Queen

And a few pieces of jewelry, carefully preserved in velvet-lined boxes and fit for a Queen.

Family heirlooms. Dishes and trinkets that were worth more for their history than for whatever price they might fetch.

Then there was the box with the sealed message resting on top.

For the Queen.

You have found what we left behind to help when it will be needed most.

Give this box to the Grayhaven heir. Once it is placed in the heir’s hands, all the spells that have kept these items safe will end, and this room can be found by any eye.

May the Darkness embrace you, Sister. You have given Dena Nehele, and my family, more than you know.

Lia

“Where in the name of Hell have you been?” Theran said the moment Cassidy stepped out on the terrace, looking happy and incredibly dirty. “Gray’s been frantic, worrying about you.”

Hell’s fire, was he relieved to see her! At that moment, he wanted to strangle her for scaring them all so much, but he was relieved to see her.

“Do you realize it’s midafternoon now and there’s been no sign of you—none!—since the maid found the breakfast tray outside your door?”

“So late?” She looked startled. “I didn’t realize.”

“Where have you been?” he shouted.

She shifted away from him. “I was up in the attic.”

“What for? And why didn’t you tell someone? We were ready to tear apart the town looking for you.” Not to mention having to go to Sadi and tell him they had lost the Queen.

Vae joined them, so filthy he imagined the housekeeper was having a fit about the dog tramping through the house, and since he knew who would end up washing the little bitch, he wasn’t quite as relieved to see her.

Especially when she growled at him.

“And you,” he snapped, pointing at Vae. “You couldn’t have told us where Cassidy had gone? You’re always yapping about everything else.”

*I do not yap.*

Theran snorted.

“Prince . . . ,” Cassidy began.

“Cassie!”

He didn’t need to watch Gray running for the house. He watched Cassidy . . . and the way her eyes lit up when she saw Gray.

At least that answered one question.

“Cassie!” Gray stopped at the edge of the terrace. “There’s . . . there’s something I want to show you.”

She smiled. “I have some things to show you too.”

“Mine first,” Gray said.

Her smile widened. “All right.” Then she looked at Theran and held out a rectangular wooden box, its top decorated with the Grayhaven seal. “This is for you.”

As he took the box, his eyes asked the question.

“I found the treasure,” Cassidy said, her face glowing with excitement under the grime. “It’s up there, Theran, along with so much of your heritage.” She took a step toward Gray, then turned back. “You look like him, you know. Jared. You look like him.”

Stunned, he watched as Gray clasped her hand and tugged her to the surprise in the garden. Talon had told him that a few times, but how would Cassidy know?

“Gray, wait,” Cassidy said. Too many emotions pouring off him.

She couldn’t tell if he was happy or upset, angry or excited.

Maybe all of them. Which meant her court would be equally upset by her unexpected absence.

Assuming any of them noticed or gave a damn.

You’re tired, so you’re bitchy, she scolded herself. “Gray, wait.”

He stopped, but he looked like he was about to receive a crippling blow.

“I’m parched. Can I have some water before I see the surprise?”

“How did you know it was a surprise?”

Hell’s fire. She wasn’t supposed to know that. “Since I don’t know what you want to show me, it must be a surprise.”

As he rubbed a thumb over her cheek, he made one of those lightning shifts from boy to man.

“You’re not hurt?” he asked.

“No, Gray, I’m not hurt. I was up in the attic and lost track of time. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Scared me, Cassie. That’s a lot more than worry.”

“Yes, it is, and I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “There were too many years when someone going missing meant they weren’t coming back. Captured or killed. Sometimes Talon found what was left of them. Most times not.”

“Oh, Gray.”

He shook his head again. “Dena Nehele isn’t a safe place yet. It will be, someday, but for now it’s still not safe to go off on your own and not leave a direction for someone to follow.”

“I’ll remember that.” I’ll miss you, Gray.

“Let’s get you some water.”

She drank her fill. Then Gray worked the pump for her so she could wash some of the grime off her face and hands.

He called in a small towel and handed it to her, and there was a question in his eyes that she couldn’t figure out.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

When she obeyed, he put an arm around her shoulders and guided her around the garden.

“Open your eyes now.”

She looked at the flower bed and thought, Home. Then she looked more closely.

“Common ground,” Gray said quietly. “Not quite the same, but similar. Not quite home, but it could be home—if you wanted to put down roots. And if you don’t, if you can’t, maybe I could put down roots in Dharo.”

It was her mother’s garden, and yet it wasn’t.

Then what he said sank in all the way.

“Dharo?” she asked, finally looking away from the flowers. “You want to live in Dharo?”

“I want to be with you.” He drew her into his arms.

“Theran needs you,” Cassidy said.

“And I need you. I know it’s not easy for you because your ways are so different from what we’ve known here, but maybe we can find some common ground there too. Can’t we try, Cassie? Can’t we at least try?”

He kissed her slowly, deeply, as if she truly mattered.

As if she were the only thing that mattered.

“Cassie?”

She looked into his eyes. Not quite a man, but no longer a boy. She didn’t know if they had a future together, but she did love him—and wasn’t love the most fertile ground of all?

“I’d like to try, Gray,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I really would like to try.”

His alarmed expression changed to thoughtful. “Are those happy tears?”

She hugged him hard. “Yes, these are happy tears.” Then she stepped back, rubbed her face, and smiled. “Show me the garden.”

Theran watched Gray kiss Cassidy, but that quickly felt intrusive, so he turned away and opened the box.

“To the Heir of Grayhaven.”

Under the wax-sealed paper was a Green Jewel that still held some of the psychic resonance of the woman who had worn it.

And some of the power, Theran realized as he felt that power fade, its last task completed.

The wax seal was so old, it crumbled when he tried to open it, but the words were clear enough.

To the Heir of Grayhaven,

If you are reading this, the treasure stands before you. Not the gold and jewels, although we hope those will help you rebuild what was destroyed, but the Queen who has the strength and heart to care for our land and our people. That is a treasure beyond price.

But you already know that. Something has happened that tested her commitment and her courage—and you chose to stand with her. If you hadn’t, the last key would have never been found, and Dena Nehele would fail within a decade, splintering until it was nothing more than a memory.

Now you have a chance to remember who we were as a people. You have a chance to be a strong land again.

The treasure stands before you. I hope you can cherish her as Jared cherished me.