Chapter One Hundred And Seventy Two

Chapter One Hundred And Seventy Two
Naomi’s Pov

The battlefield hung in a dead, matted quiet. Once, with a reek of death and sorcery, but now with a mere whisper of wind, it breathed. The sky, which was shrouded in Deluna’s shadow, seemed lighter.

I turned and looked around us, and saw the faces of my companions who fought with us. Some I recognized, scarred in battle, with looks of both loss and relief etched onto them. Others… Others were not with me.

Travis.

Alexander.

Bane.

They'd gone, some dead, and gone, whose fate I could not say. But one reality I could not deny is that those who fought with Deluna, who fought to maintain Deluna’s tyranny, died with her.

Some of them, perhaps, still lay in shadows, but if ever again… 

They'd have to answer to us.

I breathed out, a slow, deep one.

Lucian, noting my hesitation, stroked my hair behind my ear, out of my face. His fingers were rough but kind, a reminder of battles won, of wars won, and of love won in choosing him.

"We did it," he whispered, eyes bloodshot and intent on me. 

I nodded, not able to speak. There was a constriction in my throat, a tangle of emotion I could not sort out. 

Arm in arm, with a scattered group of companions, whom fate and chance and survival saw fit, we departed the shores of blood, stained with memories of the past, and moved towards whatever lay in store for our future.

The journey back to the mansion was silence

The once-magnificent estate, having borne witness for centuries to bloodshed, betrayal, and war, lay in moonlight with grave dignity. Its imposing shape bore witness to survival, a reminder of everything that had transpired.

We entered, and a thick aura of exhaustion hung in the atmosphere, but with a new presence, hope entered in.

For the first time in an eternity, no peril lay in the shadows, no peril about to spring at any moment.

Peace, a state of peace, for which we'd longed, at long last, descended on us at last.

But it seemed almost unfamiliar.

As if our bodies, having become conditioned to fighting, couldn't believe that it no longer happened.

A warm, shaking hand crept into mine, and I turned to behold on my shoulder Emma, her green eyes full of unshed tears.

"So, a lovely conclusion to our foul narrative," she whispered with a faint, exhausted smile.

I breathed out a laugh, but one lacking humor.

"Beautiful? I don't know," I whispered. "But at least it's an end."

A warm, steadying arm looped above me, and I saw a faint, warm smile in his eyes, and heard, "An end, and a new beginning." Lucian said.

I wanted to believe it.

I did, I swear I did.

But with a stroll through its corridors, with rooms I'd seen a thousand times slipping past me, and seeing the faces of those who'd lived through. I could feel loss bearing down, piling its burden on me.

A thick, suffocating bulge grew in my throat, and I couldn't keep it in any longer.

"He should have been here," I fought out, my voice little more than a whisper. "Travis should have been here."

We sat in awkward, uncomfortable silence for a long, drawn-out stretch of seconds.

Emma’s hug around me constricted a little, and she shuddered in a soft intake of breath, whispering, "I know."

I glared at her, my eyes burning with unshed tears. "It’s not fair. He didn’t deserve to die."

"No he didn't," she whispered softly. "But Travis… Travis chose."

I struggled down a thick, aching swallow. "His choice?"

Emma nodded, a soft, sad curve to her mouth. "He chose her. To save us. He could have gotten out if he wanted, but he didn’t." She took a shuddering breath. "He wouldn’t have liked for us to grieve for him like that, Naomi. He would have liked us to live."

I brunched my hands into tight, shaking fists. "But how can we live knowing he’s not with us?"

A sad, small smile played at her mouth. "By creating a reality for this world—one Travis hoped for."

I rubbed my eyes, sniffling with a sniffle. It’s just… it’s not fair.

I hugged her, and she hugged me back, holding me for a long, quiet minute, her shoulder a warm, comforting presence under my head.

"Unfortunately," she whispered, her voice little more than a whisper, too, "his life will forever stand in reverence with hers."

No matter, no matter how frantically we moved, Travis’s name and hers could not be sundered. The witch who'd played him. The one who'd seduced him to death.

And yet… 

I saw that Emma was right. 

Travis hadn't been a soldier at all. Travis had been a protector, a companion, a believer in a cause larger than himself. 

Travis’s heritage will not include Deluna. 

Travis’s heritage will include us. 

The future in which we'd build in his name. 

I breathed shuddering, my eyes jerking upward to seek out Emma’s. 

"Make him remembered in a fitting way," I instructed her then. 

A soft curve creased Emma’s face, and she nodded. "Yes. We will." 

The hours crept up, but for the first time in a long, long stretch, there would not be fighting to gear for. No enemy to vanquish. 

Instead, a new future lay in store for shaping. 

I paced in the château window, gazing out at the sky. 

The stars shone high, unblemished by the ugliness of war. 

Lucian joined me, slipping an arm about my waist. "Thoughtful again?" 

I snuggled into him. "Always." 

A soft laugh breathed through him, and a soft kiss touched my cheek. "What about?" 

I took a deep breath, and then, "What comes afterward?" 

Lucian’s breath puffed out, warm in my face. "We build." 

I whirled at him. "And when and if the past seeks to rise?"

His crimson eyes clouded, a deadly threat in them. "Then remind it why it fell." 

I put a slow smile onto my face. 

For a long, long time, I'd only ever experienced loss and fear. 

But I feel hope now. 

Real, actual hope. 

Lucian took me in, speaking in a soft, even tone. "We've been granted a new start, Naomi. Whatever comes afterward, it's in our hands." 

I regarded him, actually saw him. 

The man who'd been my enemy at one point in my life. 

Had now become my everything. 

I reached out, my hands closing over his face. "Then let's make a decision together." 

He chuckled, bending down to press our foreheads together. 

And with the night waning, and the world about us starting to heal, I knew— 

This wasn't an ending. 

This was a beginning, one much, much larger.