“Oh, wonderful!” Elise cried, clapping her hands. “I’ll take care of all the expenses. Whatever you want, you’ll have it.” I stepped forward immediately to argue, but she pointed a finger at my chest and stopped me in my tracks. “No, no arguments! I’m paying, and that’s final.”
I looked at Lia out of the corner of my eye and found her with a grin on her face. She gave me a small shrug, and I sighed. “That’s very generous, Elise. Thank you.”
“Generous, indeed!” Marten laughed from the couch across from us. “I owe you my thanks for that as well, Ellie! You’ll be saving me a fortune.”
Hana elbowed him in the ribs and rolled her eyes. “Which we would have been willing to pay,” she smiled to Lia and me, “and of course, we’ll still help in any way we can.”
Marten raised his hands defensively. “Of course, of course!”
Elise grinned. “If you’re truly looking to have the ceremony as soon as possible, I’ll get my people working on the preparations now. As long as Tabitha isn’t too consumed with her winter orders, I should be able to get you measured by tomorrow.” Without prompting, Bella pulled a small notepad from her back pocket and began to take notes while Elise continued. “Bella, I’ll leave food to you. I’ll visit the chapel on the way back to the office, and send for…” She trailed off suddenly, looking back and forth across the room. “Where’s Marin? I’ll need her help, as well.”
“She’s finishing an in-town delivery for me this afternoon,” Marten answered. “She’ll be back within the hour, I assume.”
I winced at the answer. While the statement was true, the context behind it was lacking. Since Lia’s awakening and my subsequent emergence from the bedroom, Marin had spent as much time out of the house as possible, volunteering to cover deliveries for Marten or buying any food or supplies Hana needed in town. Her relief at seeing Lia alive was apparent every time the two happened to cross paths within the house, but her discomfort at seeing me clearly outweighed the feeling. I had planned to talk with her about the incident, but the combination of her careful avoidance and the amount of sleep Lia and I needed to recover made the encounter impossible.
“I see. Maybe we’ll catch her on the way out,” Elise muttered, rubbing her chin. “If we do happen to miss her, send her to the office the next time she’s free. Until then, I think we have more than enough to keep us busy, right?” she asked, looking at Bella. Finding the nod she expected, she turned back to us with a wide smile and gave us each another hug. “Congratulations again, both of you. It has been an incredibly trying week for everyone; this news is exactly what I needed.”
“Thanks, Aunt Ellie,” Lia said, returning the embrace. “I love you.”
“Oh, I love you too, Marly,” she replied, giving her one final squeeze before she took her place next to Bella. “Alright, you two. Make sure you stay here for the next day or so; you’ll either be hearing from me or people who work for me. So much to do!” She turned and made her way to the door, continuing to dictate orders to Bella as they went.
When the door closed behind them, Lia let out a loud sigh. “I think she might be more excited about this than I am.” I peered down at her with a raised eyebrow, and she gave me a light nudge with her shoulder. “Not to say that I’m not excited, of course.”
I laughed. “I know what you mean. She’s definitely—”
The door burst back open again as Elise hurried back inside. “I almost forgot! These are for you, Lux,” she said, holding out two envelopes. I accepted the letters with a bow of my head, and Elise quickly ran back to the door. “Okay, talk soon!” she called out as she left.
“Now, who in the world would be writing youletters, Lux?” Marten chuckled. “Does anybody aside from us even know who you are?”
“We have plenty of friends, Marten,” I answered sarcastically as I turned over the first envelope. A small blob of light blue wax held it closed, stamped with a small picture of an easel. “This one, for example, is from our friends Lyn and Miles in Almayn.”
“Oh!” Lia perked up and snatched the letter from my hand as I slid it from the envelope. “I didn’t expect to hear from them so soon!” She took the paper to the dining room table and sat down, leaning forward on her elbows excitedly as she scanned the note.
I watched her with a wry grin as I pulled up the second envelope. It was unmarked and unsealed, and the letter inside was written on a small, unfolded piece of paper in Elise’s familiar handwriting. “Lux, I thought it would be easier to write this down so you could read it in your own time. I looked into the rumors, and they’re...not great.” The grin vanished from my face as I entered the dining room and sat down across from Lia, continuing to read.
“The explanations vary from person to person, but everybody saw the same thing: a blinding pillar of black fire that pierced the clouds. Most people say it’s a sign that the Primes are displeased, and it’s one of the punishments they’ve inflicted upon us. They say the same about those beasts, too; news from Kaldan worsens every day, with vicious attacks from unknown monsters now a common occurrence throughout the country. The site of the fire is said to be cursed, so most people are avoiding it for now, but...they’re scared.”
“Lyn and Miles are okay!” Lia exclaimed as she finished the letter. “She’s going to live with him until spring, when the roads are safer to travel again. They gave us directions to get to their house and said we’re welcome to visit anytime!” She looked
