Page 253 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
To say I was baffled was an understatement. “No, I—I didn’t even know he was the one who started it.”
Myrrdin clasped his hands at his waist. “Doesn’t surprise me that he didn’t tell you. He doesn’t feel he deserves credit for all we’ve done here because he didn’t discover the garden on his own. I told him where to find it, to safeguard him from Gentian after he and Morus escaped the Spring Palace. I feared Gentian would seek retribution against Pete for failing to kill your father. And if Pete had been caught on the run, I daresay he’d be long dead now. Quite gruesomely too.”
I quailed at the thought.
“Pete had been locked in a cage for well over two centuries. He was malnourished, his predator eyes were overly sensitive to anything brighter than candlelight, his first reaction to any problem was to fight, and he had no notion of the fae world beyond the Shadow Palace. Heneededour help.
“Morus led Pete here to Eden, mostly under cover of night to avoid royal guards and Gentian’s lackeys. And their directions were deficient at best—I’d only seen the path through landmarks. Yet, with luck and prayer, they made it here to safety. And here is where I meant Pete to remain—in this sanctum from Gentian. For he’d surely suffered enough.”
He sure as hell had.
“But Pete had other ideas, as he often does.” The prophet’s face canted toward droll.
“I’d have just burnt off my tether and stayed hidden in the time pocket.”
“Yes, well—none of us knew how to remove his tether back then. Pete learned of that years later. He’d never have done so at any rate—for then he’d have given up his new purpose for living.
“He needed a purpose, you’ll understand, for life after cage fighting. Morus remained as a mentor to help him find it—to help him heal. Yet our dear Kobold friend was still dismayed when, after only a paltry month, Pete looked around this vast oasis and decided it would do to shield more than just himself from Gentian. He’d simply have to put his own life and soul at risk again—and again—and again. And, Amy, he didn’t hesitate. He laid out his plans, and regardless of what evil might befall him, he’d see them through. For the sake of those in need of saving.”
Just when I think Pete can’t get any better—
“Morus tried to talk him out of it, of course, but that was a futile effort. After that month, Pete made Morus return him to the Shadow Palace, where Pete wore his demon mask to become a harbinger, full-fledged.”
“And Gentian didn’t punish him for failing to kill my dad?”
“He tried.” Myrrdin cleared his throat. “To maintain his act—or maybe just for revenge—Pete killed Gentian’s punisher. Strangled him with his own whip. Gentian let Pete be after that.”
Good for Pete.
“Then Pete and the few other harbingers he trusted began concealing their death marks here. For all intents and purposes, they founded a village in Eden, and I resigned my post at the Spring Palace to aid Pete’s cause—which was, in effect, to save as many lives from Gentian as feasible.
“They know one day Gentian will discover what they’ve been about. He has too many spies. They hope to kill him before that happens, but they’ve yet to decide how to accomplish this. Or at least theyhadn’t—until you, Amy.”
I grimaced. “Did Pete tell you about asking me to help him? Before he knew who I was?”
“No,thatI saw in a prophecy.”
“Would we have done it? Would Pete’s plan have worked?”
“I can’t say.” Myrrdin’s expression warmed. “Because even if Pete hadn’t learned your true identity, he wouldn’t have let you go through with it. At a certain point in your journey, he grew to care for you too much and could no longer stomach the thought of risking your life, even if you were the only person in all of Mag Mell who’d succeed at killing the Shadow Prince. Pete was always going to waffle on your agreement. You were always going to wind up in Eden.”
A breeze frolicked around me, blowing my hair into my face. After a blink, I realized the breeze was my doing.
“I tell you this to illustrate why your choice to bring Pete with you to the Spring Palace isn’t folly. It’s never folly to keep someone with such compassion close. Someone who puts others first—who putsyoufirst. Just as you put him.”
Suddenly bashful, I glanced away.
“Affinity bonds don’t simply happen, Amy, and the having of it can only strengthen the two of you. It’s another power in your pocket—and in his. Just remember that in the future—when things become arduous.” He paused pointedly. “And consider where a bond such as yours might also lead you.”
My stomach fluttered at what I thought Myrrdin implied. Would Pete and I become soulmates?
Cool it, Amy,I chastised myself.Sure, Pete offered you his heart, but you don’t know if that even means monogamy to him. He has yet to use the L-word. Oath or no oath, he’d run for the hills if he knew you were fantasizing of mating your souls—something he expressly stated he didn’t want.
Reading my mind through my doofish eyes, no doubt, Myrrdin sighed. “Your future with Pete will depend on a series of decisions the two of you have yet to make. So, I don’t know what you’ll become to each other at this time. But before you were born, your mother shared with me a premonition she had of you—you and a shadow man. She saw that he was inextricably connected to you, Amy. And you to him.”
I tried to bite back my smile, but my smile won.
“Now, what that means, I can’t say. Because you’re also inextricably connected to Briar.”
