Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles Book 4) (34 page)

They sat there for several minutes, all of them in a sort of dazed silence. Linnea was the first one to break it. “A big wedding will be fun.”

Everyone chuckled – everyone except Quinn. She had grown very still and quiet beside him. He looked down at her. “Excuse me,” she said. And she stood and walked quickly into the bedroom he’d shared with her the night before.

They all looked at each other again. His father stood up. “I think I’d like to go check on all of the horses. It sounds like yours have all arrived here as well. Anyone want to come with me?”

It was almost comical how quickly everyone was out of the room, leaving William standing there. His father paused in the doorway. “Do you have your coin?”

He nodded. “It’s in my backpack in the other room.”

His father smiled gently, reaching into his pocket. “Always in your pocket, son. Here.” He pulled his hand out and held it over William’s, dropping a small coin into it. “We’ll stay out of your way for a while.”

After his father left, William approached the bedroom door. Inside the bedroom, Quinn was sitting on the bed, leaning up against the headboard, her knees pulled to her chest.

“Please, Will,” she said, as he was closing the door behind him, “I just need a little bit of time alone.”

He didn’t leave, though. He just slowly approached the bed and stood at the foot of it, flipping the little coin between his fingers as he spoke. “There aren’t many requests I wouldn’t grant you, Quinn – except you asking me to leave you when you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset. I just … need some time to think.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She looked up at the ceiling. “If I am, it’s my problem. I have to deal with this, Will.”

He ignored her defensive position, and walked around to the side of the bed, kicking off his boots.

“I mean it, Will.” Her voice was starting to sound scratchy.

“I know you do.” He climbed onto the bed, and sat with his legs crossed right in front of her. “I know. But I mean this more.”

She looked at him.

He held the little coin between his fingers. “After we told my parents we were getting married, they pulled me aside one evening. They brought me into their room, and sat me down, and gave me this – well, one like it, anyway. This is my father’s, since I didn’t have mine in my pocket like I’m supposed to.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just a coin. It’s nothing special – it’s not even money. But it’s a reminder.” He handed it to her and watched as she examined it, studying both sides.

“Is that a thorn?” she asked, showing him the etching on one side.

“It is. And it’s a dandelion seed on the other side.”

“Again with that…” she said, and he smiled. “What is it supposed to be a reminder of?”

“To never run away from each other in a fight – to stay until we’ve worked it out.”

“We’re not fighting.”

“I know. You and I don’t fight – at least not so far. But we both have a tendency to do this – to withdraw when we get upset, and think that everything is only our own problem.”

“Sometimes it is.”

“No, love. It never is. It never will be. You’re my wife. For the rest of my life, everything that worries you or upsets you or hurts you – it does me, too. Even if the only way it affects me is that it makes
you
sad. Even if the only thing I can do about it is be there for you.”

He took the coin back, and held the side with the dandelion seed up to her. “Dandelions represent the easy way. You pick up a dandelion and it’s so soft, and it’s so easy and even fun sometimes to blow the seeds everywhere. And you don’t even realize what you’re doing. Nothing happens right then, except you get a pretty little show in the breeze. It’s not until later, sometimes a long time later, that you look out in your garden and realize what you did.”

He put his hand on her knee. “It’s easy, love, to pull back, to hide in yourself, to run and say you’re just taking some time, to keep all of your emotions inside, maybe even to think you’re protecting me from something. It would be easier still for me to let you do that. To watch you blow those dandelion seeds everywhere, and pretend it won’t damage anything. To pretend we won’t wake up one summer morning to discover we’ve allowed a huge patch of weeds to grow between us, opening up cracks in the foundation of our marriage.”

Her lower lip trembled, and he saw her bite down on it, but he didn’t stop. He flipped the coin over, and rubbed his thumb against the etching of the thorn. “Thorns, on the other hand … they’re not easy. They hurt. They make you want to give up on the whole plant sometimes. But if you don’t give up, love, if you fight through it, allow yourself to be hurt – the result is beautiful and strong. And it will last forever if you care for it.”

Tears dripped down her cheeks now, and he reached to wipe them with his thumbs. “You’re my rose, Quinn. And I choose the pain, sometimes. I choose to fight it out, even when it would be easier to withdraw. I choose to love you, even when you’re feeling unlovable. You can’t get rid of me – I’m not going anywhere; I don’t care how many thorns you aim at me.”

Now she was crying in earnest, and he felt tears starting to flow down his own cheeks, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be embarrassed about that with her, or let her feel that way with him. He just pulled her to his chest and held her tight, running his fingers through her hair and rocking her.

When she finally stopped, she looked up at him. “I love you, Will.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Good. That’s the point of all of this, isn’t it? I love you so much, Quinn. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure you know that, every day for the rest of our life together.”

“That’s one big advantage of choosing this world, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“That our life together will be so much longer than it would have been in my … in my
other
world.”

“That’s definitely an advantage in my mind, love.”

He held her for several more minutes, waiting until she was completely calm before asking his question.

“Are you sure about this decision, Quinn? I’m sure we could find another way.”

She shook her head. “I’ve played that game before, William – too much, and for too long. Not making a decision, avoiding a decision, halfway making a decision – those are all decisions, too. Only when you do those things, you let the situation control you, instead of the other way around.”

He sighed, nodding, knowing she was right.

“I’m not happy about it. It’s not the decision I
want
to make. But it’s the right one. I can’t have it both ways. We have to find that magnet and close the gate.”

“Maybe…”

“Yes, maybe,” she said. “Maybe lots of things, someday down the road. But I can’t go into this halfway, trying to make a someday work out, Will.
You
can hold on to some of that for me, think of the maybe somedays, that maybe in a cycle or two we can open it again, or we can find another gate somewhere else…

“But I can’t think about that right now. Because
maybe
it will never be safe to open it again, or we’ll try and we won’t be able to. I have to have my eyes open, and make this decision for real. I have to know I’m closing that gate with my family on the other side, and that might mean never seeing them again.”

“Okay,” he said, though inside his heart was breaking for her – for both of them. “I’m here for that, too.”

“Okay.” She opened his hand and picked up the coin again. “I think I need one of these.”

THE TRIP BACK TO Eirentheos was different than the trip to Philotheum. They were leaving Charles and Ellen behind, but the absence they felt most was Nathaniel’s.

They rode in silence much of the time, pushing the horses as hard as they reasonably could, hoping to make it to Eirentheos with a full day to spare before the gate opened. Their travel time would hopefully be reduced greatly by the escort they had gotten to the Philothean border, and their ability to travel on main roads.

Early in the morning, before they’d left, Stephen’s bird had returned with a message from Simon. He, Maxwell, and Thomas, along with a couple of others who knew about the gate planned to begin searching the area today looking for a magnet – though none of them knew exactly what it would look like or where it would be buried.

“At least you’ll have a chance to say good-bye properly and take the things you need when you go to Philotheum for real now,” Linnea said, riding up beside Quinn and interrupting her thoughts.

It took a minute for Quinn to understand what her friend – her sister, now – had said. “I suppose you’re right. It does feel like sort of a reprieve – getting to go home for a while first. And it’s true that we never really got to tell everyone good-bye.”

Linnea gave her an odd look, but didn’t say anything else. Maybe it was over her calling Eirentheos “home” – but that’s what the castle there was to her, now. The only home she was going to be able to go to for a long time maybe. She wondered how long it would take before the castle in Philotheum felt like anywhere she belonged.

“I’m pretty impressed with your one-handed riding skills,” she said, changing the subject a little. “Are you holding up okay?”

“I’m going to use up William’s supply of those pills from your world, but I’m all right. I don’t know what he’s going to do when those run out and he can’t go…” Linnea stopped suddenly, and looked up at Quinn. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Nay. It’s not like we can avoid making any mention of it forever. Earth was a big part of William’s life, too, and he learned a lot of things there. The topic will come up.”

“What topic?” William asked, edging Skittles up closer to them.

“Of me using up all of your medicine,” Linnea said.

William shrugged. “We had more of it here than we could probably really use before it expires. I’ve been studying it, too. I can make a liquid version that works almost the same, but without the benefit of chemicals that make it taste better without making it spoil easily … it’s something that’s best left for home or a clinic, not for traveling.”

Linnea raised an eyebrow. “Really, Quinn? You listen to him when he talks like this? I don’t even understand what he’s saying.”

“As opposed to someone who talks horses, fishing, and weapons?” William said, a little pointedly.

Linnea’s cheeks glowed red. “Kind of a low blow isn’t that, Will?” she said, glancing back behind them where Ben was riding. “It’s not like anything can even happen there.”

“Why couldn’t it?” Quinn asked.

“He’s going to Philotheum, probably in a little over a moon.”

“Philotheum, Nay,” William said. “Not Earth. And I’m going to Philotheum to be with Quinn.”

“Yes, but you’re of age.”

“You will be by then, too.” Quinn said.

Linnea blinked. “My parents would never…”

“Of course they would, Linnea.” William said. “It’s not as easy as falling for someone who’s going to stay in the kingdom, but … this is between you and Ben, not anyone else. A moon is plenty of time to see if the two of you want to pursue something.”

The color hadn’t yet faded from Linnea’s cheeks. “I don’t even know if he’s…”

“Oh, he is. Trust me on that one.” Quinn said, grinning.

Linnea looked at William. “Uh, yeah, Nay. No question,” he said.

They all glanced back at Ben – he was watching them, too. Linnea turned even redder when Quinn waved him up.

She shot Linnea a sly grin. “Sometimes,” she said, when only Linnea could hear her, “it’s not so bad to listen to someone talk about weapons or horses – or medicine. Honestly, when someone is trying to talk to you about those things, the important thing they’re
always
saying is that they care enough about what you think to try to share themselves with you.”

*          *          *

They made it back to Eirentheos the next afternoon – Quinn would never know how Stephen had managed to travel that far in less time.

Despite the fact that they were all exhausted, they sent Linnea ahead to the castle with most of the guards, and Stephen, Ben, Marcus, Quinn, and William went straight to the gate.

Quinn spotted Thomas there almost immediately. “Have you found anything?” she asked, riding up and dismounting right next to him.

Thomas grinned and held his hand out to steady her as she stumbled, before wrapping her in an enormous hug. “Hello to you, too, Princess. Until we got your message last night, I’d thought it was going to be much longer until I saw your beautiful face again.”

“Hey, hands off my wife.” William came up behind them, his wide smile erasing any chance of seriousness in his tone.

“She’s my sister now, too. You can’t keep her
all
to yourself.”

“I can try.”

“But you won’t succeed. I’m too good at what I do.” As soon as Thomas had let go of Quinn, he had William wrapped in a tight hug, too. “Eight days, and I already didn’t know what to do with myself without you,” Thomas said. “I’m glad it was only a practice run, and we have a little while before it’s real.”

“I think you speak for all of us.”

“Where’s Linnea?” Thomas asked, looking around at everyone else who was dismounting and searching out Simon and Maxwell, who were down closer to the riverbank with shovels.

“Headed back to the castle. She’s not up for digging just yet.”

Thomas’ eyes widened. “Why? What happened to her?”

Quinn looked at William –
right,
the messages they’d sent hadn’t told the whole story.

“It’s a long story, T. But she’s
fine
. Really, she’s okay.” William set his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Actually – you’ll want to hear the story, but I’ll let her tell it when we get back to the castle.”

“If you’re sure she’s all right.”

William nodded, but the lighthearted mood of reunion was gone now. Thomas looked around them.

“So far we haven’t found anything. Not that we even know what we’re looking for, which would help, but there’s nothing out here that looks anything like a magnet, or even like an unusual rock. I know you couldn’t say a lot in the messages with the birds – is there anything else you know about it that you haven’t told us?”

Quinn shook her head. “No. Not anything.”

Thomas looked at her intently for a moment. “Quinn … you’re not really trying to permanently close the gate, are you?”

She felt William’s hand on her shoulder immediately. “Yes, Thomas, she is. But the whys and hows and all of it are something we can discuss later, okay?”

“Of course. So, you’re sure this magnet is here somewhere?”

“Yes. At least, according to Alvin, it is.”

“And that’s all we know.”

“Yes. It’s not very helpful, is it?”

Thomas shook his head. “But whatever it is – wherever it is, we’ve got just over a day to find it before the next time the gate opens. Are you sure Hector is actually going to show up here tomorrow?”

“No, but he could. He could probably show up anytime, for that matter.” William said.

“All right then. There are some extra shovels in that wagon over there.”

*          *          *

By late the following afternoon, Quinn didn’t think she’d ever been so exhausted or so discouraged. The gate would be opening in less than an hour, and they hadn’t found anything. They’d dug up nearly the entire riverbank – even crossing the bridge and digging on the other side, and still they hadn’t found anything.

Nobody even knew if they were digging deep enough.

She didn’t understand it. Why would she see what she’d seen in her dream, and then be unable to do anything about it. Part of her kept looking around for Alvin to show up suddenly and just tell them where to find the magnet, but so far they were out here alone.

Stephen had sent several patrols out around the area, looking for anything unusual, any sign that Hector or his troops were around, but they hadn’t found anything, either.

Pausing for a moment to rest her aching arms, she looked out at the river. Early evening sunlight bounced off the fast-flowing waves, creating a warm, golden effect. The weather had heated back up again the last couple of days. Though not quite as bad as it had been a few moons ago, William had told her that this time of year still saw plenty of hot days. Everything was ten times longer here – even the seasons.

The seasons
. “Will?” she called suddenly.

He stopped digging and looked over at her.

“Is the water level in the river always this high?”

“No. In the colder moons, it drops much lower than this. It practically turns into a stream …
oh.
”

“Yeah.”

Despair washed over her as they stopped and looked at the river. The golden waves suddenly looked a lot less peaceful.
The magnet could be anywhere
. It could be buried out there, under several feet of quickly-moving water.

“
Why
, Will? Why would Alvin tell us about this, why would I have this dream – your father have this dream, if there was nothing we could do about it? If we were just going to waste our time coming out here and digging up half the riverbank, all just to watch it happen anyway? I don’t understand.”

Even now, the sun was beginning to dip below the tops of the trees. She picked up her shovel and threw it, hard. It landed with a clatter against a large rock – one they’d already tested with a magnet. It was just a rock, like every other rock on the riverbank.

Marcus came running at the noise. He looked over at the shovel, and then back and forth between William and Quinn, and then he glanced up at the sky, which was growing less blue and more purple with every passing minute. She’d overestimated how much time they had left. Wishful thinking, probably.

“We should get you home, Princess,” he said gently. “We should get all of you back. It’s not going to be safe to have you out here.”

She started to nod, ready to concede, but a sudden movement at the corner of her vision told her they were already too late.

He didn’t look exactly the same as he had in her dream. He was older than the man she’d seen in her vision – the strange silver now dominated his hair, and his beard and mustache were overgrown and dirty. He must have been hiding in the trees somewhere near here for days.

Perhaps he’d tried the gate every evening, not knowing exactly when it would open. But the look in Hector’s eyes now told her that he knew this was the night.

Quinn, William, and Marcus were standing between him and the bridge, and everyone else was rushing over. But they were unlikely to stop him. He had a gun.

“That’s right, Princess,” Hector said, correctly reading the expression on her face. “You’d better tell your friends to step aside before they find out firsthand what I can do with this thing.” He pointed the gun at each of them in turn, finally landing on Quinn and keeping it aimed at her head.

Marcus looked at her in shock, but she nodded. “Move out of his way,” she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but she knew they all heard her.

She didn’t understand it, didn’t know how this could have happened, but she knew that if they challenged him, someone she cared about would likely die. Or she would. Maybe she was going to anyway – Hector certainly wouldn’t want her to live.

Hector stayed where he was, with the weapon aimed at Quinn, until the line had parted far enough that he could walk through without anyone getting to him. When he did move, it was with an arrogant confidence that started Quinn’s frozen blood bubbling deep inside of her.

Maxwell must have felt the same way, because when Hector was halfway up the steps, he made a run for it, trying to grab him.

Quinn watched in horror as Hector turned, aimed, and then a sickening crack filled the air.

Max fell back, and for a few seconds, the world stopped entirely, until he stood back up again; the shot had gone wide. Very wide.

“He hasn’t fired that thing in many cycles,” Marcus whispered, loud enough for only Quinn and William to hear. “I doubt he has very many bullets, either.”

It would have been a hopeful thought, if only it wasn’t already too late. Hector was at the top of the bridge, about to take the step that would make him vanish.

Except it didn’t.

It was fully dusk now. The gate should have been open. But Hector’s next step didn’t take him anywhere. He kept going, but he only reached the end of the bridge. Looking confused now, he turned and walked back. But no matter what he tried, he remained standing where they could see him.