Falling Ashes (48 page)

I covered my mouth and stifled the cry that escaped me. I couldn’t believe it. I
wouldn’t
. How could the sun shine, and the earth turn when Ræven Blacklock was dead?

I broke down then. My heart was being crushed. I stood up, stepping on the hem of my dress and staggering backwards. Jack caught me and wrapped his arms around me tight, holding me against his chest. I sobbed into his uniform, burning great holes through it, whilst feeling his own tears falling against my hair.

‘
Mein Liebling
,’ Fae repeated over and over. ‘
Mein Liebling
.’

Slowly, the others crowded around us, whispering.

‘Is she dead?’

‘She’s dead.’

‘Ræven’s dead?’

‘No!’

A middle-aged woman stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t know who she was, but tears filled her eyes.

‘Your friend was very brave,’ she said.

‘Who are you?’

‘My name is Cecilia Pinschmidt,’ she said. ‘And it’s because of R
æven that we have a cure for the humans.’

Fae looked up, her eyes bloodshot, and her face tear-streaked. ‘Because of R
æven?’

Cecilia nodded. ‘The cure was a man called Mackerville, a Mage with the ability to absorb Power, and gift memories. He offered to heal any human we brought to him, in exchange for a Power. R
æven volunteered.’

‘She did?’ said Fae, sniffing loudly.

Cecilia nodded and knelt beside Fae, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. ‘Your friend was very brave, and her death will be mourned for generations to come. It is because of her that we can help thousands of innocent people.’

‘That girl is a hero,’ my father said gruffly, to mumbled agreement amongst the other rebels.

Fae looked down at her lost lover, a tear hanging on to the tip of her nose, before falling onto Ræven’s cheek.

‘She didn’t even know I was here,’ she whispered. ‘I didn’t make it in time.’

This simple sentence wrenched at my heart strings, and I buried my face into Jack’s chest once more. I couldn’t bear to watch Fae’s agony.

No one spoke as Fae wept over R
æven’s body, rocking her in her arms. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’

I couldn’t take it. I pulled away from Jack and walked to Fae’s side, crouching beside her. Fae looked at me through her curtain of red hair, before laying R
æven against the grass and throwing her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. I gripped her tightly, looking down at Ræven’s lifeless form. The way her eyes stared up was so unnatural. I reached my hand forward and gently closed her eyelids so she appeared to be sleeping.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Afterwards

Ræven’s funeral was a quiet one; only those who knew of her deed to humankind attended. Fae sat next to me, with her head resting on my shoulder. Willow sat in her lap, fast asleep. I stroked Fae’s hair slowly, letting her tears fall onto my sleeve. Jack sat on my other side, his face set. He had been feeling bad about Ræven’s death, as though it were his own fault. He felt that if he’d reached her just a few seconds earlier, he would have been able to prevent it. This may have been true, but no one else blamed him like he did himself.

The reading of the eulogy was brief, as R
æven had led a short and secret life. No words could sum up what she had meant to those that were close to her. No such words existed.

When the service ended, I walked to the coffin’s side and placed a kiss on the polished wood.

‘Thank you, Ræven,’ I whispered. ‘For giving my sister back to me.’

A small hand curled around mine and squeezed gently. I looked to my right to see Helena smiling sadly at me. Wrapped in her other arm was Rue.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

‘It’s all right,’ I smiled back. ‘At least I have you.’

~

After the funeral, I packed my clothes back into my rucksack. The Reddings and Greenwoods had been staying at Cecilia’s home until the funeral service. She’d taken it upon herself to wash all of my things and lay them out neatly for me on the bed in her spare room.

Jack knocked on the door and entered as I picked up my fire-proof skirt from the bed.

‘Hey,’ I said, pausing.

‘Hey,’ Jack replied, his expression sullen. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I think so,’ I said. ‘What about you?’

He shrugged and walked across the room. Things had been tense between us in the days leading up to the funeral, and we hadn’t had a chance to talk, or be alone.

I couldn’t be sure, but I felt as though Jack was frightened of me, and my recent violence against the Realm. Since the battle, not a single guard or official had been spotted in the city.

Jack took the skirt out of my hands and re-folded it for me. Clearly, he was looking for an excuse to be here.

Something clattered loudly to the ground. I looked down and saw the locket and broken chain on the floor. It had fallen out of the skirt’s pocket.

‘What’s this?’ asked Jack, stooping to pick it up. ‘Your necklace?’

I’d forgotten all about it after Ræven’s death. It had seemed unimportant at the time.

‘Oh,’ I said, shifting my weight. ‘Yeah … I was going to talk to you about it.’

‘Did you break it?’ he asked, holding up the snapped chain.

‘Yes,’ I said, honestly.

Jack waited for an explanation, and I felt the sting of the old heartbreak in my chest.

I sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Jack. I spoke to Camryn. She told me who the necklace really belonged to.’

Jack’s eyes darted to the locket, and back to me. ‘What?’ he said. If he wanted to play dumb, that was fine by me.

‘She told me that it belonged to Madeline,’ I said. ‘How you stole it from her chambers after she died, as a keepsake.’

Jack’s jaw muscles tightened, and he stared at me.

‘It’s true,’ he said, balling the chain up in his palm. ‘This did belong to Madeline once.’

Somehow, hearing it come out of Jack’s mouth hurt twice as much.

I blinked rapidly, but tried to remain calm.

‘You … you wanted me to look like her,’ I said. ‘That’s why you gave it to me. That’s … that’s why you wanted me in the first place.’

Jack sighed heavily and sat on the bed. ‘Avalon, it’s true that you look like Madeline, and I will admit that is what drew me to you in the first place. I was just a child when I met her, but she was so kind to me, I couldn’t help but be smitten. That day in Frost Arch, I saw you and couldn’t believe my eyes. I started following you, and that’s when you ran into Seth Swaggart, remember?’

I nodded, sniffing back the tears that threatened to flow.

‘But Avalon, as soon as I got to know you better, I knew that you were nothing like Madeline at all. After a while, I no longer saw the similarities between you, I only saw the differences. And there were many. Eventually, I didn’t see her in you at all.’

‘Then why give me her necklace?’ I asked, my voice breaking. ‘Why lie and say it was your mother's?’

Jack shook his head. ‘I didn’t lie, Avalon.’

‘What?’

‘That necklace
did
belong to my mother.’

‘But you just said-’

‘I said it belonged to Madeline once,’ he said. ‘That is also true.’

‘But … how?’

Jack frowned. ‘The necklace did belong to my mother, along with a lot of other jewellery that she had inherited from her own parents. The only picture my father had of my mother, she was wearing that necklace in particular. I guess I associated with it the strongest. But my father and I were poor, and he sold all of my mother’s jewellery at the marketplace when I was six years old.’

‘He sold it? But … he didn’t even recognise the necklace when I wore it.’

Jack rolled his eyes. ‘He sold a lot of her jewellery that day. I wouldn’t expect him to remember a particular piece.’

‘Oh.’

‘Anyway, when Madeline came into the picture, Noah was constantly showering her with gifts; gold, chocolate, flowers, and various other oddities, my mother’s necklace included. The first time I saw Madeline, she was wearing it. Perhaps that’s why I took such a fancy to her in the first place.’

‘Noah bought the necklace from the marketplace?’ I said, my eyes wide.

Jack nodded. ‘I recognised it at once. After all, I stared at my mother’s picture on my wall every night. How could I not recognise it?’

‘So you stole it back?’ I asked.

He nodded, and bowed his head. ‘After she died, Camryn helped me, but she didn’t understand the full story. She thought I was just a love-sick kid.’

‘Weren’t you?’ I asked.

Jack gave me a smile. ‘I was a little boy with a crush on a woman far too old for me, Avalon.’

‘I thought you gave me the necklace so I would look like her. I thought you wanted her, not me.’

Jack stood up and snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me close.

‘You’re not really jealous of a childhood crush, are you?’ he asked.

I grumbled. ‘Maybe.’

Jack cupped my chin in his hand and tilted my head upwards. ‘Don’t be,’ he said, scanning my face. ‘I gave you that necklace because you are my family now.’

My face broke. ‘I’m sorry, Jack. I thought … I thought-’

Jack grinned, and I realised how much I’d missed his smile. ‘It’s all right,’ he said, threading his fingers through my hair. ‘It once belonged to a woman I loved dearly; my mother. Even though I never knew her, I held onto the idea of her. But I feel as though I can finally let go, now that I have found someone to love equally as much.’

I stared, my heart pounding frantically. ‘R-really?’

Jack nodded. ‘Of course,’ he said with a smile. ‘Don’t you know that I love you?’

And just like that, I was his again; all of my jealousy and anger forgotten. I melted into Jack’s arms and allowed him to kiss me. Our mouths found one another, and moulded perfectly together. He smiled into the kiss, and held me close. I exhaled deeply through my nose as though a great weight had been lifted off my chest. 

Pulling away, Jack looked me in the eye and said, ‘Does that mean you love me, too?’

I answered his question with another kiss.

Epilogue

I watched out of the window as the children played in the tall grass. A small, black haired boy was trying to fly a kite, but to no avail. His legs were far too short. His mousy haired, human sister helped, showing him how it was done, and soon the kite was high in the sky.

I smiled, pressing my forehead against the windowpane. An arm around my waist told me that Jack had sneaked up behind me. He rested his chin on the top of my head and watched the children play too.

‘It’s unnatural, don’t you think?’ he said, watching them.

‘What is?’ I asked.

‘For siblings to get along. It’s weird.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I get along with Helena perfectly well, thank you very much.’

‘Yeah, but you’re an oddball,’ he smirked, squeezing me around the waist playfully.

I scoffed. ‘You’re the idiot who married an oddball, then.’

He pursed his lips. ‘True,’ he said, kissing my cheek.

‘MUM!
MUM
,
LOOK
! LOOK AT WHAT I CAN DO!’ the black haired boy screamed at the top of his lungs. I turned my attention to the child, who was waving at me enthusiastically.

I opened the window and called out to him. ‘I see, Dear. Very good!’

The child was clearly overexcited from flying the kite, so much so, that the string caught fire and snapped. The boy watched in horror as the kite was blown away.

‘MUM, IT’S GETTING AWAY!’ he cried, pointing to the sky.

Jack couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You’d better learn to fly then, Son.’

The five-year-old ran inside, tears streaking his face, his twelve-year-old sister slouching in after him.

‘It’s
gone
!’ he wailed. ‘It blew
away
!’

‘Lance, just ask Auntie Helena to make you another one,’ said his sister.

‘Shut up, Ræven! This is all
your
fault.’

‘I’m not the Fire-Mage,’ R
æven retorted with a roll of her eyes.

‘Mum,’ Lance said, ignoring his sister and gripping fistfuls of my dress desperately. ‘Can we go see Auntie Helena?
Please
?’

‘Of course, maybe later in the week.’

Lance gasped. ‘Why can’t we go
now
?’ he asked.

‘You know she works during the week, Sweetheart.’

‘Mum, I think the kite is more important than work,’ said Lance, matter-of-factly.

Jack laughed and stooped to pick up his son, dangling him upside down. The boy shrieked with delight.