Chapter 19

Together

The triumphant heroes made their way back to the boat and sailed into Port-a-Lucine. Eliza's wounds were tended and everyone gathered that night for a celebratory dinner.

Eliza took a sip of water. "What happens now?”, she asked. “What do we do with the rings and the gems?"

Aselid tapped his fingers on the table, "The gems should be kept apart and hidden in places far from one another. As for the rings, they are not inherently evil. It was only that Rastinon bore one that brought that about. You are free to do with them as you wish, though I suggest you avoid giving them to any diabolists or necromancers." He winked and smiled.

Lynn pulled the rings out of her purse and set them in front of her.

"Is there any way of destroying the gems, or even one of them if all are needed?", Weamar asked.

"Possibly, I will have to research the matter.", Aselid answered.

Eliza asked Weamar, "I suppose you'll be going back to Verbrek?", then she looked at the rings sidelong and then at Lynn.

"I suppose.”, Weamar answered, “Though after seeing Guy's use of a musket against that werewolf I might make a detour."

"Where to?", Eliza asked.

Weamar shrugged. "I haven't given it a lot of thought yet."

"What about you Marinae?", Eliza said distantly.

"I'm like him.”, Marinae said nodding towards Weamar, “I haven't thought about it, much."

Aselid wiped his mouth. "You are all welcome to stay here for a time and Marinae, if you are interested, I could use an apprentice to help in my research. I'm sure I could teach you a few things."

"That would be much better than wandering around.”, Marinae teased. “Thank you."

Eliza pushed her chair back. "If you will all excuse me, I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight.", Eliza stopped in the door and looked back at her friends. "I think it's just now dawning on me. We did it. We really did it." She smiled a little and turned again to go upstairs.

Lynn picked up the rings, put them in her purse, and followed Eliza.

Aselid watched them leave and turned to Weamar, "Weamar, if you do pass by that way, I'd like you to deliver a message for me to the Great Cathedral."

"I'm sure I could manage that for you.", Weamar answered.

"I would have asked Eliza but I don't suspect she'll be returning there anytime soon.", Aselid continued.

"Yeah, I guess not.", Weamar replied.

Marinae thought about Damon, and wondered where he was.
 

"What's wrong?", Lynn asked when they got to Eliza's room.

Eliza hugged Lynn and rested her head on her shoulder. "All of my life, I've known what I was supposed to do. I had a direction. I had a purpose. Now, I don't know what to do or where to go."

Lynn thought for a moment. For her life was always the opposite. She never had a direction or purpose. But she could remember a time when it wasn’t like that.

"Remember what you wanted to do when they told you to do something that you didn't want to do?", Lynn said with a little smile.

Eliza looked a little confused. "What?"

"Like when they made you do chores, or meaningless tasks. Stuff like that.", Lynn explained.

Eliza grinned, "I just wanted to play in the field."

"Then that's what we'll do.", Lynn replied. Then she added, "Unless you want me to make you do all those boring things so that you can feel at home again."

Eliza just giggled and kissed Lynn.

Lynn sighed. "It's been so long since I’ve heard you laugh."

Eliza whispered, "It's been a long time since I've wanted to." She sat down on the bed and grinned, "I'd like to see the rings."

Lynn reached into her purse, pulled out the rings, and sat down next to Eliza.

Eliza took one of the rings out of Lynn's hand,  swallowed hard, and slipped it on to her finger.

"Wait.", Lynn said suddenly and reached for the ring. Then she stopped and watched Eliza try it on. "Is it hurting?", she asked.

"No, it doesn't hurt.”, Eliza assured her. “Put yours on."

Lynn put her ring back on her finger once again. As she slid the ring on, an odd sensation washed over them both. It was a sense of profound warmth, love, and acceptance. It was as though each of them was a mirror of the other's feelings, reflecting back and forth into infinity. Lynn and Eliza both lay back on the bed, feeling each other’s love flowing between them. Neither said a word, and neither needed to, for what they felt was more than either could ever describe, and more than they ever thought that they could feel.