This was everything she had ever dreamed of. And so finally she could stop dreaming and start living.

44

WESLEY

Saxony, Karam, and Zekia were seated on the grass by the riverbank, where the next train to Rishiya waited. Most of their army had congregated inside, except for those who wished to stay in Creije. Or those who planned on getting the first train they could out of Uskhanya entirely.

“Is Tavia here?” Wesley asked.

Saxony looked at him with a raised eyebrow, detangling her hand from Karam’s. “I’m sorry, is our company not good enough for the underboss of Creije?”

Wesley shrugged, his smile tipping upward.

“She is by the Crook,” Karam said. “Where else would a busker be?”

That sounded like Tavia.

Wesley sat down on the grass beside Zekia, resigned to the fact that his suit was ruined.

“How’s our Doyen?” Saxony asked.

“Busy,” Wesley said. “Who knew reshaping the world was so much work?”

It had been a week since Dante Ashwood had been killed. After they had addressed the realms from the Halls of Government, they had traveled back into Creije to begin reopening the capital city’s most notorious and inspiring landmarks. The museum, the library, and, of course, the bars would soon follow. The Crook would be the first of them to open its doors and wet its glasses with Cloverye for the nervous patrons, helping to ease everyone back into the routine of daily life.

But despite all that, it would be at least another few weeks until their armies would be able to properly scour Uskhanya and find the strays of Ashwood’s people. Not to mention that there were bound to be hundreds of innocents scattered around the realm, in need of saving and curing. Wesley couldn’t see himself getting a break anytime soon.

“Are you excited?” Zekia asked.

Wesley turned to her with a curious expression and lounged back onto the palms of his hands. “About what?”

“Being in charge,” she said.

“I’m always in charge,” he said. “I’m just excited to be home.”

Saxony looked down at the grass. “I almost forgot that you’d be staying.”

Impossibly, Wesley had too.

He had been so busy helping to amass enough prisoners to fill the Halls of Government to bursting, and enough victims of the Loj to fill the Grand Infirmary and keep their healers occupied for the foreseeable future, that he had forgotten that he didn’t need to leave Creije again.

“I need to stay to get a proper drink,” Wesley said. “It’s a good thing that Ashwood didn’t destroy my bar.”

Karam couldn’t help but laugh, but Saxony didn’t mirror her smile in the slightest.

“You could come with us,” she said, in a voice soft enough to make Wesley shuffle. “The Rishiyat Kin would love to have you home.”

Home.