‘Listen, Chloe . . .’ Amos swore under his breath, shaking his head. ‘I’ve never had a way with words . . .’ He tried again. ‘I always promised your father that I would look after his daughters, and it is a promise I will give my heart and soul to fulfill. If . . . If it’s all right with you, I’ll raise Sophia, and I’d like you to live here too.’

‘Please, Chloe,’ Sophia said.

A sudden surge of emotion struck Chloe without warning. She put a hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to cry.

‘Chloe?’ Sophia asked. ‘Are you all right?’

She forced the words out. ‘I’m fine.’

Chloe had been cursed with magic, but it was magic that enabled her to save Liana and Dion. After breaking the spell, her raging power had caught up with her, but on the way home, using the things she’d learned at Athos, meditating constantly, she’d managed to tame it once again.

For months she’d been trapped on Athos, but despite not finishing her training, she knew she’d done the right thing to leave to help the people she loved.

Now she had a home once again. She had people who cared for her. She had a homeland to defend.

‘Chloe?’ Sophia asked again.

She cleared her throat, steadying herself. ‘I’m just glad to see you both so happy.’

‘Listen, Chloe,’ Amos said. ‘You look like more than anything you need to rest. Have dinner with us, and when you’re ready, you can tell us what happened.’

Chloe nodded.

With another smile, Amos returned to preparing the meal, and Chloe gazed around the reception, surprised that it looked the same as it always had. It was she who felt different.

‘I like your ribbon,’ she said to Sophia, who touched it with a self-conscious smile. Something occurred to Chloe, and she raised her voice so Amos could hear her. ‘What about Nilus? Did you ever find him?’

‘We’re still looking,’ Amos called back. ‘But never fear, we’ll find him, one way or another.’

Chloe was surprised when Sophia took her arm. Meeting her eyes intently, Sophia spoke in an undertone. ‘When Zachary was here for Dion’s wedding, I told him about Father, and he offered to help me find Nilus.’

Chloe wasn’t surprised; Zachary and Aristocles had been close friends. She put a hand to her mouth. ‘And?’

‘We don’t have to worry about Nilus anymore.’

Far away in Sarsica, in a region of vineyards and undulating landscape, another villa sat on a hill, overlooking the rows of carefully manicured plants trailing from one stake to another.

Parmella, a matronly servant – Nilus’s only servant – checked on the living room, apprehension gnawing at her stomach. She watched her master, unseen and unnoticed. As he often did, Nilus was standing at the window, admiring the view as he drank wine from a golden goblet.