Page 72 of Reign of Light
“We did.” My voice quivers, and his face blurs even more as a fresh wave of tears pools.
“And now we all can go home!” He squeezes my leg tighter as his feet patter happily on the floor.
A sob escapes my chest as I fight to keep smiling. “Yes, we can.”
He halts, and his face falls slightly. “Then why are you so sad?” His eyes drag over mine, tracking my tears as they trail down my cheeks, leaving dark blots on the fabric of my shirt.
I swipe at them and sniff before crouching down onto his level. “Because I’m going to miss everyone.
“Oh.” His mouth forms the shape of the sound, and his eyebrows raise as he begins to understand what this means. “So I won’t see you anymore?”
I shake my head. “No, Fin. Not anymore.”
His eyes turn glassy, and his lower lip quivers. “But I don’t want to say goodbye. I don’t want to never see you again.”
“I don’t either, Fin,” I say, reaching out to stroke his hair softly. “But you’ll be home with your family, and hopefully with your sister.”
“Who will tell me if I’m using the bow right?” he asks, ignoring what I said about his family. “And…and…who will play hide and seek with me? Will I get to see mister Weston?”
I bite my lip and shake my head, sniffing hard to hold everything back so he doesn’t see my heart breaking as I wrap him up in my arms.
“No, Fin. Mister Weston won’t be there either.”
He pulls just out of my embrace so he can look me in the eye, the tears gathering in his finally threatening to spill over.
“I don’t want to go if I can never see you again.”
My lips pull into a gentle smile. “Just a day ago you were sad about having to stay and never seeing your family again. I’m sorry, Fin. I’m so sorry. I know it hurts, but we weren’t meant to stay here forever. You were meant to grow up, and learn how to do fun things. You were meant to get big and strong. You aren’t supposed to stay little forever.”
His eyes widen as a flash of excitement crosses his face. “And tall like mister Weston?”
I let out a watery laugh. “Maybe. You’ll probably be taller than me.”
Shoulders rising to his ears, he kicks his toe at the wood of the deck shyly. “Will you come visit?”
I nod fiercely and hold back a sob. “I’ll try. Maybe you can come visit me too. Because guess what?”
“What?” A new brightness shines in his eyes, and he’s all but forgotten about his sadness from a moment ago.
I lean in and lower my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I live in a castle.”
Fin gasps. “You do?”
I nod. “I do. Just like the one we built. And maybe one day, you can come see me.”
“And meet the king and queen?”
My smile falters, but I don’t think he notices. “We only have a king, but yes, you can meet him.”
“Do you have a princess too? Just like your story?”
“We do.” I gulp. “You can meet her too.”
He jumps at me, throwing his arms around my neck, and squeezes me in a hug. “Maybe it’s okay to go home then. As long as I can still see you.”
“One day, Fin.” I swipe the tears off my cheeks and pull back from him again. “We don’t have to go just yet. There’s still a little time.”
I stand, my hand brushing the back of Fin’s shoulders as he continues to hug my leg tightly, and realize the group has dwindled.There are only a few of us left, and my eyes travel down the line, falling on Mara with Roley at her side.
