One Between the Stars

Chapter 52

 Carson had slipped into the castle right as the huge procession of ships from - he guessed - Lia were landing. The Evie, much smaller than the other ships, was able to hide between them, and then it was a simple matter of doing the same thing with himself and the dozens of other people entering the castle.

Of course they were given a tour as soon as they entered, and Carson easily found a place to break off from the group and search for Ionia. He guessed she would be in her room, as the wedding was in a few hours and she was probably getting prepared for the ceremony. Carson hadn't realized just how close he was cutting it.

Eventually he found Ionia's room, and as a servant girl - her hand maiden he guessed - excited, he entered.

Ionia was absolutely stunning in the wedding gown, but there was a small part of Carson that thought the attire didn't quite fit with the person he knew on the inside. The same thing had occurred to him on Caerleon, at the ball.

When she whirled around, her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. "Carson?"

"Exactly right," he commended. "Seems you haven't been able to forget me."

Something in her face hardened. "What are you doing here?"

He figured he had better get to his point before she called her guards. So he crossed the room and reached in his bag for the orb. "I came to give you this."

Ionia's eyes fell to the clear orb, bewilderment covering her. "What is...?"

"It's the Wealthy One's treasure," he said, holding it out to her.

She took it gingerly, her brows furrowed. "How is this...?"

"The legend never said that it was material Wealth the beast had," he explained, and he told her of meeting the Wealthy One himself, of the questions he had been asked and how the creature had given his own life to give Ionia this one gift.

"Stars..." she whispered, her finger grazing the surface of the orb. Then she looked up. "Why did you do this?"

He tilted his head. "Because after what happened, I couldn't leave your kingdom to die. I couldn't let you go, knowing that you' have to trade away your happiness for them. Because I knew that even though you didn't deserve it, you'd do just that; you'd trade away your entire life if it meant protecting the people you care about. Because that's the kind of person you are, Io."

She pursed her lips at this, looking down at the orb again, her cheeks flaring pink.

Carson scratched the back of his neck. "Look, I know that by now it might be too late, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I did to you. I was an idiot, and a fool for thinking that I could get away with ignoring the quest."

She laughed bitterly at this. "We both were, Carson."

"The Graal was right," he said as something finally clicked. "The reason why I agreed to the quest was because of the money. I needed it so that I could retire from being a gallivanter, because I felt like I'd been running from my past for so many years that I was losing steam. I needed to be free of that responsibility. I honestly thought that the way to do that was to disappear off the grid of the galaxy altogether." He sighed. "But the thing is, Io, that after a while, I realized that wasn't what I wanted anymore. I didn't want to be invisible anymore. You made be feel worth being there, Io. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you that before." He swallowed, turning to go. "Wish on that orb, and be precise about what it is you want. And your kingdom will be safe."

He glanced once more at Ionia, expecting her to be examining the orb, but instead she was staring up at him, her eyes lined with barely unshed tears. He turned, expecting to be let go, but then she crossed the room, dropping the orb in a chair, and flung herself at him.