"But . . ." Tears rose; she blinked them away.
"Kest," Meri reminded her, "is never lost."
She made shift to smile. "That is true." She nodded at the sunshield. "What will you do?"
"Eventually, I will go to the sea, and return the gift, with thanks."
"And we—we are no longer bound?"
He laughed, slipping the sunshield into his pouch. "That, like so much, may need to be tested," he said so softly that she was not entirely certain that he was speaking to her. He looked up, and spoke more briskly. "If you are rested, Elizabeth expects us at New Hope Village. Palin has a forest to plant, and there's the matter of who will stand tree-kin."
"The Fey?"
"It may be that the High are no more," he said slowly. "Insofar as I understood your thought, that was what you wished."
Becca bit her lip, thinking suddenly of Sian and Diathen, who had been brave and honorable. Surely, there had been others and she had—
"Hold—" Meri took her hand. "They fell, if they did, honoring their service. However, before we mourn them, let us be certain that they fell, and are not simply—" he laughed—"simply!—remade." He grinned. "It is a new world, and warrants exploring, you know."
She smiled back at him. "So you will be a Ranger again."
"So I will be a Ranger, as ever I have been," he corrected, and rose, holding a hand down to her.
She let him help her to her feet, and turned around, looking at the new day.
Who hears me? she sent.
I hear you, Gardener, came a deep and distant voice. My roots are deep and my branches strong. Let the world endure forever.
"What will you do?" Meri asked her as they turned toward the horses.
"Surely, a Gardener may be a Ranger, too?"
THE END
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Longeye
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six