Rose blinked.
“Your Declan, he’s a dream. Courageous, assertive, strong, kind. Let’s not forget rich and of noble blood.”
“Also arrogant, condescending, high-handed, and snooty.” Rose smiled.
“Shush. You wanted my opinion, now you’re getting it. Declan is everything a woman could want. And he looks . . .” Grandma sighed in resignation. “You know the way he looks. I’m over a century old, and my heart hammers faster when he walks by. You must ask yourself, what would a man like this want with a woman like you?”
“I think he wants to marry me. I made it plain that being his girl toy was out of the question.”
“You asked for my honesty.” Éléonore twisted her hands again. “You’re my granddaughter, Rose. There is no girl brighter or prettier. You deserve all the best in the world, and if it was in my power, I’d give it to you. But you and Declan aren’t on the same footing. I think you love him. And I think he loves you very much. Right now. But does he love you deeply enough to spend a lifetime with you? So much has happened. Both of you got caught up in this life-and-death excitement. But eventually he has to go home, where he’s a noble and you are what? Even if he thinks he’ll marry you right now, what will happen when he returns to his life and his friends and family see you? They’re nobles, Rose. They’re born into the life of privilege, and they don’t know what it’s like to scrape and scrounge for change so you can buy bread for the kids. He might understand it now, but what about his parents? What if he’s determined enough to marry you against all odds, and they shun him for it? It could make him a bitter, hard man. He might always blame you for it. He won’t ever let you forget that he threw away everything for you.”
Rose looked into her cup.
“If you go with him, you must go knowing that you might end up a rich man’s mistress or that you could cost him everything,” Grandma said. “I don’t think that’s what you want. I think you love him too much. I’m afraid he’ll break your heart. There, I said it. Think about it, Rose. Think long and hard before you let him shatter you to pieces.”
ROSE sat on the porch. She supposed she should have stood, but she felt queasy. Declan waited on the grass before her. She was aware of Grandmother behind her and the kids perched on the rail to the left.
It had taken her three days to finally recover to the point that she could travel. Three days of Declan by her side showing her how it could be. This was going to be a very difficult conversation.
“So the third challenge,” she said.
Declan smiled, and her heart jumped. “You could give me something easy. Ask me to pick you some flowers.”
“I can’t do that.”
The smile slid off his face. “Very well.”
Rose took a deep breath. “I want you to trust me.”
She was hot and cold at the same time. Anxiety prickled her skin, as if she were a kid who had just broken some prized trinket and expected her parents to yell at her.
“Winning the challenges gives you the right to own me. I would belong to you completely. I’d be your possession.”
“I simply phrased the oath in a way most advantageous to me at the time,” he said. “I don’t want to own you, Rose. I want you to want me. And I think you do.”
She couldn’t let him derail her. “I understand why you’ve done it that way. But the fact remains that I have to trust you completely to let you win.”
He raised his arms. His tone grew cold. “Do you want me to marry you right now, is that it? If that’s the only way I’ll have you, I’ll do it.”
She winced. “That’s exactly what I don’t want.”
“What do you want?”
She held herself straight. “I want you to sign three writs of citizenship for myself and the kids. I’ll go with you into the Weird. You’ll introduce me to your family and friends. If in one month’s time you still want to go through with the wedding, I’ll marry you.”
He stared at her. “What would be the purpose of that?”
“You’re giving me the power to take the writs and vanish once we reach the Weird.”
“Are you afraid I’ll mistreat you?”
“It’s about trust, Declan. I will trust you to take me to the Weird, to not kill the children, to not sell me to the highest bidder, to not turn me into your mistress only to be abandoned when some noblewoman catches your eye. And you will trust me to come with you and marry you of my own free will, not because of some dumb challenge.”
His face snapped into glacial calm. “Is that what you think of me? You think me the kind of man who would murder children and take advantage of you?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t. I want to be with you, Declan. I love you very much. But your family might hate me, and you might change your mind. If you do it my way, you’ll have an out. You’ll lose nothing.”
“So you want me to trust you, but you don’t trust me,” he said.
“This is the challenge,” she said. “Three writs, thirty days. I won’t back away from it.”
His expression didn’t change. “George, there is a wooden box in my room. Fetch it. You’ll have your writs,” he said. “Start packing.”
IT took them the whole day to pack what little belongings they had. They had to travel light, no more than they could carry. Rose packed a couple of changes of clothes for everyone. The kids took their toys and the three volumes of InuYasha. The Broken money would be useless in the Weird, and Rose handed it all over to her grandmother. She would go into the Weird without a single cent to her name.
Declan had transformed back into the Weird blueblood. The gray leather armor, the sword, the pack, and the wolf mantle were back. So was the haughty expression. He hadn’t said more than two words to her.
They said their tear-soaked good-byes to Grandma.
“Come with me,” Rose asked. “Please.”
Éléonore just hugged her. “I couldn’t have left Cletus even if I wanted to. I had no place to go and no means to cross the ocean. But you will have a choice. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back here. Always, Rose. No matter what, no questions asked. Let me do this thing for you. I’ll sleep better at night.”
“We’ll come back to visit next summer,” Rose promised.
As they headed down the path into the Wood, Rose looked back and saw Grandma on the porch, a lost expression on her face.
George sniffled.
“Next summer we’ll talk her into coming back with us,” she told him.
They walked for the better part of the day. The Wood grew darker and stranger with each step, the trees becoming thicker, branches more twisted. Odd creatures skittered among the canopy and bizarre flowers bloomed among the roots, like beacons of white and orange.
Finally Declan stopped. “The boundary,” he said.
The moment of truth. Either they had enough magic to cross or they didn’t. Rose held the boys by the hand and took a step. Pressure clutched her. She gasped at the sudden weight and took another step, then another and another, and then they were through.
An incredible lightness filled her. The magic pulsed within her, vibrant, strong, and she laughed softly at the simple happiness of it.
Declan reached into his leather and produced a small whistle. A shrill sound sliced through the Wood. Magic pulsed from the whistle. A rapid thudding of a horse answered, and a large animal pushed through the underbrush. Thick, stocky across the shoulders, with a deep chest and powerful legs, it looked like a cross between a Budweiser stallion and a wild ram. It dipped its head, crowned with two steel-capped horns, and nuzzled at Declan.
“His name is Grunt,” Declan said.
The mount grunted in reply. They packed their belongings into saddlebags, loaded Jack and George onto Grunt’s back, and set off.
Two days later, they finally made it out of the woods and onto the road. Declan pushed them, and by nightfall, they came upon a settlement.