Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 450

Chapter 450: Parting words
Ford held Mia back. He couldn’t begin to process what had happened. How had he been persuaded to leave Grandpa behind with Denholm? How had he allowed fear to drive him to that end?

The terror that had washed over him was unaccountable. He was a coward, and now a man was dead.

He could have made Grandpa invisible, made the knife invisible, made the curtain invisible so that the Emperor could see them! He could have tried to tackle Denholm, consequences or no.

Anything. He could have done anything different to prevent this. And yet, fear had kept him from doing anything other than what Denholm had said.

Guilt buried him now, as he stared emptily at Grandpa’s body.

No man had ever treated him like Grandpa had. The kindness, the interest in him as a person. The willingness to train him to be a man.

Everything Ford learned to aspire to, every bit of greatness in him, seemed to die a little when Grandpa had taken his last breath.

The grief was too deep for words. Too deep for tears. Mia wept openly, and Ford held her in one arm as she sobbed, but Ford… felt empty.

She’d had her entire life to know and love her grandfather, but for Ford, the time had been too short. Far too short.

He had so much more he wanted to learn, so much more he wanted to share, so much more time he wanted to spend getting to know the greatest man he’d ever met.

But now, that was gone. In an instant, a life snuffed out by the blade of a madman that Ford had allowed to escape.

At least Denholm was caught now, and being held in the Emperor’s punishing hand. Ford had lost track of the conversation along the way, consumed with his own thoughts, but now… Denholm was dying… and something was dripping.

Instinctively Ford pulled Mia back from the strange liquid that fell.

They had encountered too many poisonous, magical substances along this journey for him not to be overcautious about everything.

Was it venom? Why was it being poured out on Grandpa?

“What is it?” Mia glanced around. “What are you doing to him??”

The liquid was dripping down from the Emperor’s fist, high above. The fist that had squished Denholm’s undeserving body to nothing. Why wasn’t it blood?

“Life for life,” A wight managed to string together three words, and Ford’s mouth fell open.

Could that mean…?

He stared at Grandpa harder, willing the old man’s chest to rise and fall. Willing his heart to beat. With all his soul, he wanted Grandpa to live again.

Slowly, his old eyes opened.

Ford dared not hope, even a little. Mia seemed frozen in place, unwilling to believe what she was seeing as well.

It wasn’t until the Emperor tossed Denholm’s body aside to a corner that the clearish liquid finished falling on the body.

And Grandpa rose.

First he sat up, then he stood, looking down at himself in confusion. His wounds were gone, but the stains of blood remained.

“Life for life,” Mia repeated in wonder, shocking Ford out of his stupor.

“You’re alive!” He cheered, throwing his arms around the old man. Mia joined him, followed soon by Anaisa and Trace. The family squeezed the patriarch tightly, and Ford let out a sob of relief before trying to contain himself.

“Careful before you squeeze the life right back out of me again,” The old man teased lightly, and the group loosened their grip with reactions of relief and amusement. Trace grabbed Grandpa by the shoulders and pulled him into a more hearty hug, which the old man returned with a slap on the back.

“You’re really alive?” Mia gulped, and Grandpa ruffled her hair slightly.

“I’m too stubborn to die for long,” He winked, but looked up solemnly at the Emperor. “I suppose I have you to thank for that? Weirdest experience of my life… ironically.”

“Justice,” The Emperor intoned.

Grandpa nodded and looked around. “I take that to mean that, er, negotiations are going all right?”

“You have to give up your power,” Anaisa put in, but Grandpa shrugged.

“That’s all right, if it keeps the peace. I’m not a picky person.”

The Emperor looked carefully at the old man, as if he held special significance, and waved his fingers slightly. Grandpa shook.

Ford knew the feeling well. Though he hadn’t had powers for nearly as long as the others, it was still a loss to give it up. He’d done that only a short time before, and it was disorienting.

“Guess I’ll have to do all my chores myself, now,” Grandpa grinned, “I might sit down a bit first and rest… that was something else.”

“Is he talking about losing his magic or coming back to life?” Mia wondered quietly, and Ford shrugged.

Sometimes the old man was difficult to interpret.

“Thank you, for your justice,” Anaisa said boldly. “I am ready to give up my magic as well, now, as a token of goodwill and thanks.”

The Emperor shook his head slowly and pointed to Ben, and then out the window.

“Show others,” A wight interpreted carefully, and Ford blinked in confusion. Anaisa was going to keep her magic?

“You… want me to show the king, our leaders, what happened here? Wouldn’t telling be enough?” The redheaded woman seemed to be containing her frustration.

The Emperor shook his head again, and Anaisa dropped her gaze for a moment. Trace squeezed her shoulders with one arm.

“Would you like us to leave, to get our leaders for further negotiation of the details of our peace treaty?” Ben asked slowly.

The Emperor nodded, and Ford nearly fainted with relief. They would all get to leave? It seemed ages they’d been in this place, and now the burden of the human race would be on someone else’s shoulders, not theirs?

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Anaisa curtsied deeply, then paused. “If I might make one final imposition on your goodwill, perhaps I can make one request before we depart?”