Thomas

I am a child again, running the grounds with my brother. We see Lucian and our mother on the garden path ahead of us, and we hurry to catch up. But the path seems to stretch the faster we run, and the further they are away from us. I can see them turning, my mother's hand extending towards us. Francis soon falls behind, and the last thing I feel of him is his hand, slipping out of mine. And then I am running by myself, the air turning thick and my feet weighing me down. I cannot run, and when I try to take a deep breath, the thickened air rushes into my nose and mouth, choking me.

I came gasping and thrashing out of my dream, covered in a cold clammy sweat. I heard a deep voice in the distance, coming closer. Then a cool hand landed on my forehead, and another on my chest, keeping me down. I blinked the blur out of my eyes, looking into Dr Granby's face, and the sight of the old man brought tears rushing to them. I sat up and pulled him forward, into an ungainly embrace. He was so surprised he couldn't react.

"My dear Thomas," he said as I let him go, now fully realising the untowardness of the contact. "What an ordeal you have been through, my boy. It is a miracle you and Lady Dorchester survived."

I reached up to wipe at my face, wincing at the ache in my cheekbone. Granby gently tugged my hand away, inspecting his handiwork. It was bandaged up my wrist and across my palm, but the itch there told me I had stitches.

"What state did you find us in?" I asked him when I sagged back into my pillows. I was in my father's old bedroom, and many of his touches still remained: dark leather, deep red velvet, an imposing oil portrait of him above the fireplace I had never noticed before.

"Unconscious, the both of you. And unresponsive, to boot." He tugged at his waistcoat as he sat down next to the bed. "You and Her Ladyship, covered in blood. Collapsed across your chest, she had, and still holding your hand."

Emmeline. I'd nearly forgotten. "How is she? Is she all right? May I see her?"

"Relax, Thomas, relax." He restrained me with one hand on my shoulder. "She is faring just fine. I patched her up while you were sleeping."

"But she...she was..." I thought of the blood I'd seen on her, streaked up her hands and arms and oozing down her neck. "She was bleeding..."

"Fortunately, the worst of her physical injuries is only a cracked rib. Judging by the bruise, it appears she fell on it and broke it with her elbow." He said it all with a straight face, but I could hear the slight amusement in his voice. Frankly, there was nothing humorous about this.

"When can I see her?" I sat up again, making to climb from bed. But my knees suddenly gave way beneath me and I found myself sprawled on the rug.

"When you can stand, son, that's when." Granby took one of my arms, hauled me upright, and then set me back in bed. "And it appears you're in no fit state to do that yet."

"How soon can I?" I was anxious to see her. The last thing I remembered was Blanchard forcing the sword into her hand, asking her to harvest my Essence. After that, everything blurred together.

"It depends. Having the Essence nearly torn from your person is a rather taxing ordeal for the body." He pulled the sheets up around me again, patting my hand on top of them. "You must rest now, Thomas. I'll return to check in on you in a little while."

I tried to protest. In fact, I wanted to. But my eyelids felt as if they had weights tied to them. I let them fall shut, falling down into a deep dreamless sleep soon after.

||

My next visitor, when I woke, was Johnny. At first I was shocked to see him there, because I'd seen Blanchard fire at him, and Emmeline screaming his name as he fell. But now he was here, intact, although a bit pale. One of his arms was in a sling, and it occurred to me that Blanchard's shot must have missed a vital area. That, in itself, was nothing short of miraculous.

"Cap'n, thank God you're awake," he said when I sat up, attempting to prop pillows behind me. He stood up and did it for me, and even one-armed he was better at it. "Saw you an' milady, all bloodied up. Thought we all was done for."

"You can thank our enemies for that," I said, grateful that it was finally over and we could live in peace. "They wanted nothing but power, and look where it got them."

"Reckon they'll ever be satisfied, Cap'n? Those non-Elementals, I mean."

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Perhaps as in all struggles, it is never truly over. Simply defeating one threat after another. And simply getting better at seeing the signs of an impending one."

"So what'll we do now?" he asked after a long silence, where we'd each been lost in our own thoughts.

"We recover and rebuild. We mourn. And then we move on with our lives."

Johnny nodded, and then rose, asking if I needed anything. I shook my head, and thanked him for his concern, but after the events of last night, it was going to be a long while before I would want for anything except a guarantee of our safety.

Granby came back soon after that, reporting that Ray was awake and talking, a bit fuzzy on the details from last night but relatively stable. In short, he told me, he was expected to make a full recovery. Emmeline, he said, was in and out of consciousness but was generally on the mend. I would have to be satisfied with that for now, but I needed to see her soon. It would be the only way to know we had truly made it through.

||

Emmeline

When I woke, the first face I saw was Mrs Shute's, her pale eyes anxious. I sat up immediately and pulled her into an embrace, burying my face in her shoulder. I'd been trapped in the state between sleep and wakefulness for what felt like a very long time, the sight of Blanchard's burning body imprinted on my mind forever. Nor could I completely forget what it felt like to touch that metal with my bare hands. The closest I could come to describing it was the feeling of my soul being torn from my body.

"A relief to see you awake, milady. We were all worried sick about you," she said as she drew away.

"It certainly feels wonderful," I said, and it was true. Never had I realised before what a joy it was to be living, breathing, feeling the heat from the sun coming in the window on my skin, and knowing I had love in my life.

"And you have some visitors. They've been wanting to see you for a while now." Mrs Shute smiled at me, patting my hand before crossing to the door and poking her head out. She said something I couldn't distinguish to whoever stood outside, and then stepped aside.

In walked Johnny Burke, holding Eddie's hand. Phil clung to his trousers, and in the crook of Johnny's elbow, his arm in a sling, was Rosina.

Tears jumped to my eyes, and I had to cover my mouth with both hands as they came. "Oh, Johnny...I thought you were dead...I saw him shoot you..."

"Mama!" squeaked Eddie, vaulting himself onto the bed and into my arms. I held him tightly to me, my tears dampening his hair. Here was my son, alive and whole.

"Turns out that bloke was a bad shot, m'lady." Johnny grinned lopsidedly as he lifted Phil onto the bed with his good arm.

I smiled at him through my tears as I kissed my first son's hair before letting him go, only to find my second son already reaching for me. I scooped him up and held him to my chest, his head just the right size to fit under my chin. The feeling of him there sent a nearly overwhelming relief through me, that my family was safe after all.

"Mama, John shoot muh-coot," Eddie said, tugging at me again. "Muh-coot go bang."

"Did he?" I shot an indignant look of my own in Johnny's direction as he manoeuvred Rosina into my arms. "He was very brave. Just like his father."

"I shoot muh-coot, Mama." Eddie made a shooting motion with his fingers. Bang bang. "Make bad man leave."

"Then our safety is guaranteed, my darling." I cupped my free hand around the back of Eddie's head, his dark hair curling around my fingers, and kissed his forehead. Then I turned to Johnny. "What have you promised my son, exactly?"

Johnny shrugged his good shoulder, his expression sheepish. "Told 'im I'd teach 'im how to shoot, m'lady. When 'e were old enough, obviously."

"Oh, Johnny." I ran my hand over my face and sighed heavily.

"Can't blame the boy, m'lady." Johnny shrugged, one that said What choice did I have? "'E wouldn't stop askin' me 'til I did."

"That is exactly why I blame him. He grew up around men who settle agreements by shooting at one another." I handed Rosina to Mrs Shute, so I could lift Eddie bodily off the bed before taking her back.

"'E's goin' to make a fine marksman, m'lady. Jus' like 'is father." Johnny ruffled Eddie's hair.

"I'm sure that were he old enough, he would thank you for the compliment." I gave him a smile, one that I was positive he could see the strain in. I was exhausted, and I'd only just woken.

"Now 'ee were goin' to see about some breakfast," he said, as Phil climbed down by himself and toddled over to latch onto Johnny's trousers again. "Come on, gennelmen."

When they were gone, leaving me with Mrs Shute and my sleepy daughter in my arms, she finally spoke.

"Thought we were all meetin' our maker, milady, 'fore what you did." She bit down on her lip. "Owe you our lives, we do."

"No, Mrs Shute, you owe me nothing." I sat up, took her hand in mine, and squeezed gently. "It is I who should be thanking you. Had you not come with the brandy, I am not sure what would have happened."

"Wasn't brandy, milady," she said sheepishly. "Wouldn't have made a difference, but..."

I furrowed my brow. "Then what was it?"

"Last of His Lordship's rum, milady. Won't like it, hearing that, I reckon–"

"Won't like hearing what, Mrs Shute?" said my husband's voice from the doorway, and he entered a moment later. "Not keeping secrets from me, are you?"

"No, milord, no." Mrs Shute jumped up and gave him a nervous curtsey, and then another. "I was just...with those terrors in our house...wasn't thinkin' straight..."

"Understandable," Tom said with a warm smile, taking both her shoulders and looking directly into her face. "Now go get some rest, my good woman, it seems you are about to faint."

"I will, milord, certainly I will."

She took Rosina from me, who'd begun to feel quite heavy, finally leaving me alone with Tom. He proceeded slowly to the bed and eased himself down, wincing as he did. I took his bandaged hand and kissed it, my tears starting all over again as I remembered the reason.

"I didn't want to, Tom...I didn't...he made me...forced me...threatened me..."

"Shhh." He cupped the back of my neck and kissed my forehead. "I do not blame you, Emmeline, I know you never would have agreed unless coerced."

"He was terrifying, Tom, horrid..." I covered my eyes and then my mouth, my tears flooding endlessly down my face. He pulled me close, letting me weep until I couldn't anymore. Then he simply held me, rocking me slowly as if I were a babe. I remembered our first nights together, sitting this way for hours on end. Everything was so different now. 

After a long time he kissed my temple gently and pulled back to look at me, tilting my chin up.

"You saved our lives, Emmeline. My life. And for that, I will be eternally grateful." He caught my cheek in his palm, and I turned just slightly to kiss it. "You are a most remarkable woman, and I am the luckiest man on earth to call you my wife."

I managed a smile, just a small one. He smiled back, his expression more warm and open than I'd ever seen it. Then he leaned forward and kissed me, his lips gentle on mine. I slid my hands into his hair and returned his kiss. There would be time to be closer, kiss rougher and harder. But for now I was content with the tenderness. He cupped my face and climbed onto the bed to press his lips more fully against mine. I tugged him forward, taking his weight on top of me as his kiss became fiercer. A few warm drops fell onto my face, and without seeing I knew they were his tears, mingling with mine. They were for Lucian, for Francis, for all the countless Elementals we were unable to save. And they were for his own family, who he'd lost so suddenly it was as if they'd never been there at all.

"Emmeline, my wife," he breathed against my lips, sending tingles rippling down the length of my body. "Mine, forever."

"Yours," I whispered, and his breath stuttered out. "Forever."