88. Sip of rhubarb gin

Armestrong knelt upon the petals and bundled Min against her chest. With the arches open onto the pale sky, Ada watched the clouds drift on the breeze and between sunbeams. Raeph remained on the outskirts of the lyceum, prowling the perimeter and marking each crumbled house and shattered window in the city beyond. Lark moved from cairn to cairn, whilst Diane and Solen had stopped next to the one piled around with fruit.

A pomegranate had been crushed over the cairn stones, its soft seeds staining it with spots of scarlet. Diane touched her hand to the highest stone, the pads of her fingers coming away sticky and pink. She shivered, and Solen came close so that she could rest her head against her shoulder.

"All this pain and death," whispered Diane, wet eyelashes closing against her cheeks. "What are we to do now?"

Solen traced her hand down Diane's back, unable to find the words until their hands wound together.

"When the world turns rotten"—she brought Diane's fingers to her lips and kissed them softly—"we must learn to savour the sweetness."

The afternoon approached with a brighter sun than had been seen all spring. It warmed the rubble of Wysthaven, small birds finding perches on the cracked sconces and dipping between empty door frames. Their songs were the only sound to fill the air; no chiming of bells nor rattling of chains.

The bandits left the lyceum when Min was ready, taking with them white petals which had stuck to their clothing like confetti. Some flitted away in their wake, settling amongst shards of glass like nature reclaiming the broken city. They walked through Wysthaven together, looking and listening, feeling the cobblestones beneath their boots with tentative, unfamiliar steps. Everything had changed and nothing was certain.

Down an alleyway, Ada spied a fae family stacking up the belongings of a deserted house. Whether it belonged to them or another, she couldn't be sure. In a small square, a man sat on a rug surrounded by weeds and roots. A number of fae had already gathered to look at his produce, though the man didn't appear to know what to trade for the plants.

The warm wind seemed to carry a strange magic through the streets. It suffused the air and tingled Ada's tongue, like something ancient was returning to the world. Or perhaps what she felt was merely an expanding excitement. A muddle of terror, temptation, and anticipation.

A growing number of fae came down into the streets as the bandits walked. They stretched their long fingers up to the sun and called out to those they recognised. Soon, they would begin to rebuild. Ada wondered what would become of Wysthaven when those hands began to mould a city for themselves.

They crossed the bridge from the outer city to the inner, though their buildings no longer looked any different. Those who had fought— Hounds and Stone Circle alike —had shown no favour when it came to destruction. The walls were covered so thickly in soot that they still bore the handprints of those who had sheltered there the night before, though they were perfectly reflected in the still waters of the canal.

Down a street dusted in cinders, the bandits finally stopped and stared up at the ruins of the Bonneville. The door had burnt away and the windows had all blown through. But the fire hadn't been able to eat through the entire building, as Ada could see the ceiling hadn't collapsed onto the pub inside.

Armestrong bent and picked up something buried beneath the ash. She dusted it off and Ada saw it was one of the golden stars that must've fallen from the pub's sign. Solen found another, then Min two more. Soon, Armestrong had a collection of stars heaped in her apron, which she carried with her into the Bonneville.

"Oh dear," said Solen, walking at once to the remains of the settee. The valour upholstery was gone, leaving a wooden skeleton to stand in front of the blackened hearth. Pots and pans were still scattered nearby, and Ada hated that the bandits must be reliving the Hound's raid on the pub.

"Poor old thing," Armestrong murmured, faltering amidst the empty bookshelves and broken barstools. "It gave a good fight, all the same."

Half of the bar had been crushed beneath a fallen beam. Ada ran a hand over the charred wood and felt Raeph shift like a shadow behind her. They stood together, just as they had when Ada had first stopped on the staircase and looked up at the beam painted with the night's sky. Now, the stars had all fallen to the earth. The galaxies laid out beneath their feet, tangible and tremendous.

"Do you remember that first night?" Ada asked.

"Yes," Raeph replied, needing no clarification. "I behaved abominably."

Ada smiled slightly. "You certainly did. I could hardly sleep after you took me here. But now, I miss it more than anywhere else in Wysthaven."

"You weren't the only one," Raeph said. "Those nights, I couldn't close my eyes without seeing your face and hearing again every word you had spoken to me. I could escape into the city and put distance between us, but my mind remained tethered to you. It drove me close to madness."

"If only we could've all had more time here as we know each other now."

"Let's rebuild it," said Lark from the doorway. Everyone turned to see him hesitate, then take a step into the pub. His brow was furrowed, the very sight of the wreckage also breaking something inside him. "Raeph, you said people were already beginning to mend places, so why don't we start here?"

Solen snorted. "I don't think the main priority for rebuilding efforts right now is pubs."

"Well, why not?" said Lark, eyes suddenly fierce with enthusiasm. "I for one could certainly use a drink about now. I think a lot of Wysthaven would be glad for one, too."

Then, he braced his hand on the bartop and hoisted himself to the other side. The brittle wood gave a grumble, but didn't collapse beneath him. Lark grinned as he ducked down, exclaiming aloud before there came the clattering of glass bottles. He emerged holding a crystal decanter, miraculously intact and filled to the cork with a rosy liquor.

"What's that?" Min asked, thrilled by the bright beverage.

"That's not for children," Armestrong warned.

But even as Armestrong spoke, Solen shrieked, "Rhubarb gin!"

Lark raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you've joined the rebuilding efforts?"

Solen smiled wickedly. "I suppose you could convince me."

With a laugh, Lark poured out the gin into whatever they could find to serve as cups. Raeph grimaced when he was handed a battered ladle, yet still drank the liquor in a single mouthful. Lark waited until Armestrong had drank her own before he produced a small, wooden thimble and filled it with a drop of gin.

Min's scowl disappeared when Lark slipped her the thimble with a wink. "Just a sip."

The girl brought it to her lips before Armestrong could complain. Immediately, her expression shrivelled into a sour pout and she stuck out her tongue.

"Yuck!" she cried, and everyone was laughing again.

Although the bandits didn't want to leave, they knew they couldn't reasonably remain overnight at the Bonneville, but vowed to return the following day. Before they left, they placed the pots and pans back onto their shelves, and it felt like a small but fateful step.

"Why don't we go to my home?" Diane said. "It was always much too big for my liking, and now that it will be only myself living there I would be glad for others to fill the rooms."

Solen touched her shoulder. "Are you certain? It's understandable if you wouldn't want to return there so soon."

But Diane was resolute. "Don't be so silly! It's just a short walk away, so we don't have to go back to the compass and we can return here first thing in the morning. And the building is in a gated courtyard, so it's unlikely to have been damaged too severely and there will be plenty of food in the pantry."

At the mention of dinner, the bandits didn't need any further convincing. They started walking back into the city, but before Ada could join them, she felt a hand tugging her in the opposite direction. She turned to see Raeph's sly smile before he bowed his head to whisper in her ear.

Ada blushed and nodded. She looked over her shoulder at the disappearing bandits, but Lark had already seen them standing together and, with a grin, he shrugged as if to say, "If you must."

She gave him a brief wave before Raeph's fingers had woven between her own. "Must you always be stealing me away?"

His smile was a breath away from her lips. "Until the very end."