Chapter 1244: A Fruitless Search Ends (Part Two)

"I know you’re right," Mairwen said, pulling back from the embrace. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, and her body trembled with the force of the emotions warring within her heart. She understood people very well, and there was a reason she’d never once advised Liam to befriend Owain Lothian.

She knew a predator when she saw one, just like she knew how to recognise men who could share in glory and help her son to rise up. Owain was not the sort of man who could tolerate the presence of people who were more capable than he was, and while he was a gifted swordsman, that was the only place where Mairwen judged him superior to Liam.

But when it came to matters like this, she was afraid that Owain would prove to be superior to Liam in another way... that he would be far more cruel to people who slighted him than not only Liam, but anyone she’d ever met.

"I know you’re right," Mairwen repeated. "I understand Lord Owain, and I know how risky it is to defy him, but Loghlan..."

She was interrupted by the sound of excited shouting from the camp outside. Both of them turned toward the tent entrance as the commotion grew louder, voices calling out in surprise and joy rather than alarm.

The tent flap was suddenly pulled aside, and one of their household servants, a young squire named Tormeld, burst in, his face flushed with excitement and exertion.

"My lord! My lady!" he gasped, barely remembering to bow in his enthusiasm. "It’s Lord Liam! He’s here! He’s arrived at the camp!"

For a moment, neither Loghlan nor Mairwen could move, the words not quite penetrating through a week of fear and dwindling hope. Then Mairwen’s hand flew to her mouth, a small sound of joy and relief escaping her, and Loghlan felt his knees go weak with a gratitude so profound he nearly knelt on the spot to offer his thanks to the Holy Lord of Light for answering their prayers.

"He’s alive?" Loghlan demanded, his voice rough. "You’ve seen him? You’re certain?"

"Yes, my lord!" Tormeld confirmed, his grin so wide it threatened to split his face. "He’s riding up the hill now, along with a knight I don’t recognise. But it’s definitely Lord Liam."

Loghlan didn’t wait to hear more. He was already moving toward the tent entrance, his wife right beside him, both of them rushing out into the cold winter air to see for themselves the miracle they’d barely dared to pray for.

Their son had come home.

The sun hung low in the sky, preparing to slip beneath the western mountains on one of the shortest days of the year. Scouts and trackers had been returning to camp and delivering their reports for the past hour, but already, everyone had abandoned their responsibilities as the people of the camp swarmed toward the pair of well-dressed men who had just been escorted into the camp by one of the returning scouts.

For a moment, both mother and father stood outside their tent, gazing down at their son in mild disbelief. Far from the haggard survivor of a demon attack they’d expected to see, he looked healthy and well... even in good spirits as he dismounted from his horse and handed the reins off to a nearby squire.

Liam moved through the crowd of soldiers and well-wishers just as he always had, shaking hands, accepting hearty pats on the back, and even teasing a few of the more worried-looking servants who rushed up to confirm that their young lord was truly home.

The young man next to him, an unfamiliar youth with flame-red hair who dressed like a knight from years gone by, seemed to accept the excitement and enthusiasm for Liam’s return with graciousness. He stayed close to Liam, as though he was prepared to protect the young lord from overzealous well-wishers, but otherwise, he allowed Liam to have this moment.

"It really is him," Mairwen breathed, clutching tightly to Loghlan’s arm for a moment before dashing down the hill, abandoning the dignity of a baroness in order to reunite with her missing son that much sooner.

She’d already endured several summers when she waited each day for the messengers to bring news of the previous day’s battles or lack thereof, and she’d come to accept that sometimes, her son would face danger that he might not return from. But sending him off to fight demons with a small army was a very different thing from having him go missing suddenly on his way home from Lothian City.

"Liam!" Mairwen called, barely noticing the sound of her husband’s footsteps thudding on the grassy hillside just a few steps behind her as she rushed toward the crowd around her son. "Liam!"

"Mother!" Liam shouted before turning to the crowd of people who had come out to greet him and giving a sharp order. "Clear a path!"

As eager as the people were to welcome their young lord safely home after days of searching for him, as soon as they heard him shout for his mother, they’d already begun giving way, unwilling to stand between the baroness and her reunion with her son.

"You’re safe!" Mairwen sobbed when she threw herself into Liam’s arms, holding him tightly as if to prevent him from vanishing again. "Thank the Light that you’re safe."

"Welcome back, son," Loghlan added, piling on with a hearty slap on Liam’s back as he pulled both mother and son into a fierce embrace. The dignity of a baron be damned, he didn’t care if he was red-faced with tears in his eyes. Liam was home, and for a moment, that was all that mattered.

The moment couldn’t last forever, though, no matter how much he wanted it to, and eventually, Loghlan had to pull back from the embrace to ask the question that a lord must.

"It’s good to have you back, Liam," he said warmly, and with genuine feeling. "But where are your men? What happened to Captain Faltin and the others who were with him?"

"It’s a long story, Father," Liam said, though it felt like the greatest understatement that had ever been told. "They’re safe now and among friends," he said, turning to face the tall, flame-haired knight.

"This is Sir Ollie Heartwood, the Cypress Knight," Liam said, speaking loudly enough for others to hear. "He’s one of Her Dominion, Lady Ashlynn’s knights, and without his help, I wouldn’t have been able to return to you so quickly," he said, though he doubted that anyone would understand what he meant.

"Well met, Lord Dunn," Ollie said, offering a strange salute that touched the tips of his fingers to his chest as he bowed. "Liam has said several good things about you and Lady Mairwen both," he added as he straightened. "I hope we can be good friends in the days to come."

"You brought my boy home, and that’s reason enough to call you friend," Loghlan said with a complicated expression as he extended his hand. He was surprised when the young man clasped his forearm in an old-fashioned greeting between knights rather than taking his hand, but the old-fashioned etiquette hardly registered as he tried to think of how to say what needed to be said.

"I don’t know how long you two have been travelling," the baron said with a slight frown. "So word may not have reached you, but Lady Ashlynn was captured by demons nearly a week ago when they attacked the Summer Villa. She’s presumed dead..."

"Don’t believe everything you hear, Father," Liam said with a warm, lighthearted laugh. "I shared a meal with Lady Ashlynn just a few days ago. There’s much you don’t know, Father," he said, his tone becoming more serious. "And we have much to discuss tonight."