Deosil, page 21
The clearing was now filled with humans and ketoi alike. An umbra worker appeared on the outskirts, its single eye fixed on a ritual that must seem incomprehensibly alien to its species. As we took our chairs in the front row, one of the ketoi blew a strange note through a shell.
A quartet began to play softly. Lights shone through the woods, and Persephone stepped into the clearing. She wore a shimmering cloak of golden mesh, its train held off the ground by Mother and Stone Biter. Jewelry weighed down her arms and legs, necklaces layered her throat, and on her brow she wore the tiara that formally declared her chieftess of the Widdershins ketoi.
At almost the same moment, Miss Parkhurst—I supposed I should get used to thinking of her as Maggie, as she would soon be my sister-in-law—entered opposite on Griffin’s arm. She looked even more radiant than Persephone, her simple white dress shining in the torch- and candlelight, a bouquet of roses and ivy in her arms. At the sight of my sister, she broke into a smile of such joy it brought tears to my eyes.
They met beneath the arch. I took out my handkerchief and dabbed at my cheeks as they exchanged their vows. Persephone’s were filled with promises to add the skulls of her new wife’s enemies to their wedding arch, so I assumed she’d written them herself.
The exchange was short, and Persephone swept Maggie into her arms and kissed her. There was general applause, and then the crowd began to mill around as the chairs were rearranged and tables added. The menu depended heavily on fish, and in place of the typical wedding cake there was a tower of waffles.
After dinner, I stayed in the clearing to witness the brides dance, made awkward by Persephone’s ketoi legs. Griffin then danced with Maggie, and when they were done, I took his place.
“Thank you, Dr. Whyborne,” she said. Her eyes bright, her cheeks flushed with happiness.
“It’s just Whyborne now,” I said. “Or Percival, but really, no one calls me that except my parents and Persephone.”
She beamed at me, then glanced around. “Did you ever imagine…?”
“No,” I said honestly. “And if I had, I should have taken myself straight to Stormhaven as delusional.”
She laughed. “I would have made sure your correspondence was still delivered to you.”
“I might have used the time to work on grant proposals.”
The dance ended, and I handed her over to Jack. I’d meant to make my escape, but instead found myself dancing with Dr. Gerritson, then Mrs. Gerritson. Mr. Durfree and Mr. Farr seemed about to launch into a quarrel over which of them was to be my next partner, before Griffin swooped in and claimed me.
“You’re quite popular,” he said as we waltzed together.
“I haven’t the faintest idea why.”
“I don’t know.” He tilted his head back and pretended to inspect me. “Did you by any chance save a town around this time last year?”
“It wasn’t me,” I protested. “It was all of us, and you very well know it.”
He smiled. “Then let’s just say, people have the tendency to look outside of themselves for heroes.”
“Then they can look somewhere else. I have no interest in the job.”
“I’m not certain you have that choice.” The music ended, but he kept hold of my hand. “Let’s avail ourselves of the champagne.”
Though the night was temperate for August, I’d worked up a bit of a sweat dancing, and was more than glad to follow his suggestion. We paused long enough to take glasses of magically-chilled champagne—dear heavens, the Endicotts were determined to show off tonight. Christine and Iskander sat on a blanket under the eaves of the small wood, and we joined them. Nathaniel and Alexandria had slept through the ceremony, but were now awake and determined to crawl off in opposite directions.
“Oh good, you’re here,” Christine said as we lowered ourselves to the ground by them.
“What is it?” I asked suspiciously.
“We were just discussing whether it would be best to continue with my original plan to excavate the fane in Egypt, or should we take a look at this lost city of the masters in Australia?”
I gaped at her. “Dear lord, Christine, you can’t seriously want to go to Australia!”
“Why ever not?”
I began to tick reasons off on my fingers. “For one thing, there are deadly spiders. For another, there are deadly snakes. Deadly kangaroos. Deadly—”
“Bah!” She waved away my concerns. “I’m certain we’ll have no trouble whatsoever.”
“There’s also the matter of poking about in a city of the masters, if it even survives. Who knows what’s down there?”
Christine absently picked up Alexandria, who’d been reaching for one of the strange flowers, no doubt intending to stuff it in her mouth. “It would also take a great deal of planning, even more than an expedition to the fane, as we’d have less idea of what we might be facing. Very well, the fane first, then the city.”
“That isn’t what I meant at all.” I gestured to Alexandria. “Besides, you have two young children.”
“Well of course we’ll wait until they’re old enough. Four or five should be fine.” She brightened. “And that will give us plenty of time to research the possible location of the city in Australia.”
“There is no ‘us,’” I protested. Of course, she ignored me.
We sat for a while, drinking champagne and watching the dancers. In the presence of my friends, I felt any residual tension from earlier drain away. Talking with Christine, watching her and Iskander with their children, my heart seemed to loosen. We had gone through so much together, but we had come out the other side intact, the bonds between us stronger than ever.
After a time, Christine and Iskander went to dance, while we watched the little ones. Alexandria had given up on eating the disturbing flora and was now attempting to swing a small stick around her head. Nathaniel chewed on a stuffed bear, its cloth body soon soaked with drool.
Persephone bounded over to us. She’d taken off her cloak earlier, as it was impossible to dance in. “Brother,” she said. “Brother’s husband.”
“Congratulations,” Griffin said.
She grinned happily, her shark’s teeth on full display. “Thank you.”
Griffin rose to his feet. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and withdrew, leaving the two of us alone with the children.
Persephone dropped into a crouch. Alexandria released her stick, and Nathaniel lowered his bear, both of them staring at her with their big eyes.
Very softly, she began to hum, then to sing:
“Listen up little fish, little fish,
Let’s make a wish, make a wish,
For a time not come but yet to be,
One for the land, and one for the sea.”
“Not yet,” I objected. “Not any time soon, surely.”
“Not yet,” she agreed. She extended her hands, and Alexandria grabbed the finger of one, Nathaniel the other. “Not until they’re old enough to choose for themselves.”
I shook my head vehemently. “No. I don’t want them to have some—some destiny.”
“Have you forgotten, Brother? They have the same destiny, the same purpose, as us.” Persephone gently pulled free and rose to her feet. “To be themselves.”
I sat silently for a few minutes after she left, except to rescue Alexandria from investigating the ground with her mouth. Christine and Iskander returned, Christine’s cheeks flushed from exertion. “Thank you for watching them, Whyborne. I think it may be time for us to head homeward. I’ll see you at the museum on Monday.”
“I’ll see you Monday, Christine.”
As they departed, Griffin returned and extended his hand. “Walk with me?”
I let him help me to my feet. Hand in hand, we wandered away from the celebrations, until we reached the water’s edge. Stars crowded the heavens, blotted out directly across the lake by the dark bulk of the Draakenwood. The dusty remnants of the spire glittered on the shore, and candles bobbed past in their boats, born by the current. Fireflies danced all around. A deep sense of peace descended over me.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Griffin said, but when I turned to him, he was looking up at me.
I bent to kiss him. “You’re absurd.”
“Perhaps. But you love me anyway.”
“That I do.” I moved to face him, slipping my arms around his waist, feeling him do the same to me. “There aren’t enough words in every language I know put together, to express just how much.”
His eyes shone. “I love to see you happy.”
It seemed unspeakably strange to stand here on this island and think back to all that had happened since I first set foot on it. More; since I’d first set eyes on the man in my arms. I’d been anything but happy, then. I’d been miserable and alone, but too afraid to do anything to change my circumstances, lest they become even worse.
I was anything but alone now. My circumstances had changed beyond my wildest imaginings. I had a husband and a family. Most of that family wasn’t related by blood, and some had tentacles or gelatinous feelers, but none of that mattered. What mattered was we’d faced the darkness as one, and together found a new dawn.
“I love you, Griffin Flaherty,” I said.
His smile filled my heart with simple joy. “And I love you, Percival Endicott Whyborne. For all the days of my life.”
We held one another in happy silence and watched the candles float slowly away.
Finis
Share Your Experience
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on the site where you purchased it, or on Goodreads.
Thank you for your support of independent authors!
Author’s Note
On June 1, 2012, I started to write what would ultimately become Widdershins, though the working title at that point was just “Whyborne” and the town was [creepy town name] in the text. (It became Widdershins within a couple of chapters, in one of those writing moments when you’re not quite sure why your subconscious came up with that particular thing, but you roll with it and keep going. That happened a lot in this particular series.) I had no idea I was setting out on what has become the greatest journey in my life thus far.
There are a lot of things I could say, but I’ll get right to the point: thank you.
Thank you for embracing an awkward, clueless, introverted philologist. Thank you for loving a troubled, scarred ex-Pinkerton searching for acceptance. Thank you for making an abrupt, bossy, opinionated archaeologist one of the best-loved characters I’ve ever written, and then asking me to give her a love interest. Thank you for welcoming into your hearts that love interest, whose saint-like levels of patience are probably even more handy than his skills at archaeology and knife fighting.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Thank you for allowing me to complete it, an astounding eleven books in.
Thank you for every email, every piece of fan art, every gift in my PO Box. I’m humbled and grateful beyond all words for the love and support this community has shown me.
And that’s the greatest gift you’ve given me: that this has become a community. The fan group on Facebook has grown far past anything I’d imagined, and I’m overwhelmed by the support and love you show not just me, but one another.
Special thanks as always to everyone on my Patreon, especially Scott M., Shane M., Dusk T., Robin H., and Helen K. Thanks also for those patrons who helped me come up with names for ketoi characters and for Christine’s twins: LaDa, Crystal C., Meredith M., Aurora G., Amy C., Colette, Kristin C., Elzbieta T., Jo G., Raven, and Angela R.
Enormous thanks to my wife, Beth, whose support has never wavered. Thanks also to my amazing editor Annetta Ribken Graney; Whyborne & Griffin owe her keen sense of story a debt of gratitude.
As much as you will miss reading new Whyborne & Griffin novels, I’ll miss writing them. But as a storyteller, I believe endings are important. They give a story weight. An unsuitable end can ruin the memory of an otherwise wonderful series; a good one can mean years of re-reading in the future. I hope I gave Whyborne, Griffin, and everyone else the ending they deserved.
Widdershins lives within us now, and it knows its own. So instead of saying “farewell,” let us instead say “welcome home.”
Jordan L. Hawk
August 14, 2019
Other books from Jordan L. Hawk:
Hexworld
“The 13th Hex” (prequel short story)
Hexbreaker
Hexmaker
“A Christmas Hex” (short story)
Hexslayer
Hexhunter
Spirits:
Restless Spirits
Dangerous Spirits
Guardian Spirits
About the Author
Jordan L. Hawk is a non-binary queer author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave them a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When they aren’t writing, they brew their own beer and try to keep the cats from destroying the house. Their best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.
If you’re interested in receiving Jordan’s newsletter and being the first to know when new books are released, please sign up at their website: http://www.jordanlhawk.com. Or join their Facebook reader group, Widdershins Knows Its Own.
Find Jordan online:
http://www.jordanlhawk.com
https://twitter.com/jordanlhawk
https://www.facebook.com/jordanlhawk
Jordan L. Hawk, Deosil
