21

One month passed and Abby was inconsolable. She refused to talk, she barely ate. The danger was past. Dimitri's men had scattered at the loss of their leader. Many were caught out by Remi's guards and properly punished. The witches, Dimitri's collection, were freed. All should have been right. But it was not.

Abby was in a daze. She went through the motions. David and Firefly had been married in a beautiful ceremony on the castle lawn. Abby had fulfilled her promise-she stood as a witness to their testimony of love and smiled at their first kiss as husband and wife…or to the people of Rion-King and Queen. The titles became active as the wedding became official.

Ollie and Glen married. Theirs was a quieter affair, with only Abby and Michael as witnesses. Abby cried and hugged her sister, and convinced her it was tears of happiness that were falling from her eyes. Ollie had never looked as happy as she did on Glen's arm, and she carried the title of Queen of Remi with grace and kindness.

With the good…came the bad. Glen's guards had gone into the cave to retrieve Mark's body. He'd been laid to rest in their family tomb next to his father and sister. Abby made it a point to sit there every morning and cry. She mourned so much it hurt to shed tears. But it was cleansing too. She blamed herself. It was her fault, her idea, that had gotten them into this mess. That had gotten Mark killed.

It was time to go. She knew it. It was past time to go, but she could not stand the thought of leaving Mark behind, even if he were dead, she could not make herself leave.

And then one day she could no longer put it off.

Ollie tried to talk her out of it. They all did. They wanted her to stay. Abby's killing of Dimitri was already a legend around the kingdom. People bowed to her as they would royalty. She heard whispers, heard herself referred to as the king's love, and decided she could not take it anymore.

"You don't have to go, Abby." Ollie said, watching as Abby studied that damn spell book. She was reading the passage that they had used to get to Remi in the first place. She would not have to make another potion. She just had to say one more spell and she'd hopefully go back to her originating point.

"I do have to go." Abby said softly, smiling at her sister. The smile was sad. Ollie felt tears well in her eyes in response.

"Abby…"

"There is nothing here for me without him, Ollie. I admit it." Abby shook her head. "I love you, you're my sister, you're my other half, but you have Glen. You have a whole new life here. I don't belong here, I never did."

Ollie hugged Abby and stroked her hair. "I don't want you to go. I want you with me."

"You have castles to run, Ol. I'll be all right." Abby smiled again. It was a poor effort. "I would say something stupid like…I want to forget this ever happened…but that would be a lie. I don't ever want to forget him. That's why I can't stay."

"I understand." Ollie whispered. "When?"

"In the morning. I want to stay goodbye to everyone." Abby gave Ollie another hug and pushed her away. "Go on, you're a newlywed, go find your husband and entertain him or something." Ollie laughed, but it was forced. She left her sister alone to her thoughts.

Abby did as she said. She joined their group for dinner, listened to their stories, and pretended she was feeling better. She wasn't. She was going to miss these people, but none more than Mark, that was for sure. Her sister seemed so happy, Abby could not muster any sadness at leaving her behind.

"You will be gone before we awake, I am sure." David said, coming up to her. He held out his arms and Abby stepped into him, accepting his warm hug. David had been the one to comfort her when no one else could. For some reason he found it easy to let her lean on him.

"Most likely. I'll miss you David. You take care of Firefly."

"I plan to." David kissed the top of her head. "You should stay. We could use a knight such as yourself."

"A female knight?" Abby raised an eyebrow. David chuckled.

"You are right. Perhaps we're not ready for that quite yet." He squeezed her gently and let her go. "I will miss you as well, Abby. And we hope to name our first daughter for you, to honor your bravery."

Abby sniffled. "That…that would be wonderful." She hugged him one more time, then turned to Firefly. The women grinned at each other.

"I hope your journey is safe, Abby." Firefly kissed her cheek. "Practice those spells. Perhaps you can muster the one to let you travel freely to our time to visit."

"I'll think about it." Abby smiled. She was done with magic after the trip home. It was too painful, and it reminded her too much of Mark.

One by one, she said goodbye to her friends. Michael was one of the last. "I feel I should apologize yet again for what I did to you." He said softly.

"No apology necessary. I did tell you to make it believable." Abby accepted his hug and tousled his hair. "I'm sorry for punching you at David's wedding."

"Understandable." Michael grinned and rubbed his jaw. Abby had been quiet until she'd thrown a roundhouse punch at his face. Then she's smiled and said that was for hitting her. Michael had laughed and shaken it off. He supposed he deserved it.

Abby found herself alone with Glen. Ollie had gone with Firefly to discuss some manner of the castle or other. She sat down and Glen sat opposite her, taking her hands in his.

"You cannot do it." He said softly. Abby frowned.

"I have to leave…"

"I know that you have to go, Abby." Glen sighed. "You cannot use the spell to come back and save him."

Abby let her head droop. "Why not?"

"It is the rules. Magic is wild and unruly, but it does have its limitations. All things happen for a reason. You were meant to come here, meant to fall in love. He was meant to die. There are some facts that cannot be changed, no matter how much we want them to be." Glen smiled sadly. Abby felt tears threaten to fall once again.

"But he wasn't meant to die." She whispered. "He was supposed to be with you, safe."

"I think he was meant to be with you. Protecting you. It is all he wanted, Abby." Glen stroked her fingers. "He loved you. I think that was what brought him back here."

"Brought him back here?" She sniffled again.

"To Raventhorne. To his family." Glen sighed. "We spent too long not talking, too long thinking we hated each other, and he followed you to my home to make sure you got here all right. I admired him his tenacity. I am not a forgiving man by nature…under normal circumstances. But I was so happy to have my brother back, even if it was just for a few days, I would not go back and trade it for anything."

Abby nodded. "I understand. I won't try to save him. The book even says you can't save a loved one."

"Good girl." Glen gave her hand a pat and let her go. "We will think of you often, Abby. Your sister will not let people forget your sacrifice."

"What did I sacrifice?" Abby asked, incredulous.

"Your life. You came to a world you did not know and you stood tall in the face of the unknown."

"Mark was the one who gave up…"

Glen shook his head and silenced her with a look. "Mark came to me and willingly gave over his share of Remi. He said he would rather have you for a day than the kingdom for a lifetime. I did not understand why he would make such a decision, but now I do. Now I do." Glen repeated it, smiling as he thought of Ollie. "He never got to tell you. He was going to. Things happened too fast."

"They always tend to, don't they?" Abby wiped her eyes. "I have to go."

"Will you be joining us for a last breakfast?" Glen asked as she rose to her feet.

Abby shook her head. "No. I mean…I have to go. Right now. Home."

Glen's smile faded. "Abby…"

"I can't take this anymore, all right? I can't sit here and pretend I'm all right with what happened! I said my goodbyes and the spell is in here…" She tapped her head. "Tell Ollie I love her, all right? Tell them all I love them. I never knew I could love anybody until I came here, and thank them for showing me how to do it."

Glen nodded slowly. "All right, Abby. If that is what you want." Glen stood up and hugged her, the last hug of the night for her. She held onto his shirt, feeling a bit desperate, wanting to just take it all back.

"Goodbye, Glen." She finally muttered, pushing away from him. Tears falling again, Abby climbed the stairs to her room, saying the spell before she had the door shut behind her.