Thank you to souverian, GuestMG, lucefatale, Adella, Ella, Ghostwriter71, Jane, and Love. Fiction. 2020 for your reviews! Any I couldn't reply to by PM, I've replied at the bottom of the chapter.
GuestMG, and anyone else who might not have seen it, I've popped a description of Carys Vale before this chapter.
Sorry this one's so long, but you know... Without further ado...
Chapter 20
All the lights were on when they finally reached Bella's house and Edward pulled up slowly, keeping the Jeep out of view of the windows, as far from her truck as he could without alerting the neighbours.
All three vampires sat impossibly straight even before Edward cut off the engine, their eyes darting, nostrils flaring, as they searched the darkness for any hint of a threat - any scent, sound, or movement out of place.
"He isn't here," Edward announced finally, his voice tense. "Let's go."
Carys forced her taut muscles to relax just a little at the news. If they were quick, perhaps... Perhaps... She wouldn't - couldn't - finish the thought. It was as if doing so might somehow jinx them and one of the vampires - Nomads, as Emmett had called them - might suddenly appear.
Emmett helped Bella out of the harness, his impossibly white teeth flashing in the darkness. "Don't worry," he told them, his low voice cheerful in the face of their fear. "We'll take care of things quickly - here, at least."
Carys nodded slowly, still feeling numb as she let go of Bella's hand with one last squeeze.
"Alice, Emmett," Edward commanded softly as he opened his door and spared Carys a glance before Emmett and Bella joined him, leaving her alone with Alice.
Alice was pulling away from the house again before Carys fully registered that she'd taken Edward's seat and started the car, and they left the young couple embracing by the side of the road.
She seemed content to sit in silence, scanning their surroundings, until they reached Carys' road, when she said, "Don't worry about getting too much - just the essentials - your passports. There's enough at the house to make up a bag."
Carys nodded again, undoing her harness as she waited for Alice to give her the all-clear. When she waved her hand, she shoved the door open and sprinted on shaking legs to the pot by the side of the house, typing in the pin as she ran to her front door, and tossing the pot onto the grass once she had her spare key in hand.
Never had she found her mum's Christmas present handier, she mused as she raced up the stairs, giving herself barely a moment to catch her breath.
She was about to leave the room, passports in hand, when her jewellery box caught her eye, and she threw the lid back so hard in her effort to get to the earrings inside that one of the hinges snapped. They were a connection to Carlisle that wouldn't have been left behind if she'd been awake enough the night before.
Was it really only one night? She wondered, racing back down the stairs and out the door. Was it really only a day since she'd been so blissfully happy in Carlisle's arms?
Alice waved her into the front seat and tore off down the unlit road, slowing when they reached the main road and she flicked the headlights on.
They came up behind Bella's truck as they left Forks behind them, but Carys could only see two figures in the dim light as she slid her earrings into place.
"Emmett's following, in a few moments he'll be on the truck - see?" Alice explained, answering Carys' question before she had a chance to ask it, just as her prediction came true and Emmett appeared out of nowhere. "You mustn't allow it to scare you," she said urgently, "but the tracker, James, he was close enough to hear when they were leaving - he's running behind us now."
Carys shuddered and instinctively turned her head to look out the back of the Jeep when they sped up, though she knew she'd likely be unable to see anything at all in the light - let alone the vampire hunting them.
"What's-what's... What's going to happen...?" She stuttered, clenching her teeth to stop them from chattering.
"Edward says he won't attack the house tonight," Alice informed her quickly and quietly, keeping pace with the truck as they turned off the highway onto the private road.
Carys managed to control her breathing after a few seconds, the news loosening the vice around her chest just a little as she began a new chant in her mind, closing her eyes for a moment. Her eyes snapped open again and she watched the dark forest pass by when she realised it wasn't a chant, more of a silent prayer.
Be well, be strong, she told herself, remembering the second meaning of the surname she'd adopted as her own when they came to a stop outside the Cullens' house. It calmed her enough that when Alice's door slammed shut and hers was wrenched open a moment later, she had more of a grip on herself than she had for what seemed like hours.
Alice ripped the harness from her body and threw her over her shoulder as she darted up the stairs and into the house, setting her down between Edward and Emmett, and standing herself in front of her like a tiny guard as Emmett growled low in his throat.
It took a fraction of a second for Carys' eyes to adjust to the bright light, but when they did, she saw why Alice had positioned herself as she had.
Laurent was standing in the lounge, along with the other vampires who must have heard them before they'd pulled up.
"He's tracking us," Edward announced through gritted teeth, taking half a step towards the interloper as he glowered at him.
"I was afraid of that," Laurent admitted with a shake of his head, his dejected tone matching the expression on his face to perfection.
Alice seemed to judge him non-threatening and danced across the room to Jasper's side, her lips blurring as he bent down so she could whisper in his ear.
He nodded quickly, and they flew up the stairs together.
Rosalie watched them leave and moved immediately to Emmett's side, an intense - almost ferocious - anger burning in her eyes when they flickered unwillingly over Carys to rest for a bare second on Bella's face.
Carys, for the first time she could remember, ignored Rosalie even though she felt guilt rise for doing so. Instead, she stared at Carlisle and allowed her relief at his safety to pour over her.
Carlisle was too focused on Laurent to return her gaze. "What will he do?" he asked icily.
Laurent held his hands up, his apologetic tone setting Carys' teeth on edge. "I'm sorry," he confessed, "I was afraid, when your boy there defended the pale one, that it would set him off more than her blood had. When you..." He glanced at Carys and Carlisle hissed in quiet warning, drawing his attention back to him. "When you seemed to defend the other, well, the thought she might be a coven leader's mate..." He trailed off, just about stopping himself from glancing at her again.
Carlisle appeared to stand straighter than he had before. "Can you stop him?"
Laurent shook his head and pressed his lips together, frowning slightly. "Nothing can stop James when he gets started."
"We will," Emmett promised, lowering his chin as he glared at Laurent, his meaning clear for all to see.
Laurent shook his head again. "You can't bring him down," he insisted softly. "I've never seen anything like him - not in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's the reason I joined his coven in the first place," he added, confirming Carys' suspicions once again, making her wonder why Edward had lied to them in the car if he knew as well as she did.
He looked at Bella for a moment, confusion etched across his face as he gave Carys a once over and turned back to Carlisle. "Are you sure it's worth it?"
Edward's enraged roar filled the room, causing Laurent to cringe back.
If Carys' gaze hadn't been locked on Carlisle, she might have missed the terrifying snarl that contorted his handsome features for a moment after Laurent had spoken, before he controlled himself in the blink of an eye.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice," he told Laurent gravely a second later.
Carys was near awe-struck at the way in which he'd controlled himself and shocked to the core that a look of such violence had ever passed over him.
Laurent appeared to weigh his options as he looked at each of them in turn, and finally, about the bright white room.
"I'm intrigued by the life you've created here," he admitted wistfully. "But I won't put myself in the middle of this... I bear no animosity towards any of you, but I won't go up against James." He shook his head again and then nodded when he came to his decision. "I think I will head north - to that clan in Denali you spoke of." He paused briefly, frowning. "I will say this: don't underestimate James. He possesses a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head-on... I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry." He bowed his head in supplication, but Carys noticed him glance at Bella from beneath his lashes as he did so.
"Go in peace," Carlisle dismissed him.
Carys shoved her hands into her back pockets to avoid the automatic response she'd grown up reciting, though Edward looked at her as she failed to stop herself from thinking the words.
Laurent took another long look around himself, his gaze lingering on Carys for barely a moment before he hurried out the door.
Silence fell - it lasted for less than a second - just enough time for Laurent to be out of earshot and Alice and Jasper to return, carrying several bags - before Carlisle broke it.
"How close?" He commanded, directing his question to Edward as Esme sprang into action and crossed the room.
Her hand touched an inconspicuous keypad on the wall, and with a groan, huge metal shutters began sealing up the glass wall.
Bella's jaw dropped.
Edward cocked his head for a fleeting moment. "He's about three miles out past the river," he informed him, "he's circling around to meet up with the female."
Carlisle nodded quickly, crossing his arms and widening his stance. "And what's your plan for Bella?"
"We'll lead him off," Edward told him, as if waiting for his confirmation, "and then Jasper and Alice will run her south."
"And then?"
Edward's tone turned deadly. "As soon as Bella is clear, we hunt him."
"I suppose there's no other choice," Carlisle agreed, his face grim. He barely glanced in Carys' direction before he clenched his hand and turned away as if he was unable to so much as look at her anymore. "Alice, Jasper, you'll take Carys down with you and separate there."
His tone brooked no argument.
Carys dropped her head a little as she tucked her hair behind her ear, wishing he would just look at her - wishing she could tell what he was thinking or feeling.
"Get Bella upstairs and trade clothes," Edward commanded, and Carys swallowed the lump in her throat as she snapped her head up to look at him.
He'd been speaking - if speaking was the right word for it - to Rosalie, who was staring at him as she vibrated with anger.
"Why should I?" she hissed venomously, her lip curling. "What is she to me? Except a menace - a danger you've chosen to inflict on all of us."
Emmett placed a hand to his wife's shoulder when Bella flinched. "Rose...," he appealed quietly before she shrugged him off.
Edward looked away from Rosalie as if she hadn't spoken - as if she didn't exist at all.
Their open contempt for each other shocked Carys.
"Esme?" he asked calmly, his tone so dramatically different to the one he'd used on Rosalie that it threw Carys again.
"Of course," Esme murmured, darting across the room to scoop Bella into her arms. They disappeared up the stairs in the time it took Carys to cross her arms and turn to Carlisle.
He still didn't look at her, wouldn't look at her - he was staring hopefully at Rosalie instead. "Rose, would you-?"
"Why?" She asked, cutting across him as she continued to glare in Edward's direction. "Why should I suddenly care about-?"
"She's Edward's mate, Rosalie, which makes her part of this family," Carlisle sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as he clenched his jaw. "As is Carys," he continued, in a low, mildly despairing tone that made her wonder if he truly meant it in that moment, "which is why I'm asking you for your help. Please, would you swap clothes-"
Carys wasn't sure if she jumped, or it was the shock of suddenly being in Rosalie's arms as she was carried upstairs in a flash.
"Why?" She whispered blankly as she was unceremoniously dropped to her feet in Carlisle's bedroom and began to tug her jersey over her head, grasping the question as a means to turn her thoughts away from Carlisle for a moment.
"It confuses the scent," Rosalie snapped contemptuously from behind the bathroom door.
"No," Carys clarified, throwing the jersey down on the bed beside her and toeing off her trainers. "Why-"
"Why what?" Rosalie cut across her angrily.
"Why," Carys explained placidly as she wrestled her trousers off and Rosalie's hand darted past the door to throw her clothes in a perfect arc onto the bed. "Help me and not Bella?"
There was silence for a few seconds as Carys gathered her clothes into a bundle and threw them as hard as she could towards the door, hoping they'd make it as far as they needed to.
Rosalie caught them effortlessly despite the barrier impeding her view.
"Carlisle asked," she finally admitted, through clenched teeth. "And you weren't the one who got us into this. Laurent said they might not have noticed so much if Bella's-" she spat the name as if it physically pained her to say it, "-scent wasn't so strong. Are you done yet!?" She added impatiently.
Carys tugged her top down, struck as much by what Rosalie had said as she was that her new clothes had the exact same slightly-too-tight fit as the ones she'd just taken off.
"It's not her fault she smells like that..." Carys disputed distractedly, fumbling with the buttons at her lower waist when Rosalie growled from the other room. "I'm done," she announced quietly a moment later.
"It's Edward's fault for bringing her. Carlisle shouldn't have brought you either," Rosalie said, appearing suddenly by her side and glaring as she gave her less than half a second to prepare before she swept her up and ran her back down the stairs, releasing her by Carlisle's side as Bella was carried down by Alice and Esme.
Carlisle still refused to acknowledge her as he handed Esme and Alice identical mobile phones, tiny silver ones she didn't recognise.
"Esme and Rosalie will be taking your truck, Bella," he told the teenager as he left Alice's side, and Carys noticed Rosalie's glowering response when she nodded.
"Alice, Jasper-" he continued calmly, complete authority radiating through the room, "-take the Mercedes. You'll need the dark tint in the south."
They nodded in agreement, though it was far more of a command than a request.
"We're taking the Jeep," he finished, looking them over - assessing them. A moment later, he nodded. "Alice, will they take the bait?"
Everyone turned to her, watching anxiously as she closed her eyes and stilled for what felt to Carys like a terrifyingly long time, but couldn't be more than half a minute. "He'll track you," she confirmed with complete certainty when she finally opened her eyes. "And the woman will follow the truck, so we should be able to leave after that."
"Two minutes, and we go," Carlisle announced as he began to walk toward the kitchen, sweeping an arm around Carys' waist to pull her with him as he passed, gripping her side as painfully as he had in the field.
He grabbed the back of a stool and turned it when they reached the centre of the room, lifting Carys onto it so quickly she had to grip his shoulders so she didn't fall off the other side, and dropped to his knees before her.
Carys gasped as she stared down at him and realised why he'd not been able to look at her before. She placed her hands to his face, rubbing her thumbs back and forth below his terrified venom-filled eyes.
He gripped her wrists, slid his hands up her arms, then wrapped his arms around her waist, tugged her against him, and buried his face in her stomach.
"Nothing can happen to you, my love," he whispered against her top, his voice catching as he shook his head. "Nothing, Carys."
Carys slid her hands into his hair and curled herself over him as best she could with his steel-like grip holding her in place, hugging him to her - though she had the feeling that given the chance he might never let her go.
Tears stung her eyes, her lip quivered - she desperately wished he could come with her somehow, or that she would suddenly wake up in his bed that morning and find it had all been some terrifying nightmare he could soothe away.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he continued in a bleak tone, twisting his hands in the back of her top. "I know this isn't what you signed up for, dearest, and I know you may never forgive me-" he tightened his hold on her when she went to protest, "-that you will likely choose to live your life safely without me after this, but-"
"Carlisle-!" Carys gasped, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. It was the last thing she would ever do - he must know that.
"I will love you for an eternity," he insisted softly as his shoulders began to quake, "I will keep you safe no matter the cost, and if you ever need me, I'll-"
"No!" She moaned, collapsing against him as she tugged on his shirt, trying to get him to stop.
He pulled back slowly, giving her enough time to move her chin out of the way before he continued in a low, fierce whisper, staring deeply into her eyes.
"Trust me, my darling. Trust that I won't let him hurt you. Whatever happens later - whatever you choose, whether that be-"
"Don't you dare," she whispered angrily, grasping the change in her emotions as a lifeline. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. You're mine, Carlisle - I made my choice already. You know I love you, that nothing will change that... And I may not always have been as brave as Bella, as strong as you or your family, but I will be - I promise. If you ever leave me, it will be your choice, not mine-" she searched his eyes, gripped his shirt tighter as she tried to shake him, "-and I do not give you permission to leave me yet - so whatever happens, you'd better come back to me safe and sound - is that understood!?"
Carlisle reared up without warning and twisted his hand in her hair, kissing her with a desperation that stole her breath. Desperation she returned in equal measure.
Alice's tinkling voice cut through Carys' haze a minute later, but Carlisle didn't seem to notice - or didn't care - as he continued kissing her.
"Carlisle," his daughter tried again.
Carys moved her hands to his chest, wincing when she had to squeeze them into the small gap between their bodies, and shoved.
He pulled away immediately, shock clouding his eyes for barely half a second before he blinked and his calm façade fell back into place.
"Edward," he said evenly, likely for her benefit as he could just as easily have thought it. "Let's go. I have a call to make on the way."
He straightened, gently stroked Carys' cheek and stared at her in a way that made her fear she might never see him again, and then he was gone.
Alice waited until she'd gulped in a lungful of air and hastily brushed her tears from her face before she took her hand and pulled her quickly back into the lounge.
Bella was sobbing noiselessly to one side of the room when they entered, the others studiously avoiding looking in her direction, and Carys' heart pulled as she strode to her and wrapped her up in her arms.
Bella buried her face in Carys' neck when she began to whisper soothingly to her.
In some strange way, comforting her distracted Carys from the pain and fear she felt as acutely as Bella must.
Esme's phone vibrated through the near-silent room, and it was already at her ear when Carys and Bella immediately lifted their heads to look at her.
"Now," she announced, sharing a look with Carys and pressing a hand to Bella's cheek as she passed, including them both when she whispered, "Be safe."
Rosalie stalked to the door without a single glance, though when she passed Carys, she imagined she felt a hand touched briefly to her lower back.
"You too," she whispered, turning to watch them as they disappeared into the darkness. "Both of you."
They stared at the door as the roar of Bella's truck faded into the distance, waiting for the moment that they too would be called to leave.
Carys clutched Bella tighter to her as she stared around the room, remembering how only a few hours before she'd wanted nothing more than to be free of Emmett and Jasper's baseball lecture - how she'd now give anything to sit in silence as they whispered to each other. A single tear slid slowly down her cheek. Had she really taken any moment there for granted?
She made a silent promise to herself that if they ever made it back, she'd never let herself take her time with them for granted like that again.
Alice's hand flashed to her ear a moment before the vibration cut through the tension that had fallen over the room, pulling their attention to her.
"Edward says the woman is on Esme's trail," she told them quickly before she disappeared. "I'll get the car."
Bella and Jasper shared a look as Carys pulled away a little and tried to commit as much to memory as she could.
"You're wrong, you know," Jasper said quietly, addressing Bella.
"What?" She gasped, staring at him with wide eyes still shimmering with tears that were yet to fall.
"I can feel what you're feeling now," he explained quietly, "and you are worth it."
"I'm not," Bella mumbled, moving out of Carys' hold completely so she could wrap her arms around herself as she ducked her head. "If anything happens to them, it will be for nothing."
Jasper shook his head and smiled kindly at her. "You're wrong," he told her simply.
Carys wanted to reiterate what he'd said, to add her voice to his, but it wasn't her moment - it was their's - and so she didn't say anything as she watched them, turning her head when Alice walked through the front door towards Bella, holding her arms out.
"May I?" She asked sweetly, smiling gently, though worry clouded the expression.
Bella smiled a little, admitting, "You're the first one to ask permission."
As Alice lifted Bella easily into her arms and tucked her against her tiny body, Jasper stepped towards Carys and held his hands out, his question unspoken - as was her answer as she stepped towards him and allowed him to lift her up. He held her securely, though he turned his head and clearly held his breath.
They sat them in the back of Carlisle's car, on either side of Alice, and as soon as she was strapped in, Bella began to sob.
Carys sat back when Alice had hugged Bella to her and begun to stroke her back, closing her eyes and trying to ignore the pain in her chest. For once, the speed at which they tore out of the hidden road didn't jolt or scare her.
Over the next few hours, she sat in silence as Bella cried and Alice soothed her.
A few times, she reached across to hold Bella's hand for a while, but it didn't seem to be much help, and after the fifth time Bella pulled her hand from hers to clutch at Alice, she gave up.
Carys felt strangely comforted by the familiar vehicle in a way that Bella seemed not to be - so much so that a couple of times she wondered if she'd dozed off briefly and simply couldn't remember it when her eyes closed for long minutes at a time and she managed to find some relief from her thoughts and the terror of what had happened - what was going to happen, what might already be happening to the others.
The sun had begun to rise on the horizon when Alice leaned herself towards Bella, making space for Carys to unbuckle her seatbelt and climb into the front seat, despite not having voiced the decision she'd just made.
"Where are we?" She asked Jasper softly as she clambered over the console and sat down, trying not to disturb Bella too much as she hoped for Bella's sake she might be able to drift off at some point. "I don't know much of America except for Washington," she explained, covering the buckle as she clicked the tongue into place, trying to mute the sound.
Jasper kept his eyes on the road as he answered just as softly. "We're in California. We'll be in Phoenix by nightfall."
"California?" Carys asked, pressing her lips together against a small sob, her eyes filling with tears when he nodded. "My... My mum...," she whispered, barely a sound passing her lips.
"I know," he replied, placing his hand briefly over hers. "It'll be okay - they'll be okay."
Sometime later, she recalled the last time she'd been in the car, and how she'd teased Carlisle for being so literal about the glove compartment.
She reached forward and gently opened it, finding the pair of gloves he'd stopped wearing as often when the weather turned still sat where he'd thrown them. She pulled them out and closed the door just as carefully.
If she concentrated, she could almost hear his laughter.
"I'll have you know, young lady," he'd said, glaring playfully, "that I've been storing my driving gloves in their proper place for a century, and I don't intend on abandoning the habit just because-"
"I know it sounds silly," she whispered, folding the gloves in her lap, "but I somehow feel safer - being in this seat, knowing where everything is... Even this car, it smells like him."
Jasper didn't reply - it wasn't the sort of statement that needed a response - and they lapsed into silence once again.
She must have fallen asleep at some point, because when she came to and rescued the gloves from falling off the edge of her seat, the sun had begun to descend behind them, stretching the shadows of the unfamiliar landscape. Though she had no idea of where they must be exactly, she assumed from what Jasper had told her earlier that they had to be close to Phoenix if not there already.
"You shouldn't worry about work," Jasper murmured sometime later, sparing her a glance. "Alice says Carlisle's going to take care of it."
"How?" She asked weakly, ignoring the fact she'd not heard them talking as she stared out of the windscreen and she continued folding and unfolding the gloves she still held.
"He has his ways," he replied cryptically, raising his voice just enough to be heard in the back when he asked softly, "Which way to the airport, Bella?"
Carys saw her flinch in the rearview mirror, and Alice began to stroke her back again.
"Stay on the I-ten," she replied, her speech slurring from sleep deprivation as she spoke barely loud enough for Carys to hear. "We'll pass right by it... Are... Are we flying somewhere...?"
Alice answered. "We won't be," she murmured, putting a strange emphasis on the first word. "But it's better to be close, just in case." She met Carys' eye in the rearview mirror and nodded in confirmation of what she already knew.
They wouldn't be, but Carys would.
Jasper took his eyes off the road for a moment or two as he followed the signs for Sky Harbor International.
"She's asleep," Alice told him quietly.
They both looked to Carys.
"You'll come to check-in with us," Jasper explained a few minutes later as they pulled in to park, "but this is where we part ways. For now."
Carys shivered but nodded, her eyes cast downwards. "Where should I go?" She asked quietly, fiddling with the finger of one of the gloves.
"That's up to you," Alice told her gently. "But you've not made the decision yet, so I can't see..."
Carys nodded again and unbuckled her seatbelt, taking a deep breath as she did so. "Stay safe," she urged them, turning in her seat so that she could stare into each set of golden eyes in turn until they nodded in agreement. "I know how ridiculous that probably sounds, but promise me you will - and Bella, too... Even though... She's asleep...," she mused with a tilt of her head as she looked at her sadly, wondering if they'd ever get a chance to really know each other now.
Alice smiled and nodded as Carys felt another wave of calm wash over her.
"No offence, Alice," she murmured as Alice toed the door open and lifted Bella from the car. "But-"
"No," Alice denied with the largest grin Carys had seen on her face since her vision the day before, "you cannot borrow my husband for his calming influence."
"Damn," Carys muttered under her breath before all thought of joking left her again as she closed the car door behind her.
Bella stirred just enough to stumble her way to the hotel lobby with Alice's supporting her. Carys wondered if it wasn't mostly for show - if Alice wasn't dragging her, carrying far more of her weight than it appeared. She followed along behind, matching Jasper's stride as he turned his head this way and that, keeping vigilant to any potential threat.
He handed her her backpack as they reached the entrance and made their way towards the momentarily unmanned reception desk, and she swung it over her shoulder.
People milled around the lobby, and Carys was struck by how normal they looked - as if there was nothing going on in the world - when for her, it seemed like everything was crashing down about her ears.
Two women made their way to the reception desk as the hotel clerk returned, cutting easily ahead of them, their pace slowed to accommodate Bella.
"How many of you are there?" Carys asked suddenly, turning to stare up at Jasper as they waited.
"Empaths?" He asked, pausing in his survey of the area to look down at her. "Or our kind?"
"Your kind," Carys clarified as the clerk handed one of the women a pamphlet and turned to Alice. "Specifically impossibly beautiful blonde ones with golden eyes."
"We're a rare breed," the second woman told her, walking towards them with a warm smile. When she reached Carys' side, she raised an eyebrow and whispered coyly, "When you add a shocking fondness for humans, even rarer."
A/N: ...
GuestMG - I was worried too, even though I wrote it haha! I thought about that before because of how last chapter and this were going to go, and I wonder as it was the reaction that threw James headfirst into tracking mode, whether that might have hit him just as hard as Edward's defence? P.s. if you didn't read the A/N at the start, Carys' description is in the chapter before this one.
Adela - thank you!
Ella - I'm glad you think that - that's what I was thinking, but apparently not guilt-ridden Carys!
Jane - yay! I hope you liked this one!
