𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭
Her past haunted her. Her future loomed like darkness. She wasn't prepared for all of this. After all, she was just Estelle, the Star Summoner.
(Siege and Storm/Ruin and Rising)(Nikolai Lantsov x oc)(First book in the Sa...
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CHAPTER NINE
Promises
They were not welcomed to the Suli camp with open arms, and neither were they pushed out with weapons pointed threateningly in their face.
But they certainly didn't seem like they wanted their group there.
The Suli there gave Estelle and her crew wary looks, not bothering to hide their distrust. The children watched with wide eyes from behind wagons and tents, those with weapons had their hands hovering over the handles of their swords and guns.
It was familiar, but so different. They'd evolved over the past few years and kept some of their ways the same, as well. The familiar scent of sweet apples and peaches wafted through the air. Torches burned on their stakes, illuminating the clearing alongside the stars and the moon.
"Estelle?"
She turned quickly at a voice she recognized.
Her mother and father stood in front of a tent, the light of a lamp held in her father's hand, shining onto their faces. Estelle nearly cried of joy.
Lantern forgotten, they ran to her and Estelle ran to meet them in the middle. Sobs wracked their bodies, a symphony of a beautiful reunion filling the empty air. Estelle didn't care who was watching. She was home again.
Her mother murmured words in Suli to her as she patted Estelle's hair, making sure it was real and not another dream. Her father held them both tight, his eyes wandering over his long-lost daughter, committing her to memory.
She was home.
Finally home.
"My daughter, how?" whispered her mother in Suli. "We thought you were..." She broke off, choking on her fear. "We didn't think you would come back to us."
"Me neither," admitted Estelle. "But I'm here. Not for long, but I'm here."
Her father frowned. "Not for long? What do you mean?"
"I'm going to Os Alta for Prince Nikolai," she explained, sniffling. "But don't worry about that. I'm here now."
I'm here now.
—
It took a while before anyone managed to get them out of their bubble of reconciliation and into her parents' tent. For a while, Estelle was too shocked and ecstatic to focus clearly. Small details that she should have noticed, she missed completely and it was hard for her—or her parents—to be away from each other.
Then came her extended family. Aunts, uncles, and cousins, they all were overjoyed to see Estelle. And vice versa for when she saw them.
