We laughed a little. And we cried a little. I could tell the Westhaven party was getting ready to depart, and the reality of what was about to happen hit me hard. Another journey. Another upheaval in my life.

“There you are, Adelaide. It figures I just had to look for where the most tears were around here. You two wouldn’t believe all the tears in her household when we first met.”

Cedric came up behind me, and I pulled back from Tamsin and Mira so that I could hug him. Then I gave him a light punch in the arm. “He was the one who caused most of those tears.”

“And you’ve been smitten with me ever since.”

He turned as a shout came to assemble, and his face grew serious. We had another tearful round of farewells with Tamsin and Mira, and then Cedric took hold of my hand. “My lady. Shall we?”

We walked up to where our horses were waiting—young, spry ones. Not poor Lizzie. He helped me mount, and I cast one last, fond look back at my friends. Ahead, the road stretched out of Cape Triumph and into parts unknown. Whereas the same sight on the way to Hadisen had been foreboding, I suddenly felt like all the world’s possibilities were before me.

Cedric leaned toward me. “You know, I hope this new insanity works out for us.”

“I think it will,” I told him. “After all, the old insanity turned out pretty well.”

And we rode.