CHAPTER 37

Lyra and Hesper stood on the upper balcony of the HH headquarters keeping watch for approaching members—or worse. It was a calm, cool evening, and Hesper’s arm rested across Lyra’s shoulders. Their children were tucked in bed, and being alone reminded Lyra of the years of their courtship. She smiled up at her husband, who leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose with a laugh. Then, a movement below caught their attention.

A figure appeared in the distance wearing a cloak with a hood. He, or at least Lyra guessed it was a he, stood in the middle of the road as if he was waiting on someone or something. Just a moment later, Xanthe turned a corner very close to him. The man put out his hands in a gesture of trying to stop her.

A few words drifted to them in the quiet of the night. “Don’t” and “Further” were clearly heard. Xanthe attempted to struggle past, but he blocked her path.

“I should go help her,” Hesper said.

“No! We can’t be caught out there together. No one would understand why you would protect a Master who was suspiciously found in the Bottom Rung.”

Before Hesper could argue, two palace guards appeared, taking hold of Xanthe. The women in black body suits looked fierce and lethal, even from such a distance. They dragged Xanthe out of sight.

“Oh no!” Lyra whimpered. “What does this mean? Where are they taking her?”

Hesper continued to stare at the mysterious, cloaked man who still stood in the street. He had not done anything to stop the guards, but he didn’t appear to be one of them. And then, the cloaked man turned and looked directly at the spot where the couple stood.

As Hesper and Lyra watched, the stranger raised his right hand to shoulder height and made the secret salute, drawing half a heart in the air.

Lyra gasped. Surely this was no friend of theirs. But how then would he know . . . ?

The man was walking toward the HH. “Come with me,” Hesper commanded. “I will go outside to meet him. You lock the door behind me, and then tell everyone to hide. It may be time.”

“But Meira has not returned! It can’t be time.”

“We may have to go without her.”

“I can’t lock you outside, darling. What if something happens to you?” she wailed, holding Hesper tight.

“I will be fine. After I have determined if he is friend or foe, I will give you a sign. Come back to the window after telling the others to hide. If I give the HH signal, you must leave me and go to the mines with the others. If I knock three times, you may open the door for us. Understood?”

Lyra trembled, hating her husband’s bravery but determined to match it. She nodded and followed him down to the entrance. She closed and locked the door behind him, whispering, “Oh Adwin, if you are out there, protect him!” and she hustled back up the stairs.

“Quickly, friends! Into hiding. Something is amiss outside. Hesper has gone to investigate. Quickly, quickly! Help the children into the closets, that’s right. Everyone else, you know where to go. Be ready. If I come back and say we must go to the mines, then do not hesitate to obey me. I will be right back.”

After seeing everyone safely into their hiding places, she ran back down the stairs. She pulled back a curtain and looked through the glass.

Hesper was weeping in the embrace of the strange man. The stranger’s cloak had fallen back, revealing messy hot pink hair.

Still clutching the man’s shoulder with one hand, Hesper wiped his eyes with the other. He led the stranger to the door and knocked three times.

Baffled, Lyra opened it. She looked into the stranger‘s big teal eyes, and somehow, she knew every second of waiting had been worth it. Every doubt, sleepless night, and moment of danger paled, and she would do it all a hundred times more for this man.

“Adwin,” she said, and his broad smile confirmed it. “Please, come inside.” She couldn’t stop staring at his face as he entered and removed his cloak.

“Is there somewhere we can speak privately?” he asked.

“Of course. Right in here,” she answered, still staring in shock. “Let me tell the others that they may get out of their hiding place.”

“Good idea, but please don’t tell them I am here. I need to speak with both of you first, before I meet them.”

Lyra nodded and once more made her rounds of the building, asking the members of the HH to wait upstairs while she and Hesper met with their guest. When she returned to the downstairs sitting room, Adwin said, “Your husband asked about Xanthe, and I wanted to wait until you returned so I could tell you both. She is being taken to the palace, where she will be put in prison for her heart.”

Lyra gasped. “Why did you let that happen?”

“I know this will be hard to understand,” he said with great pain and sadness evident in the creases around his eyes. “But I had to stop her for many reasons. One of those reasons is for her good and just between her and me. The other is much broader and far-reaching. If I had allowed her to pass, the guards would have caught up to her right in front of this building. All of you would have been in grave danger, and there wouldn’t have been time to go into the mines. Everything you have worked for, in my name, would be wasted.”

“You know about that?” Hesper asked.

Adwin tried to answer, but Lyra hastily interrupted, “My dear, who do you think commanded Meira to prepare the mines? Of course, Adwin knows about the mines.”

“It would be better if you called me Silas. That way if you are ever overheard, you may be protected. Very few people on the mountain know my new name. And you are correct, I gave the orders for Meira to create tunnels and hideaways in the mines. But it is not time to utilize those yet. I have come for a different reason.”

“What is it, Silas?” Lyra asked, trying out the new name and liking it.

“Two reasons, actually. First, I must ask a dangerous favor of you and the HH. Second, and more importantly, I have come to break bread with my bravest, most loyal friends. Someday you will understand why I waited so long, but that wait is now over. I am so pleased and so proud of both of you,” he said, taking both Hesper and Lyra into his arms as if they were children. They let him surround them and both wept. Their long wait was indeed over, and their hope had been turned to reality.