Scheming Against Devotion (Book 2 of The Transition of Pinn)
Epilogue (Chapter 31)

Ivy:

It’s a sunny morning, crisp with the promise of a perfect fall day.

I close my eyes, just feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin, the coolness of the large rock I’m sitting on, the slight breeze in the air. I take a deep breath and smell the musty flowers of Pinn and the moss. I have unbuttoned the oversized coat, letting it fall to the rock beneath me, and thrown my hat and mittens down the rock as well. All are coated in a thick layer of dust from my nighttime crawl through the tunnel.

I am deeply tired and worn. I desperately want to curl up in the coat and sleep. Yet I know, even though I don’t appear to be in immediate danger, it doesn’t mean I can relax. People could still be after me and I need to make a move soon.

But herein lays my conundrum. I am sitting at the edge of the forest; its tall white-barked trees and moss-covered floors are calling to me. Behind me, I can see that only a short distance away is Haringshude’s tall stone city walls. I know to the left somewhere is the sea. To the right, well, to the right is the series of small towns the Captain and I discussed those few months ago.

The villages and towns he told me I should use for my potential escape.

I don’t know what to do. I can walk into the forest as Johanna suggested and ‘they’ will replace me. I wish she had said who ‘they’ are or how they will replace me wandering through a forest. As beautiful as the trees look from here, I’m not sure how long I will survive in a forest whose flora and fauna I’m not familiar with.

So, I am considering heading right and walking through the villages. The Captain would know to look for me, right?

But what if he doesn’t? It’s been months since we had that conversation. Giddean could be dead… I shiver but force my mind to work through the problem. Giddean could be dead and maybe the Captain would think I just died with him. And, even if Giddean is alive, why would he seek the Captain’s help in replaceing me?

So I’m going to go into the forest…in a moment. I squint my eyes peering at the trees in an attempt to see any scary alien creates waiting to eat me.

But everything looks suspiciously quiet. And far too earth-like and I know it can’t be that easy. Maybe this is why Johanna told me to wait until daylight before entering the forest; maybe the forest is dangerous at night.

With that thought, I am back to thinking about walking through the towns and villages. I may not replace whoever ‘they’ are, but I won’t die from stepping on a carnivorous Pinn plant lying inconspicuously on the forest floor.

“Fancy seeing you here”

I jump so high that I land hard on my butt on the rock, probably bruising my tailbone. I whip my head to the left.

There, just inside the tree line is Antin. He is wearing his usual black cape with a dusty hemline, but his hood is thrown off his head so I can see his green eyes almost translucent in the morning sun and his battle scars. He wears plain brown pants with a light brown shirt, both are worn and have seen better days.

My mind flashes and I remember. I remember the Captain saying the people with glowing green eyes live in the forests. Don’t they kidnap women? Although Antin has never tried to kidnap me…

He must be the ‘they’ Johanna was talking about.

“Ivy, are you listening?”

“Ah, what? I’m sorry…”

“They can see you, Ivy. You need to step into the forest.”

“Oh… oh!” I scramble off my rock spinning around to look back at the city wall. THEY can see me.

“Yes, now come along. Yackib will be anxious to see you”

“Yackib? Who? Why?”

“Surely my nephew made more of an impression than that. Come we’ll get you cleaned up and in a warm bed in no time. I’m always telling Mrs. Garrett we need to do work to improve the tunnel, but she argues the work will draw attention.” He shakes his head in disbelief.

I grab my things from the rock, carrying my heavy coat in my arms, and then step into the forest. My plan to walk in the direction of the villages now forgotten that I have someone who will guide me to safety.

“You know, Mrs. Garrett?”

Antin lifts the heavy coat out of my arms, dusting it with his hands a few times, “Of course. Now follow me and watch for the red flowers- they have a painful sting”

I look down at the ground, but I see nothing but green and brown moss nearby.

When I look up again, I see that Antin is now several steps ahead.

“Wait!” I call.

“Hurry up, Ivy. They are waiting for you”

And I run into the forest following him.

********

Hi guys!

Yes, this is the end of this book. I know probably most of you were hoping for Giddean and Ivy would have their happily ever after but, I always planned for things to end this way. Their story is nowhere close to over; I have big plans for them.

I wanted their relationship to be difficult despite both trying to do their best, because, well Pinn is a messed up place, and relationships on Pinn are built upon a foundation of trauma. And doing the right thing often requires sacrifice.

Yet, some stuff needs to happen before we will see Ivy and Giddean together again. So, to get to that, the next book in this series “In Fledging Whispers” the story of Dunn and Rachel is up next and the first chapter is already posted.

I really hope that you have enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Happy reading!

Heather