Queen of the Night (The Revanche Cycle Book 4) (40 page)
Read Queen of the Night (The Revanche Cycle Book 4) Online
Authors: Craig Schaefer
“It’s time,” Renata said to Felix. He sighed, and nodded, and clasped his hands on the table before him.
“We were waiting until you were a little older,” he told his daughter, “but we’re going to tell you a story now. And when we’re done, it might make you want to stay home, or it might not. It’s your choice. We love you, and we’ll support you no matter what you decide. We always will.”
“Your last name isn’t really Gatti,” Renata said. “It’s Rossini. But don’t speak it lightly, because there are still people out there who would murder you if they knew who your parents were.”
Zoe’s jaw dropped.
“I’m also technically still married to the most notorious crime lord in Verinia,” Felix added.
“Wait.” Zoe blinked. “What?”
“He didn’t lose his ear in a farming accident, either,” Renata said.
“Nope,” Felix told her. “Cut off by the mayor of Winter’s Reach. See, I challenged her to a duel in her fighting pit, which
seemed
like a good idea at the time, as I’d just been accused of espionage.”
“Wait,” Zoe echoed. “Wait.
What?
”
“We’ll start at the beginning,” Felix told her.
“Once upon a time,” Renata said, “I was a barmaid in Mirenze, and your father was a banker’s son. We planned to run away together, to start our new lives in a village called Kettle Sands. And eventually that’s just what we did, though we couldn’t have known how many miles, and how many troubles, were standing in our way. You see, the Banco Rossini was in trouble, and your father had a plan…”
* * *
Zoe Rossini left home that day, looking north in the light of a setting sun, with a bindle over one shoulder and her purse laden with enough coin to take her to the city lights. Her parents stood in the doorway of their inn and watched her go, waving until she was just a shadow on the horizon. Then the daylight vanished, and the stars came out, and Felix and Renata went back inside and held each other very, very close.
Years later, one warm spring morning, Zoe came home.
She returned to them with a family of her own. And scars of her own. And a story of her own.
And life went on.
Afterword
I hesitated, sitting down to write this afterword. It’s the last part of the last chapter of the story, after all. I feel as if, as long as I put off writing it, the story won’t
really
be over. Then again…is it ever? The Revanche Cycle may be complete but stories, and the people in them, come back to life every time someone picks up the book. And while we may or may not return to this particular place in the wheel of worlds, I have a sneaking suspicion that for a couple of our departed characters, their most important story has yet to be told.
In fact, I’m sure of it.
So we’ll say goodbye, but only for now. And we won’t call it an ending, just a momentary pause. The calm before a summer storm.
I wrote the Revanche Cycle as a deliberate break from my urban fantasy novels, as an attempt to stretch my legs and work in a slightly different style, while touching on some themes that are important to me. It’s been a heck of a journey; thank you so much for taking it with me. I hope I was able to entertain you, thrill you, and maybe move you a little. Of course, if I accomplished any of those goals, I didn’t do it alone. I had the help of Kira Rubenthaler, my tireless editor; James T. Egan, my cover designer; Susannah Jones, my peerless audiobook actress; and Maggie Faid, my assistant, who reminds me to do things like “take breaks” and “sleep.” Thanks to my team — and to you — for making this all possible.
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