Zach Brenner's Arc

Chapter 62 of 86

The morning after the reception, a servant found Zach at breakfast. King Aldric wanted to see him and Raven in the throne room. Zach set down his cup. He and Raven had spent six months in this kingdom, but he still owned nothing here. No land. No house of his own. A man could not build a family in borrowed rooms. He pulled on his boots and took Raven's hand. King Aldric waited on his throne. The stocky king with the graying beard and cat ears watched them cross the floor. He had once warned Zach that a stranger with a sword would face the whole kingdom's judgment. Now he leaned forward and smiled. In his thick hand he held a rolled scroll, tied with cord. "You saved my daughter," the king said. "You saved us all. But you sleep in guest chambers like a visitor." He held out the scroll. "A man who fights for a land should own a piece of it." Zach took it and broke the cord. Inside was a deed, marked with the royal seal. It granted him a stretch of land beyond the kingdom's border. The forest with the wide river. Zach read the words twice before he understood. Raven's ears shot up. She pressed close and read over his arm. "That's my place," she whispered. "The clearing by the river. Where I always went when I needed to be alone." Her eyes filled. "It's where you found me. Where you killed that monster and saved my life." "I know what it means to both of you," King Aldric said. His voice went rough. "Now it's yours. Build there. Live there. Give me grandchildren to spoil." He stood and clasped Zach's shoulder. "Welcome home, son." Zach could not speak. For a year he had searched for a way back to his old world. He had lost that path forever. Now a king pressed a home into his hands, and it was the very ground where his new life had begun. He gripped the deed and nodded. "Thank you," he managed. "I'll build something worth it." They rode out that same week. Zach and Raven stood in the clearing where they first met. The river ran clear and cold beside them. He set his boot on the grass that was now his own. Raven paced the ground and spread her arms. "A cabin here," she said. "A big one. Room for a family." Zach took off his fine cloak and hung it on a branch. He rolled up his sleeves, showing the tattoos on his arms. He lifted the first log and set it on the earth. It was heavy and rough and real. For the first time since the sword pulled him across worlds, he was not chasing an enemy or a way out. He was building. He and Raven worked side by side until the sun dropped, and the frame of their home rose from the ground.