Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     I lean my head against the trunk of the tree that is Garret, I sigh, It's too rough and too cold for being Garret. sometimes I sleep out here letting Garret's soft heart beat lull me to sleep. Cardan said that in 2 weeks he'll turn him back, i feel a bit guilty for not telling Leander the news.

     I sigh again "you chose the worst time to leave" I tell him cradling my pregnant belly "I love you. I wonder if you can hear me, if you're suffering, if you know I'm pregnant with your child, if you're going to die if Cardan turns you back." I close my eyes and fall asleep

     I wake when someone shakes me awake. "Taryn you need to stop falling asleep here it's dangerous" Jude says "someone is going to happily eat you in your sleep and then you won't get to see the Ghost"

     Jude offers her hand to help me up "I seriously can't believe you're going to have his child" "are you saying he's not good for me?" I ask a bit annoyed Jude shakes her head with a smile playing at her lips "no I just can't wrap my head around the fact you fell in love with an assassin especially the Ghost and the effect you had on him" "why specifically him?" I say

     Jude makes a grim face "he's a... reserved person when I come to his past and emotions but I saw how his demeanor changed when you and Leander were around there was something I never saw with any other person, a... light in his eyes when he looked or talked about you and Leander. it was looking at a different person." Jude barks out a laugh "I even bet the Roach and the Bomb he was just grateful for freeing him at least until you dragged him to a family dinner. it probably was the first time i'd seen him seem nervous and out in the world instead in the shadows. I just want to know if he was good to you? if he ever made you feel sad? if he hurt you? if he was cruel to you?"

     "never! I would have told you!" I say upset Jude raises her hands "ok, ok, ok fine it's just you... got over the whole Locke thing rather fast" "are you accusing me of have an affair with him when Locke was alive because I didn't. I made him kiss me once when I had eaten faerie fruit but that was once" I snap at Jude.

     I ride on a light brown steed around the white trunks of the trees of milkwood until i stop in a clearing in the center there is a tree completely different from the rest. I'm the last to arrive at the clearing. Liliver one of Garret's friends and Van her lover are standing next to each other talking softly with Jude and Cardan, they all look at me as I dismount. it feels a bit awkward there's me, a maiden, and a group of spies, but I could say that about me and Garret.

     "so should we just get this over with?" Cardan says I nod and walk over to the tree. Cardan closes his eyes and takes in a long breath, the tree looks like its shrinking for a second but then the trunk and branches start to unfurl into the ground. I barely have a moment to think before Garret slumps against me "can get a little help" I say "oh yeah" Liliver says crossing over to me and taking Garret's weight letting me step back. Liliver shakes him a bit her face growing worried, because Garret hasn't moved and Is limp in her arms.

     "Ghost?" she asks "Ghost wake up, please?" she adjusts Garret's weight and moves one of her hands to a pulse point on the side of his neck she sighs "his pulse is a bit slow but a few potions and maybe a cure for blusher mushroom should help, and if it does he'll wake up in 2-3 weeks at most." Van, Jude, and Cardan nod "we should take him to the castle." Jude flatly states giving me a look that says you can't tell me no.

Chapter Text

I open the door to the Bomb's room in the court of shadows, Cardan and the Roach behind me. I find the Bomb pacing back and forth in the room "oh um h-hi" she says startled even though she asked for  Cardan’s, the Roach's and my presence. We all shuffle into the room, the Roach immediately notices the Bombs nervousness and walks over pulling her into a hug.

"So why were we summoned here? you could have asked for an audience like any other normal time." Cardan says, sounding bored but curious at the same time, I elbow him.

"r-right" the Bomb says uncertain "so I'm uhh taking a break from the court of shadows for a bit" "WHAT!?" I yell and immediately regret my tone because the Bomb flinches immediately and the Roach steps in front of her and I clear my throat "sorry, but what?! Can I have more context?" I ask, "like did we do something? Are you not happy? Do you wish for a different position?" she gives me a small blissful smile "

no, no" she says shaking her head "it's not forever just for a few years 2 ma-" the Roach interrupts her 

"Was it something I did?" he asks worried

 "yes... b-but not in a bad way it's something good I promise" she says adding the last part quickly.

The Roach gives a long sigh of relief "then what did i do?" he asks the Bomb places one of her hands on her stomach leaning against the Roach 

I gasp "wait a minute you're-" I say taking a step forward she nods 

“yes I am” 

"she's what!?" the Roach asks me "Jude, she's what?" 

"Huh" the Bomb says tilting her head up so her lips graze the Roach's chin "here I thought you'd be more excited about a father" the Roach freezes looking absolutely stunned before tilting his head down to kiss the Bomb, she obliges and wraps her arms around his neck.

A loud ring interrupts the silence making us all jump. I laugh and pull out a small alarm from my satchel "what's that for?" Cardan asks looking at it

 "to remind me to tell Taryn to go back home or else she'll stay all day and night with the Ghost" I say opening the door "congratulations you two, also Bomb can you help us with the Ghost? nobody is as good at herbs, remedies, and antidotes as you are" 

She grins at me "I only said I was taking a break from missions" I take it as a yes and quickly depart.

I knock on the door that leads into the room where the Ghost is resting in, the only sound in the room is the Ghost’s raspy and even breaths, I kind of feel bad for him, he’s probably going to  have the mother of all dry throats  "yes?" says Taryn in a soft voice

 "hey" I respond, matching her soft tone of voice "time to go you need some rest" Taryn nods and grabs one of the Ghost's hands, lacing their fingers together and bringing them to her brow.

 "good night Garret I'll see you tomorrow, I love you" she whispers giving his hand one last soft squeeze and placing it hand back down as she gets up, she places a soft kiss on his brow and turns to me a small smile "you know" she says "a small part of me is mad at him for keeping my heart to himself"

 I chuckle a bit and open the door "hey at least I wasn't Locke who kept your heart with him" I joke 

Taryn gives me a playful shove "shut up" she tells me and she starts to laugh.

In the middle of her laughter I almost miss the soft and hoarse voice "Taryn" I hear.

 Taryn hears it and immediately stops laughing and gives a soft gasp "Garret?" she whispers as she turns around

The Ghost's eyes flutter open slightly just enough to see the hazel of his eyes. He gives us a small and weak smile. "hi" he croaks out, i notice the slightly glazed look in his eyes, i can’t tell from what though.

Taryn immediately walks back to his bedside and sits on the bed, she cups his head with both of her hands and brings his head up a bit so his lips meet hers. The Ghost closes his eyes, one of his arms wraps around Taryn's waist and his other hand is splayed on the back of her neck. Their kiss is long and slow and when Taryn finally decides to pull away the Ghost's eyes are still closed. the Ghost opens one of his eyes "will you stay with me?" he asks, Taryn turns and looks at me "can I?" she mouths I nod and open my mouth to say something but Taryn is already slipping under the covers.

I smile "goodnight" I say

"There goes the plan of keeping us lovers a secret" he groans and my smile turns into a grin.

 "that secret was no more the second you got my sister pregnant" I respond 

The Ghost opens his eyes again "wait what?" he asks bewildered, he places a hand over Taryn's swollen belly and sucks in a breath, his pupils dilate leaving only a ring of hazel in his eyes. “Your-” he asks softly 

“yes” Taryn responds 

“with my-” he starts but Taryn doesn't let him finish before she turns to lay on her left side and brings her lips to his, one of her hands slides up his shirt while the other tangles itself in his hair. The Ghost gives a groan when her hand slides higher on his chest.

I cough, making them both stop “you realize i’m still here right?” i say.

“If you don’t want to see this you can leave. Also we’re not going to fuck each other” Taryn says, even in the dim candle light of the room. 

I see the tips of the Ghost’s ears turn a bright red. I roll my eyes and walk over to the door “I'm going to tell the Roach and the Bomb that you're awake but to leave you two alone” 

When I walk out the door I turn around one more time as I hear Taryn softly say “Jude! He’s already asleep! And he’s really really warm” 

I sigh. “He's probably exhausted and poisoned” I say trying to calm down my twin, “I’ll tell the Bomb about it, okay?” Taryn nods

I knock on their door, and slip into the room “hmm? what?” the Bomb says from the bed in the center of the room, she's curled up against the Roach who has a hand on a dagger and the other bringing the Bomb into a hug. 

“I just wanted to tell you that the Ghost is awake-” I begin, the Bomb immediately gets up

“really?” she says her eyes shining 

“yes but he’s exhausted please check on him tomorrow, he fell asleep almost immediately and according to Taryn he’s hot to the touch”

 The Bomb smiles softly “well that means he’s sick”

 “So he's going to be snappy and grumpy?” she shakes her head 

“that's when he’s hurt, on the other hand when he’s sick he’s just like a cat” 

“I don't get it” I say 

“welllll he pretty much sleeps all day long and purrs sometimes.” she tells me, i can’t contain my laughter.

 “what? Something happened?” the Roach says

 “sleep” was the Bomb’s only response.

When the Bomb and I shuffle into the room the curtains are opened letting the afternoon sunlight filter into the room. Tayn has placed the Ghost’s head on her swollen stomach and is running one of her hands through his short sandy hair, worry written all over her face. The Ghost’s cheeks are flushed, and he’s shivering, Taryn looks up “his fever got worse” she says 

“He'll be fine” the Bomb says “people who take blusher mushroom and live usually get a really high fever, but you have nothing to worry about, the fever doesn’t kill.” 

“so he’ll be fine?”

“yes he will it usually takes about a week for it to go away give or take a few days, probably more since the Ghost heals stupidly slow and salves usually make it worse” 

Taryn places a soft kiss on his brow “please get better” she says her hands moving to cup his head. When Taryn leaves the Bomb walks over to the Ghost bedside

 “wake uuuuuup” she says shaking him by the shoulder “wakey wakey Ghostie” 

I snicker “I'm pretty sure if he wasn’t asleep or sick he’d end you.” The Bomb shrugs, pulling out a vial of what looks to be colorful salt “what’s that?”.

 “smelling salts” she puts the vial under the Ghost’s nose, after a few seconds the Ghost groans softly and swats slowly at the vial. The Bomb pockets the vial so fast I barely had time to register that before the Bomb pulls the Ghost into a hug.

“You smell like Dusk,” the Ghost says, his voice fracturing “why?” 

“Right Dusk said she knew you.” 

“She's alive?” The Ghost says, his eyes shining but feverish 

“Yes she is,” the Bomb says. “You should have seen what she did to Fala, after we told her he had a hand in your death.” the Ghost chuckles a bit before having a coughing fit. “Here, drink this it should help with your throat and the fever” the Bomb says, tipping the Ghost’s head back as she presses a small vial to his lips.

 “I’m hungry” the Ghost says softly after he drinks the contents of the vial

The Bomb sighs “i knew i was forgetting something” the Ghost chuckles again and starts to cough again, blood seeps in between his fingers the longer he coughs. 

“Ghost! What's happening?!” i ask the Bomb 

“The cure oh fuck! I forgot it’s a salve, help me pin him down. He gets a seizure when I use a slave on him!” we both rushed to pin down his limbs, we managed to restrain his limbs right before he starts to jerk and thrash. “Go get Dusk she’ll probably know what to do!” the Bomb tells me. I sprint out of the room and into the court of shadows

“What's wrong?!” Tiernan asks me 

“Nothing,” I responded. “Where's Dusk?”

“Im here”

“Oh good follow me” and then I leave Dusk trailing behind me

“Where are we going?” she asks

“The Bomb gave the Ghost a remedy and now he’s having a seizure”

“The. Bomb. Gave. Night. A plant salve?”

“Yes??” i say swallowing 

“Oh spirits he might die especially if he’s weak” she says quickinging her pace faster than mine.

“Wait you don’t know where he currently is” I say trying to catch up to Dusk

“I can detect his sent from here, I can find him”

“How?” 

“I could recognize his scent anywhere he’s my younger brother in arms” Dusk responds, turning into a different corridor in the exact direction of the Ghost’s room. When we reach the room Dusk freezes “Night!” she cries out “oh moons, stars, and spirits what happened to you!” she rushes over to his bedside “take off his shirt… it will be easier to heal him” she says adding the last part after we give her confused looks. Taking off the Ghost shirt is a bit tricky since his body keeps on spasming every few seconds. After a couple tries we managed to take off his shirt and Dusk places a hand over his heart. A soft fiery red glow that pulses softly, after a few seconds the Ghost’s body slowly starts to relax and his breathing returns to a steady rhythm.

“I owe you debt” the Bomb says

“We both do” I add

“Its fine i don’t need to be repaid i would do this a hundred times over” 

“If you say so” I let my eyes drift over to the Ghost and the scars on his chest. “Where’d he get this one” i ask pointing to a old and slightly faded scar a mere half an inch from his heart

“War” was the only response I got “never mind the scars Night will wake maybe today but most likely tomorrow”

“Why do you call him Night?” 

“Well his full code name is, The Ghost of the Night of a Hundred Shining Stars of Fire”

“That's kind of long” i say

“Well my full code name is, The Wolf that Howls at the Moon in the Forest at Dusk and Dawn”

“Garrett?” I whisper softly, my eyes adjusting to the dim candle light. I look at the sleeping figure of my lover. He’s shirtless, but not flushed or shivering like yesterday “garrett?” I repeat, this time his eyes flutter open, no longer glazed over and feverish. He gives me a smile, his gaze loving as if wondering  how he managed to claim me as his lover. I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed on his left side, I hold his hand, our fingers intertwined as a silent conversation passes between us. 

He closes his eyes as his lips part “Taryn” he breathes “where- how-why?”

“Your in the palace of Elfhame”

“I'm not supposed to be alive”

Taryn is standing over me smiling yet I don't know the person behind the smile, It's empty. Emotionless. Broken. Just. Like Me.