Ian pulled away, looking at me, and laughed. “Well,” he said. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you would be the one to find a mate.” Taking my hands in his, he didn’t break eye contact. “I am so happy for you, Lan. A mate and magic.” He chuckled, shaking his head again.
I grinned up at him, grateful that the foreign look of rage on him had dissipated and instead, joy shone through. “I know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it too, but like always, we’llfigure it out together. Now can you and Kade get your shit settled so we can actually make a plan to get to the Southern Forest?”
Kade walked over to Ian and extended his hand surrounded by shadows. “Truce?”
Ian cocked an eyebrow before reluctantly sighing and shaking Kade’s hand. “Truce. Not sure I have a choice if my best friend is your mate,” he added. “As long as I’m coming with you to the Southern Forest, we’re good.”
Kade looked at me. “Of course,” I answered immediately.
Ian gave me a soft smile before rubbing the back of his neck. “What do we do about what’s inside of us then?”
Kade sighed. “That’s what we need to figure out. In the meantime, control is easier around Lana and her light, but I don’t mind sucker punching you when it flares either."
“Prick,” Ian muttered under his breath, but I didn’t miss the small smile tugging at his lips as he tried to hold it back.
Though everyone made their way back toward the inn, Kalliah hesitated, staring out in the direction of Ellevail.
I looped my arm in hers, resting my head on her shoulder. “I worry for him too,” I said. “I swear to you, I do. But even then, I know it’s nothing compared to how you feel.”
“I spent so long pushing him away. Wanting something but being too scared to grab it,” she said softly. “And now?”
I wrapped my arms around her fully as she let out a sob, turning in toward my body. “If he’s gone, I’ll never forgive myself. What he did, not even thinking twice in that moment—I can’t breathe thinking about it sometimes.”
I ran my hand over her hair, whispering words of reassurance. “We’re going to get him back. We just need to make sure we can get to himandget him out so that he’s never in that position again. The moment we can accomplish that, he’ll be back with us. He’ll be home with you.”
She nodded, pulling away as she regained her composure. “Is that an official proclamation from our queen?”
I smiled, taking both of her hands in mine. “As my first official one, I had to make it good.”
Kalliah took one more breath, looking toward home before returning to the inn beside me, hand in hand.
“Thank you for everything,” I said to one of the Fae hammering away at a stack of weapons in our forge. “Make sure to let Raya know if you run out of anything.”
The man bowed his head. “We’ve got everything we need, Your Majesty.”
Though time was a luxury we weren’t sure we had, I wanted to personally thank as many of the Fae I could who’d answered my call for help. I needed my people to know how grateful I was for their time, energy, and willingness to fight for our kingdoms before I disappeared again on our journey to the Southern Forest.
My father and mother would have loved to have seen so many of their constituents persevering toward a common goal: peace. I wondered, not for the first time, if they’d be proud of me.
So many stories were shared with me about how the king and queen had helped them throughout the years. Tales I’d never heard before. While in the last few years I had stepped up as the Hidden Henchman, thinking my father had done nothing, it was evident that for a long time he had been there for his people. I couldn’t help but wonder if Andras’s mind magic had convinced him to stop so the dark ones could grow their numbers.
“Once, the king sent a healer to my home when my daughter was gravely ill. Without her aid, my daughter would have diedfrom infection. She saved her.”The man cleared his throat, visibly upset as he recalled the tale. My heart clenched, but not merely with grief. I was grateful that others would remember not only my father, but Elisabeth too, just as I did. Bowing low, he returned to growing the grain needed to make bread.
An older woman recalled a time when the queen invited her to tea after learning she’d discovered a new kind of flower. “We talked for hours in her garden about flowers and other plants. It was the most genuine afternoon. She truly appreciated our conversation and made me feel like my contributions to our kingdom, no matter how small, mattered. I will never forget how she spent so many hours with me, as if we were friends instead of ruler and commoner.”
Storm and Ian worked alongside the Fae here, taking stock of the weapons inventory we had amassed over the last few days. Fortunately for us, so many brought their own with more to share. The metal wielders worked overtime to create weaponry with vast options of blades, knowing the inevitable was upon us.
“You can never have enough weapons, Your Majesty,” a burly metal wielder named Carl told me earlier this morning. “Better to have five weapons per person than no weapons per person. Just in case you drop one. That’s what I always say.”
None of them complained about the tight living conditions or long hours. Not one. Pride swelled to new heights within my heart. My people were worth fighting for, no matter how dark things became. They were worth it.
Every time I thought I had finished meeting with everyone, more would appear. The endless stream of support for fighting this evil, for standing up for our world against those who threatened to destroy our very way of life, reaffirmed what I needed to do.
We would not be able to continue to amass the number of people we were without going unnoticed for much longer. Andras would come for us. Thames would not be far behind.
The time had come.
To face the darkest beasts of this world.
