And I stand guard in the rain, ready to face whatever comes.
Chapter thirty-nine
Dyfri
I’m so groggy. My head is pounding like I’ve been hit by a tree. Everything feels distant and cotton-woolly, as if I’m seeing the world through thick ice. The familiar scent of our flat wraps around me, but it takes a moment for my mind to catch up to where I am.
Our bed. In Downing Street. But how...?
Jack is kneeling by the bed, holding my hand. His face is creased with worry lines that I don’t remember being there before, and there are dark circles under his eyes that speak of a sleepless night.
The events come rushing back in fragments. The park. The rain. The magic building like a living thing, growing larger and more powerful until it felt like I was trying to contain a star within my chest. And then...
“Did it work?” I blurt out, panic flooding through me as I try to sit up.
Jack’s hand on my shoulder keeps me flat against the pillows, his touch gentle but firm. “It worked, Love. You did it. All the portals are closed. The fey are gone.”
The relief hits me like a physical blow. I collapse back against the pillows, my entire body going limp as thetension I’ve been carrying for years finally releases. It’s over. It’s actually over.
We won.
My lungs stutter. My head drops down, and I see how I am dressed.
I’m dry and wearing one of my silk nightgowns instead of the soaked clothes I was wearing in the park. Jack took care of me while I was unconscious, made sure I was warm and comfortable.
“Why are we here?” I ask, still trying to piece together the missing time.
Jack looks worried, his fingers tightening slightly around mine. “You passed out. Right after the spell completed, you just... collapsed. It was freezing cold and pissing with rain, and you were unconscious in my arms. I didn’t know what else to do.” He pauses, running his free hand through his hair. “I figured MI5 were no longer a threat because they wanted to back the winner, and you’re the winner now. So I carried you here.”
I stare at him, processing this information slowly. “You carried me? For a mile?”
Jack grins, and for the first time since I woke up, he looks like himself again. “Got to use these muscles for something.”
The thought of Jack carrying my unconscious body through the streets of London, probably still in chaos from the burning palace, makes something warm unfurl in my chest. He chose to bring me home. He chose to protect me in the most personal way possible.
We stare fondly at each other for a moment, as the implications of everything slowly settle into my heart. Everything is different now. The constant weight ofresponsibility, the fear that we might fail, the knowledge that millions of lives hung in the balance… all of it is gone. The Court is locked in another world, and all of its expectations and judgments with it. My old enemies are in a different realm, or dead. For the first time in my life, I’m free.
My heart twinges painfully. Rhydian, Mabon, Llywelyn and Tristan. Jamie and Blake. Ethan, whom I never got to know. Even vicious little Ollie. All gone forever. But great deeds require great sacrifices. I’ll squash the pain down where it belongs and exult in my victory.
“Selwyn and Silas both came to check on you,” Jack continues, settling more comfortably beside the bed. “Selwyn barged in about an hour after I got you home. He looked like he’d been crying, though he tried to hide it. And Silas showed up this morning with some sort of magical diagnostic spell to make sure you weren’t damaged by the casting.”
I’m surprised by the concern my brother and the necromancer have shown. “What did they say?”
“Selwyn said what you did was impossible, and that he was proud of you. Silas said you’re an idiot for channelling that much power alone, but that he was impressed.” Jack’s smile is soft and fond. “They both said you’ll be fine, just magically exhausted.”
The thought that I have people who care about my wellbeing, who would check on me after such an ordeal, still feels foreign. For so long, I’ve been utterly alone. Now I have true family, allies, friends. A husband who carries me home when I collapse from saving worlds.
“What’s happening out there?” I ask, gesturing vaguely toward the windows. “In London, I mean. This world.”
Jack’s expression grows more serious. “Chaos, mostly. The palace is still smouldering. But the fey are just... gone. All of them. Every single one vanished the moment the portals closed.”
He helps me sit up against the pillows, his movements careful and gentle.
“The government is in complete disarray,” he continues. “Half of them don’t understand what happened, and the other half are trying to figure out how to take the credit. Dad’s called an emergency session of Parliament.”
The political implications are staggering. An entire occupying force simply vanishing overnight, leaving behind empty buildings and abandoned posts of power. The humans will need to rebuild everything. Government, infrastructure, society itself.
“And us?” I ask quietly. “What happens to us now?”
