Rooke’s eyes were still storm-dark, but the inner glow had faded to a faint ember, and in his gaze, I saw exhaustion so vast my chest ached. But I also saw something else.Relief.He’d never wanted the Triune for its power. He’d only wanted to be free, and something swelled in my ribcage, something that made me feel like I was going to explode.
“Well, it’s done,” he rasped, like he couldn’t catch his breath.
Ryland shook his head with a shaky laugh. “Done? You just restored an entire realm.”
Varian’s eyes remained fixed on the valley. “He didn’t just restore it,” he said quietly. “He remade the entire world. That’s a pretty neat trick.”
A trick that wouldn’t happen again anytime soon. The staff lay in Kaden’s hands completely inert, no humming power, no golden light. The globe at the top was dead. Emptied of fifteen millennia of stored—hoarded—magic.
All Kaden’s ancestral power…gone.
Poured into a realm that had been starving.
Rooke’s fingers curled around the relics, his head bowed,eyes half closed, then he turned toward Zephryn and held the Triune out like an offering.
Zeph dipped his head, looking at Rooke with something like recognition, his gaze locked on the Triune like it was a deadly creature with nipping teeth, then he took the staff with the careful reverence of someone handling a dangerous relic that had remade a world.
Rooke pulled the Crown from his head and handed that over as well, and the bloodstone didn’t so much as flicker.
Rooke’s voice was quiet. “Take these to Queen Anaria, have her lock them away; they’re no danger to anyone now.” His eyes glinted with one last flash of gold. “Or of any use, in case someone gets it in their head to…experiment.”
“Understood.” Zephryn’s eyes narrowed. “You can trust us to keep them safe.” He paused, debating, and then, “Should you ever need them back, prince, you only have to ask. As Lyrae pointed out, these are yours by right. Far be it from us to deny you your family legacy.”
Rooke nodded, then swayed, looking down at my hands on him, like he just realized it was me holding him up.
There was something raw in his eyes. “Lyrae,” he said quietly, like my name was the only tether he trusted.
“I’ve got you,” I said, even though it was a foolish thing to promise. “You did it,” I murmured, so only he could hear. “They’d both be so proud, Kaden. Somewhere, up there, they’re watching you, and I know they’re proud of everything you’ve done today, and everything you endured to get here.”
He swallowed, throat working. “I hope so,” he echoed, his voice like gravel, and I tightened my grip on him. “I’m fine,” Rooke grumbled.
“No,” I said flatly. “You’re not.”
His eyes flicked. “You’re awfully bossy.”
“Bossy and alive and impressed,” I countered. “Now walk. You’re going to sleep for a full day, then we’ll decide what to do about all of that.”
All around us, the Shadowlands breathed—water running, birds singing, trees unfurling, a realm reawaking after a long slumber.
Zephryn stepped toward the stairwell, the Triune cradled against his chest like a sleeping beast. “I’ll fly back at once,” he said. “The queen will want these under lock and key. Lyrae, don’t be a stranger,” he murmured warmly. “I do miss our little chats.”
“Don’t let my sister cheat you out of all your money,” I muttered. “You’ll have to stay on your toes around her. And don’t let her talk Raz into taking her drinking; nothing about that will turn out right, trust me.”
“She’s being serious,” Varian said, giving me a wink that probably meant he totally hoped they lost all their money. “Ariel will clean you out. Don’t fall for her tricks.”
Then I threaded my arm through Rooke’s and steered him toward the door, turning to look one last time at what he’d done, and a shiver of excitement went through me at the prospect of starting over.
No…
Of starting over with the family I’d lost, then found, and was now, finally, complete.
67
LYRAE
Three months later
I’d never flown this high.
