Eager for Clarissa Aris, heir to the Veridian Empire.
People lined the streets of the capital to get a glimpse of her. Those old enough to have known our parents came out of the woodwork offering their support, apologizing for believing the lies and slander about our family.
Watching my sister welcomed and celebrated by an empire that had once scorned her brought pride I’d never felt before.
Shehad done this. She had dreamt and worked for a world better than one she was born into, and perhaps…perhaps that time was coming.
But she hadn’t done it alone.
“It’s been ten days,” Lark said as she wheeled herself into Rose’s section of the infirmary. “I would have thought we’d have seen some sign by now.” She stopped on the other side of the bed, planting her hands across Rose’s arm. The Shadow Wielder despised her limited mobility in the wheelchair, but the healers kept having to remind her she was lucky to even be alive after what she’d been through.
I scratched my chin, still not used to the unkempt beard that had grown over the last week and a half that we’d been living in the palace. Rissa had our mother transported from her sickbed and into a private wing here, along with some of our possessions. The three of us were set up in the guest wings until the imminent future was sorted out.
Morgana and Beau had hardly left the infirmary. Rose’s aunt had insisted her niece be placed in a bed near Ragnar so she could spend her days watching over both of them.
I knew what Morgana was waiting for. We’d heard of enchantmentsbeing broken, and every day, I could see the hope fading in her eyes that the curse over her husband would be lifted, that her niece would wake from slumber and all would be right in the world.
But still, they slept. And still, we waited.
There was, however, one more surprise Gayl’s death brought.
“Leo!” Rissa cried as she scrambled into the infirmary, nearly bringing down the curtain dividing Rose and Ragnar Gregor’s beds.
I leapt to my feet, imagining the worst. Some sort of attack or disturbance to disrupt the tentative peace we’d created. My twin’s face, however, wasn’t scared.
It was joyful.
“It’s Mother,” she said breathlessly. “She’s awake.”
77
Leo
“What happened?” I asked Rissa as we strode through the palace to our mother’s private wing.
“She spoke to me. When I was checking on her just now, she actuallyspoketo me.” I glanced over to see excitement bursting from her features, happiness and hope overflowing. Her lips split into a brilliant beam. “It wasn’t a particularly long conversation, but she asked about you. She said she—she loves us.” Silver swam in her eyes.
Our mother hadn’t uttered a word in longer than I could remember. Always that glassy stare, those lips forever set into a thin line of apathy, no hint as to what was going on in her mind as she aged over the years. Something in my chest fluttered, but I refused to give it attention until I saw for myself. “How is this possible?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Gayl did something to her? Or his magic from the night he saved you and her might have had some sort of residual hold that was broken when he died?”
We burst into her room, and the sight before me stopped me in my tracks.
Pale yellow curtains trimmed with lace fluttered in the breeze from the cracked window. Sunlight splashed across thefour-poster bed, highlighting the woman lying there in a golden glow.
No, not lying.Sitting.
My mother sat upright, a cup of tea in her steady hands and a kind smile on her face.
“Leo?” she asked softly, her voice hoarse and quiet. The sound nearly made me crumble.
“It’s me, Mother,” I replied hesitantly, stepping toward her bed. Her free hand trembled as she held it out to me, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
All movement and sound came back to me in a rush. I crossed the room in three steps and knelt on the floor by her bed, clutching her hand in mine. It was warm and soft and full of life, no longer cold and fragile as I had come to know it.
Healed. She washealing. Could this be possible? After years of giving up, of us thinking her ever returning to normal was a lost cause, was our mother finally coming back to us?
“I’ve missed you, my sweet boy,” she said. Fates, I had forgotten what her voice sounded like. The backs of my eyes burned as she squeezed my fingers. Rissa moved to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, taking our mother’s teacup and placing it on the bedside table.
