“It’s not that. Caz intends to, um, well you see, now that he’s bitten me, and our mate bond is complete, he intends to announce me to everyone as his mate.” I scrunched up my face at the awkwardness of it. “And to proclaim me Ice Tyrantess.”
The other women were silent. I cracked open an eye, waiting for their outburst, but both of them were just looking at me like I was crazy.
“Why is that surprising?” Milly said. “You’re his mate. He’s yours. Of course he wants to do that.”
“But I’m a grounded!” I protested. “It’s never been done before.”
“Nothingyou’re doing has been done before,” Ella said. “You can do this,Anna. I promise.”
“Are you sure? I don’t know. Being with Caz is easy. I can dothat. But ruling the kingdom at his side? My word being as much law as his? That’s a lot of power. How do I know I’m worthy of it?”
“Because you ask questions like that,” Ella said quietly.
I looked at her for a moment before glancing at Milly.
“What the smart one said,” she replied, tilting her head slightly in Ella’s direction. “You’re going to be fine. The two of you are going to do great things.”
I smiled tightly. “We’re going to come back as soon as we can. Once Bryna’s imprisoned and her trial set and my proclamation is done. A few days, hopefully no more than that, and we can come back for a bit.”
“We’re going to be fine,” Ella said. “I know we just reunited, but we’re all safe now. It’s going to be fine going forward. Besides, who’s complaining about having to live in a place like this for a while?”
“Not me,” Milly said. “My last place was the dumps compared to this. Except maybe the bedside manner. That hasn’t changed.”
Ella glared comically at Milly, but her mouth was curved upward at the sides.
I smiled, watching my friends. It felt so good to be with them again. I’d gained a part of me I’d never known I needed with Caz, but these girls?They were a part of me just as much. I couldn’t do it without them.
But now I had them. They were safe. What’s more, I had the opportunity to change things. To improve things for the Millys and Ellas of the world. For the ones like Holly and the other grounded still holed up in the citadel’s dungeons.
I owed it to all of them to try to change things. So our children could grow up without fear of living the life I’d had until now.
“Okay,” I whispered, still terrified. “I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Ella said. “We’re fine here. You go be the champion of people like us. No one else can.”
That was the truth. I was the only one who could speak for them.
And Iwould.
Forty-Nine
Anna
“How areyou holding up?” Caz asked as we descended toward the roof atop the central spire of the citadel.
“Scared,” I said. “Very scared. But managing.”
Reassurance flooded my mind as Caz gave his wordless support.
We landed and proceeded down to the study. I eyed the desk as we passed it, but it had been set back to its proper position, and any signs of our adventures had been wiped clean.
Dirk came through the doors with Florian at his side. I watched Dirk look around before focusing on us.
“Report,” Caz ordered, looking at Florian.
“The Red King’s forces were routed by Dirk, as expected,” Florian said. “He pursued them to the border before returning to the citadel.”
“Good.”
