The king’s jaw tightened, his hand going to the hilt of his sword in a gesture so like Alain’s that it made my heart twist. “Theron,” he called sharply. The crown prince appeared at his side instantly. “Gather a contingent. You ride for Thorndale immediately. Bring back everything from Gaspard Coventry’s home, especially a mirror. Touch nothing with your bare hands. Use cloths, gloves, anything to avoid direct contact.”
“Yes, Father.” Theron nodded, already turning to select men for the mission.
“Wait,” I called, thinking of another victim of Gaspard’s cruelty. “There’s someone else who needs help.”
The king turned back to me, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Margaret,” I said, hating how my voice softened on the name. “She was Gaspard’s servant. He... he forced himself on her too, and her daughter. The daughter has his bastard child. They fled to Eldagh from him, but Margaret is still there to protect them.”
Something dark flashed across the king’s face—not anger at me, but at the monster who had served him unwittingly for so long. “What would you have us do for her?”
The question startled me. I wasn’t used to kings asking my opinion, to having my words carry weight. “She should be given enough money to start fresh somewhere else. And told she’s free from him, from his cruelty. Forever.”
“Consider it done,” King Geraint said with a finality that left no room for argument. “Theron, see to it personally. Everything within Gaspard Coventry’s home is forfeit to the crown, and to those he wronged.”
Theron approached me, and despite his regal bearing pressing on me previously, there was nothing but kindness in his eyes. “I’ll see to the woman myself,” he promised. “And I’ll bring back the mirror with all care.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, overwhelmed by the swift justice being enacted on my behalf.
The guards mounted quickly, efficiency born of years of training. Theron at their head, they rode toward the forest’s edge, the sound of hoofbeats fading as they disappeared among the trees. Trees that no longer twisted with malevolence but stood straight and proud, guardians of a realm reborn.
Alain stepped close, his hand finding mine. “Thank you,” he said, quiet enough that only I could hear. “For remembering. For caring enough to speak up.”
I squeezed his hand, unable to find words adequate for the moment. Around us, the joyful chaos of reunion continued. Families separated by the curse found each other. Subjects knelt before their returned monarchs. The soldiers of Durand looked on in wonder as creatures of myth and legend moved freely through the transformed forest.
Joy and sorrow twisted in my chest, a knot I couldn’t untangle. These people had their lives back, their world restored.
But what about me? Where did I fit in this new reality? I wasn’t royalty. Not really, despite apparently being the daughter of a goddess. I wasn’t even properly educated. Just a village girl who had stumbled into magic and destiny and found herself bound to four men from two different kingdoms.
The claiming mark pulsed once, hard, as if in response to my doubts. Then I felt them approach. My beasts, my mates, now in human form. They moved as one, as they always had, circling me with the same protective instinct they’d shown since claiming me.
“You’re thinking of leaving,” Marcel said, no question in his tone. The bond between us laid my thoughts bare to them. “Of running away now that the curse is broken.”
I looked down, unable to meet their eyes. “I don’t belong here. Among royalty and magic and—”
“Bullshit,” Bastien interrupted, his human voice carrying the same fierce conviction as his bestial growl had. “You’re the daughter of Artemis. The one who broke an unbreakable curse. The one who brought two kingdoms back from darkness.”
“You belong wherever you choose to belong,” Laurent added, his voice gentler but no less certain. “But we hope you’ll choose us. Choose the Enchanted Forest as your home.”
“It’s yours as much as ours now,” Marcel said, gesturing to the transformed land around us. “No longer forbidden. Once again a place of light and life, thanks to you.”
My throat tightened with unshed tears. “But your people... they’ll expect their princes to marry properly. To form alliances with other royalty. Not to share a common-born witch from a village no one’s ever heard of.”
“Let them expect what they want,” Bastien snorted, the sound so reminiscent of his monster form that I nearly laughed despite myself. “We’ve been beasts for decades. I think we’ve earned the right to choose our own mate.”
“Besides,” Laurent added with a small smile, “you’re hardly common-born. You’re the daughter of a goddess who saved this forest twice. First through your mother, then through you.”
The tears spilled over then, hot tracks down my cheeks that I couldn’t stop. “I’m afraid,” I admitted, the words barely above a whisper. “Afraid that once everything settles, once you have your kingdom back and your human lives... you won’t want me anymore.”
Marcel reached out, brushing away a tear with a gentleness that belied his size. “The claiming bond doesn’t work that way, Isabeau. It’s not temporary. It’s not conditional. It’s forever.”
Alain joined our circle then, his presence sliding into place as if he’d always belonged there. The fourth piece of a puzzle I hadn’t known needed completing. My mother’s final act of love, providing him to help save my mates.
“And it seems I’m part of this forever as well,” he said, his hand finding the small of my back, avoiding the lashes from Hades’ claws, in a gesture both possessive and reassuring. “If you’ll have me.”
I looked between the four of them, these men who had claimed me and been claimed in return. Different in so many ways—species and kingdoms and personalities—yet united in this one thing: their devotion to me. Their willingness to forge something new, something unprecedented, for us to be together.
“My son speaks for himself,” King Geraint said, approaching our intimate circle with careful respect. “But he does so with my blessing.”
