Upon the throne sits my mother, adorned by the golden ram’s crown of the High Ruler. My father stands off to the side.
Familiar smells assault my nose: pine and steel and salt. The princes are on their knees before my mother, hands chained. A guard with a pointed sword stands behind each one. In the corner of the room is a small cage stuffed with a plump racoon and shivering white hare.
My feet land firm against the ground. I know I have but a single moment to decide before the guards are sent after Rosalina and me.
Do I attack to free my brothers like the beast would?
Do I run as Farron has before?
But I’m not the beast. And I’m no longer only Farron.
I am Rosalina’s mate. A receiver of the Enchantress’s gift. A scholar, a brother, a son.
I am High Prince of the Autumn Realm.
It’s time for me to act like it.
With a powerful surge, I leap over the screaming nobles and land in the space between the princes and my mother. Fear and anger flash in her eyes, and she raises a hand to summon the guards.
But Rosalina’s calm strength flows through me. She slides off my body, and I turn to stare at my mother. I want her to see me like this: not the rabid beast from before, but a guardian. Can she recognize her son’s eyes within the wolf?
Then I look at the crowd, holding each gaze in turn. Fear makes way to curiosity, slowly growing to…
Awe.
I feel for the connection between my fae self and the wolf. It’s so clear, I wonder how I never found it before. With a shiver, my body shifts back to my fae form. Instead of standing before them in nakedness, I reach into my magic reserves. A majestic robe of leaves rises from the ground and drapes over me.
The crowd gasps as their High Prince stands before them.
But none are so shocked as Keldarion, Ezryn, and Dayton.
Rosalina laces her fingers through mine as I meet their gazes. They sense it, our mate bond.
But more than that, they can feel that I’m free.
A single tear streaks down Dayton’s face. He lets loose a smile as radiant as the very sun itself.He’s so happy for me.
I’ll have to explain all of this to them soon, but first I need to do something I should have done long ago.
Rosalina squeezes my hand three times and peers up at me through her dark lashes. “You can do this,” she whispers.
I take a deep breath and step forward, the focus of the entire throne room on me. My mother regards me with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. My father beams and looks as if he’s about to rush to me, but mother slaps a hand on his arm. I cannot let her break me with disdain. My words will be my armor.
“Princess Niamh, Prince Padraig, and nobles of the Autumn Realm,” I begin, voice ringing across the chamber, “I stand before you today to ask for something I have been undeserving of in the past. I have failed you, and for that, I am deeply sorry. But the man who stands here now is different from the boy who first received the honor of being crowned your leader.”
The room is silent, tension and doubt swirling in the air. But I press on, my voice growing stronger with each passing moment.
“The man before you now wields a heart filled with hope. Because I have seen what we can do when we stand together.” I look to Rosalina. “When we are united.”
She shines up at me, breathtaking in her beauty.
I stare at my brothers. My heart leaps as my gaze meets Kel’s, mate of my mate. “The man before you today has learned to stand for what he believes in, no matter the cost. To trust in his own resolve. To take action.”
I drift my eyes over to the shining visor of Ez’s helmet. “The man before you today embraces the fear. Honors it. Welcomes it. Lets it pass through. And rises from the dark trail it blazed.”
I look to Dayton. A tremor shakes through my chest, and I try to keep it out of my voice. “The man before you today stands here because he knows what it means to love. And I will fight for that. Today and every day. I will never let it go.”
I turn to my mother. “So, I ask for something the boy was undeserving of. Trust. Trust the man. I will stand with you. Fight with you. Lead you with honor and valor. And I will not rest until our enemies are vanquished and our realm is safe once more.”
