The glow lessens, and my muscles go slack. Farron catches me before I hit the earth.
“Did it work, Fare?” I whisper, already knowing the answer.
“It worked,” Kel says, putting a hand on both mine and Farron’s shoulders. “Congratulations. You’ve just saved your realm.”
Thebattlefieldisinclean up mode. Perth is chained in silver and watched over by Keldarion and Ezryn.
The other soldiers are helping the wounded or collecting the dead. As is the nature of war, bodies litter the ground. But there would surely be many more if it wasn’t for Rosalina’s bravery and Farron’s courage.
Farron was radiant, power ebbing out of him in glowing waves. The ram crown of the High Prince glistens in the afternoon light. His eyes still glow with a radiance that reminds me of his wolf.
I stretch my fingers. He drained me of all magic. I know a visit to Castletree will restore my reserves, but with this bargain, it’ll forever be at his beck and call.
A bargain I don’t and will never regret.
Autumn is the death of life.Farron always used to tell me that. But now that magic, his magic, brought the natural cycle of the Enchanted Vale back in order.
My heart has never been so full of love for him.
And Rosalina, his mate. She stands beside him, looking like a true Autumn princess, dark hair framing her beautiful face. A painful yearning throbs in my chest when I look at them.
My heart stutters as I focus back on the battlefield. Padraig, Billigan, and Dominic kneel before a body covered in Padraig’s golden cloak.
Princess Niamh. I try to push away the sorrow threatening to overtake me. She’d always been like a second mother to me, had comforted me when I lost my own mother… And now we’ve lost her as well.
With a sudden stark realization, it hits me hard that among the five of us—Rosie, Kel, Ez, Fare and I—there is not a single mother left.
I turn to Rosalina now, stance strong, but there’s worry etched across her face. “What’s on your mind, Blossom?”
Her eyes flick back and forth. “I’m concerned,” she says. “I thought I saw a figure with a crown like Perth’s earlier. Day, he looked like—”
A hacking laugh sounds. Perth Quellos sneers over at us.
“Be silent, you foul creature.” Ezryn delivers a swift kick to the chains around his ankles, but Perth keeps laughing.
Rosalina and I slowly approach, and I place a protective grip around her waist. Perth inclines his head, as if offering a secret.
The five of us exchange wary glances. What can he do? He’s in chains.
“You’ve,” Perth gives a croaking wheeze, “lost.”
A sense of foreboding seeps into my bones, dread that I can’t quite explain.
“You’re the one bound for Winter’s dungeon,” Kel growls.
Perth throws his head back, that laugh turning into a sick cough. “I knew there may be a chance I’d fail. How could I not assume that the betraying prince might pull more traitorous tricks? So, I devised my greatest experiment yet.”
Kel grabs him up by his robes. “Enough riddles.”
“If my army fell,” Perth smiles emptily, “I wanted to make sure you and your precious mate fell with me.”
I straighten, pulling Rosalina tighter. The air seems to thicken, like a great weight pressing down upon us. The hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end.
“A mortal creature that was already filled with hate and vengeance for the High Prince of Winter,” Perth rattles, “was the perfect apprentice for my teachings. He will bring honor to the Green Flame and earn his own retribution by doing so!”
Then I hear it: a series of harsh bangs and the rush of wind. An unearthly chill shudders through me.
To the eastern flank, a hailstorm of deadly icicles bursts upon a platoon of Autumn Guard and Kryodian Riders. Each shard of ice strikes with deadly accuracy, impaling the soldiers. Screams of agony and pleas for mercy cut through the wind.
