My ancestors and I were truly one. I could hear the voices of my sisters as they circled around me speaking in ancient Fae, and I could understand every word. The sense of jubilation rising in my chest nearly brought me to my knees again as I realized that I had been wholeheartedly accepted by my court, and all my ancestors, as the next Triune Queen.
The hum of the lullaby thrummed through my veins. In voluntarily giving my life to save that of another, to save my court, I had proven my loyalty to the crown and all it stood for. And it had unlocked the bond between me and my ancestors with a permanent finality that could never be revoked.
I let the power from that glittering, infinite well of magic flow through me. I had no fear that the immense amount of power would be too much to bear. It was with confidence in my own abilities that I dealt the final blow to the Darkest Lord, with the force of a thousand ancient Fae Queens backing me.
The Darkest Lord's body and spirit broke in one fell swoop. He threw his head back, his chest cracking like a glass vase, then he turned into a beacon of awful red light, his blackened armor cracking into pieces. He would no longer exist on any plane. Within moments, there was nothing left of the Darkest Lord except a burst of dazzling red light and a pile of ash. As the red light faded and the pile of ashes trickled away with the wind, Icould feel it as clearly as I knew the sun would rise tomorrow: he was gone. Forever.
“You’ve done it.” Atlas whispered in my ear. “He’s gone.”
I could only nod. I was exhausted. Confident, but exhausted. Still, my mind went immediately to Silas. I knew on some level I’d saved him, but his body was still lying lifeless on the ground beside the river. I pulled myself to my feet to go to him.
“Alessia.” The timid voice stopped me in my tracks. “What’s this?”
I glanced down to where Liza stood next to me, her eyes wide with concern. She raised a hand and gently touched a small circlet on her head. It was a simple, thin band of gold that drooped, a little too big, over her forehead. But there was no denying it framed her dirty-blonde hair like a crown.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, glanced to Atlas, whose face had gone pale.
“Gods,” he murmured. “She's been chosen as the next queen of the spirit realm.”
“What?” I shook my head. “It can’t be her. She's only a child.”
“Go to Silas,” Atlas said, tucking Liza to his side. “We’ll discuss this later.”
I was relieved to be released from this conversation. Pressing as it might be, the only thing I could think about was Silas’s body on the ground. As my footsteps padded away from the castle in a silent sprint, I checked in on him via the heartbeat in my chest as my muscles pumped to bring me close to him. Faint, but strong. He was alive.
When I knelt beside Silas, rested my cheek against his forehead, I was relieved to feel his breath against my face. I savored the soft, labored sounds of it, the clammy perspiration on his forehead that told me his heart was still pumping and his will to live was still strong.
Then his eyes snapped open, and when he looked at me, I knew it had worked. I’d gifted Silas enough of myself that it had spared him.
“Alessia,” he said. “You saved my life. You did it. You defeated him.”
“It’s over,” I whispered. “You were right, Silas. Our bond can never be broken.”
“And you,” he murmured, cradling my face, “are the true Queen of Isles.”
sixteen
Inthedaysfollowingthe Darkest Lord’s demise, the focus of the general population shifted toward a gentle path to recovery. For Silas, for me, for the islanders, for the court as a whole.
For the first time since I’d stepped foot on this island, we were not facing an imminent threat as a whole. A curse, evil creatures, the Darkest Lord himself. The sense of hopeful peace and tentative tranquility that had descended over the island was so all-consuming and wonderful it was almost unnatural.
Silas and I spent days on end locked in the castle, basking in the sheer fact that we had the time and space to be together without interruption. For days, I lay next to Silas in bed, studying his features as he slept and regained his strength. Marveling in how far we’d come in such a short period of time.
Millie and Liza stayed in the castle too, bringing food and water to our room several times a day. Lily and Ranger X checked in on us, giving us updates on the state of the outside world and any threats that might arise, though none had been reported—a welcome reprieve.
Nearly a week had passed when Atlas returned. After ensuring Silas’s life was not in jeopardy after I’d wiped out the Darkest Lord, Atlas had Phased back to Olympus, presumably to report on the situation to his superiors. I assumed his return now meant that he had news for us.
Atlas strode up to the castle late on a sunny, pleasant morning during one of the first days that Silas and I had ventured outside into the courtyard to sit in the warmth and fresh air. We were sharing a late breakfast, coffee and fruit and pastries, in the gardens behind the castle. I hadn’t even known these gardens had existed before this week.
We hadn’t had enough time for life’s more frivolous pleasures in the past few months. Now, I relished the idea of languid meals alfresco, unhurried conversations, sitting in silence and admiring the fairies flitting between flower stalks. Through it all, I could hear the faint whisper of my ancestors’ voices on the wind, no longer crystal clear in their meaning, but a simple caress, a reminder that they were there for me should I need anything.
“Your wards are working.” Atlas greeted us by pulling a twig out of his hair, giving it an amused look before flicking it into the brush. “A little too well, I’d say.”
I grinned at Atlas. “That’s what the Rangers tell me.”
Indeed, in the past week, Ranger HQ had been running tests to ensure the new wards were properly and firmly in place. After all that had happened between the spirit realm and the island, not to mention Dr. Lewis’s interference via the manufactured crystals, no one had trusted the new wards to perform appropriately…except me.
I’d promised Ranger X and his team that the wards were in place, up and running better than they’d been for thousands of years. For the first time in modern history, The Isle had wardsreinstated by a Fae Queen, just as they were meant to work. No manufactured devices or salt crystals needed.
