Over the next few minutes, the Queen pulled on my power and created a cell in the middle of the forest, deep into the earth, and then she lowered the king inside. Once he was in, she layered the top with bars of iron, only leaving tiny gaps for sunlight or water to get through. Then, she made a small six-inch hatch for food to be dropped down or a tiny bucket. When she was done, she stood over the iron grates as ivy vines curled over it and crawled toward her feet.
“Let’s see if a thousand years in here can change your ways,” she declared, and the sunlight bands fell away from him.
“No!!! Please!” he screamed, but it was no use. We were already walking away, hand in hand, my mom-aunt and me.
When we were far enough away that we no longer heard him, the Queen stopped and turned to me.
“You did well, Lily.” She looked down at me. “What do you say we restore our land?”
I nodded, tears in my eyes at the emotional roller coaster of it all. Now that the Winter King was indisposed, his men were surrendering, dropping to their knees, and coming out of the trees with their hands up.
I spotted Liam with Elle and Trissa, herding a dozen of the Winter King’s men into a circle.
The Queen took my hand and held it high up in the sky. “I declare Faerie for every magical creature. It’s time we put aside our differences and you all come home.”
With that, she dropped to her knees, and I followed her lead. We placed our interlaced fingers over the ground, and then she took a deep breath. “Ready?”
I was beyond ready. To see Faerie restored was my mother’s one dream, and to be able to have a hand in helping make that come true was everything to me.
A surge of heat and light and warmth pulsed through me, and then a shockwave of energy shot out from our palms and blew outward, into everything.
Holy mother.
This was powerful, so much power, and she knew just what to do with it. I realized, in that moment, that I had so much to learn.
The shockwave of light spread throughout the land, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle. People were knocked backward a little. Water in the healing pool rippled. Everything moved as if Faerie had come alive or woken from a long sleep.
Then it happened.
Green.
Everything turned green and pink and purple and blue. Grass sprang up as far as the eye could see, blanketing everything, and flowers bloomed on nearly every plant or tree. The trunks of the trees, once dry and ashy, grew thick dewy moss the color of a vibrant green highlighter.
I choked back tears as my motherland was restored before my very eyes.
When it was done, the Queen released our hands and faced her people.
Fae came out of the woods from every angle, and they all fell to their knees, most of them openly weeping. Birds flitted in and out of the area as rabbits bound through the lands. Even the Mermaid had popped up from the healing waters with a teary expression.
“Lily.” The Queen turned to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. “I know you don’t know me well… at all. But I hope this can be a new beginning. A start of a… strong friendship between us.” Her voice cracked, and I could feel the emotions running off of her.
Opening my arms, I pulled her into a hug. “I’d like that. A lot,” I told her as my throat tightened.
For a second, she didn’t hug me. I think she was shocked, but then her arms tightened around me and it felt so, so good. It was one of those all-encompassing mom hugs, and I knew everything was going to be okay.
Thunderous applause rose up throughout the woods, and we separated, both smiling. The Queen then pointed to Liam. “You are the Winter King’s eldest son?” She beckoned him forward, and the applause quickly turned to stone-cold silence. Liam looked exactly like him… But surely she remembered him as the one who carried her to the healing pool?
Oh no. I should tell her that he’s my soulmate. That he’s my Liam—
“I guess I should take my men to go live in Winter…” Liam hedged, standing before her nervously.
She scowled. “You will do nothing of the sort. I’d like you to be on my advisory council, and I’d like to thank you for saving my life.”
She bowed deeply to him, and relief flooded through me.
The Queen was different from my mother. She didn’t have the same prejudices. She saw Liam for what he did and not who he was. Yes, he was a halfling, the son of a sick man, but he’d saved her life, and that was all that mattered.
“I’d be honored,” he told her, bowing back.
