He nodded. “Since I forfeited, I figure they made him fight someone else, and if he won… They should let him be reborn.”
Now that I had the knowledge of what all that meant, I knew that Pax would be reborn magicless and be given the choice to become a Nightling and eventually have his soul erased in the Bottomless Pit or remain without magic and live in the Realm of Eternity when he passed. An easy choice for me if I still had it. “Do you think he’ll stay magicless?”
Ariyon looked surprised. “You know about that?”
I nodded. “The Quorum gave me a giant supernatural information dump.” I tapped my head.
He nodded. “He said he wants to, but that the first month is hard. I don’t really know what that entails.” Ariyon looked lost in his thoughts, his brows drawing together with concern for his friend.
There was so much to talk about, and I wanted to shower and change clothes.
“I’m going to go home and change. You go visit with your aunt. Yanric is getting word to Eden and the others. Let’s all meet at your house in like two hours?”
Ariyon pulled me closer to him. “Forget my aunt. I don’t want to let you out of my sight ever again. I can walk you home and wait outside. Marissa is looking for you, Fallon. She wants something from you,” he asserted.
I knew what she wanted from me, a drop of blood for the necklace she was seemingly trying to steal from Solana so that she could take the throne. Ariyon yanked me toward the West Side, but I pulled him to a stop, facing the direction of Bane Manor, which was on the East Side.
“I live in Bane Manor now. Your aunt invited me into the brigade, and I swore allegiance to her in front of the entire city.”
His eyebrows shot up, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Well, damn, we do need to catch up.”
Leaning forward, I placed a kiss on his lips. “I’ll meet you at your house in two hours. Please go sit with your aunt for a while and calm her nerves? She’s really missed you.”
He frowned. “Okay, but take Ember.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
After we walked back to the palace, Ariyon led me to the stables and got me situated on Ember. I rode home, my head buzzing with everything that had just happened.
It was the culmination of some of the most stressful weeks of my life. But Ariyon was back now, and I was beyond relieved.
When I got home, my dad was there. He had gotten word, probably through Yanric, that I’d gone to the Realm of Eternity and saved Ariyon. He wasn’t happy about it. He spoke to me for at least an hour about making good choices and staying safe. I assured him at least twenty times that I was okay and wouldn’t be returning to the Realm of Eternity anytime soon now that our powers had been switched back. He finally relented and allowed me to shower, change, and head for the twins’ house.
I rode Ember down the streets, and as I passed a fae couple, they bowed to me and held their fists over their hearts in a sign of respect.
Huh.
The next passerby was a woman with a small child, both carrying wildflowers in from a meadow.
“Mommy, she saved the prince!” the girl announced. She ran after Ember, throwing her flowers my way, but they were too far for me to catch and fluttered to the ground.
I waved at her in shock, just as Yanric landed on my shoulder.
‘The queen is giving you the Order of the Flame,’Yanric announced.
‘The what of the what?’I peered over at him.
‘For extreme acts of bravery, you will be awarded The Gilded City’s highest medal of honor.’There was pride in his voice.
I swallowed hard, looking over at my familiar.
‘Queen Solana said that?’
She was so hot and cold that I had a hard time reading her. Did she like me or just tolerate me?
‘She decreed it. Posted it outside the palace on the messenger board. Now everyone in this city knows.’
It was a good feeling, one I’d chased after since the day I got here. A lightness spread throughout my chest, and I smiled, carrying myself a little taller.
