The realization takes hold with absolute certainty, burning through every doubt inside me. I love them, all of them, in ways I never thought possible. Not just one. All four of them, each sodifferent, each so strong, each so broken and beautiful in their own way. And the thought of leaving them, of walking away from this, from them, from everything we’ve built together… it feels impossible, like tearing something out of my chest and trying to pretend I can still breathe afterward.
I don’t want to go back.
Not to the cabin. Not to the quiet, lonely life I once thought I had to accept. That version of me feels like someone else now. Someone smaller. Someone who didn’t know what it meant to be seen, to be wanted, to be loved like this.
I want them. I want this. I wantus.
I go still as the realization turns painfully clear. I want to marry them. The thought should terrify me. Instead, it feels right. Like I’ve been building toward this moment all along.
But that thought drags another in its wake, heavier, harder to ignore. Marrying them doesn’t just mean being with them. It means standing beside them. Leading them. Becoming their queen.
My gaze flicks back to the crown.Ruling the fae.
The weight of that crashes into me all at once. A kingdom I don’t understand. A people who aren’t mine. Courts steeped in power and politics and history I’ve barely begun to grasp. Lives depending on decisions I wouldn’t even know how to make.
My stomach twists.What if I fail? What if I make the wrong choice and people get hurt because of it? What if I destroy the fragile peace they’ve fought so hard to build?
The doubt creeps in fast, sharp and suffocating.
You don’t deserve this. You’re just a human.The words echo, cold and familiar.
For a moment, I almost believe them.
My hands tremble slightly, my breath coming faster as the weight of it presses down on me. I can feel it in my chest, in my shoulders, in the space between every thought.It’s too much.
“I…” My voice falters before I even realize I’ve spoken.
Oberon takes a step forward immediately, his gaze locking onto mine. “Talk to me.”
I swallow hard.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I admit, the words raw and honest. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough. This isn’t just… us. This is everything. Your people. Your courts. Your world.”
“It doesn’t have to be just you,” Sylvian says gently.
“It won’t be,” Cassius adds.
Ashton’s voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it. “We’re not asking you to carry it alone.”
Something shifts. Because they’re not just asking me to rule. They’re asking to stand beside me. To support me. To build something together.
My gaze lingers on each of them. They’re everything I would need. Everything I don’t have to face alone. And suddenly, the crown doesn’t feel like something meant to crush me. It feels like something we could carry together. A way to keep what we’ve built. A way to make sure that this connection, this trust, this fragile, impossible love, doesn’t break the moment we leave this place.
If one of them wears it, the others will fall back into their courts. Back into old roles. Old expectations. Back into distance. Back into separation.
But if I wear it… we stay together. We lead together. We become something new. Something better.A family.
I take a slow breath.
Then another.
And when I look at them again, the fear is still there, but it’s not overwhelming anymore. It’s… manageable.
“I’m still scared,” I say quietly.
Oberon steps closer, his voice low. “Good.”
I huff out a small, shaky laugh.
