Hattie’s house was small, well-kept, and comfortable. She motioned Emma to follow her through a door off the kitchen. Inside was a blank room with no windows. The walls and the floors were both painted black. Hattie set the cauldron down and began pouring a salt circle. She lit the candles at the four directions— North, West, East, and South— and began burning the incense in the cauldron.
Emma hesitated, and I couldn’t blame her. This looked all too similar to the failed exorcism we’d performed months prior.
“Lay the prince within the center of the circle, then sit at his right hand,” Hattie instructed as she stood at the candle in the North. Her wolf Familiar stood at the South.
Emma did as she said, and placed my body down on the hardwood floor. She sat cross-legged beside my body, both of us within the confines of the salt circle. The leshane’s red eyes, for the first time, shone in terror as he worked against the bonds of the binding spell. Within the salt circle, his magic was reduced. Emma stared down in disgust.
“What must I do?” Emma asked.
“I will put you into a deep trance with a prayer to Mother Miriam. She is my Coven’s goddess, and will help us vanquish this demon. There, you will be able to communicate with your mate as he’s on the soul plane,” Hattie instructed. “Prince Ethan must win the war within himself, and face his demons. With your support, he’ll gain the strength to push the demon out.”
“How can he do that?”
“You will have to ask his god for help. If the prince is able to excommunicate the demon from his body, I will destroy it,” Hattie said. “But I can do nothing unless Prince Ethan orders the creature out. Don’t force him, Emma. Let the prince make whatever decisions he will.”
Emma closed her eyes, to prepare herself for the trance. Hattie raised her hands and spoke solemnly. “Mother Miriam, Goddess of our Coven, offer your healing. Bring that which lies underneath to the surface, and illuminate the shadows to bring demons to light.”
Hattie began to chant a low prayer to her goddess, mumbling the incantation in repetition. Her wolf Familiar accompanied her with low moans that sounded like howls. Emma’s head lolled. The demon struggled, and I watched as Emma’s head fell backward, her eyes taking over a supernatural sheen.
Hattie, her Familiar, and the demon vanished. I was no longer floating— I was sitting across from Emma, in the confines of the salt circle with the candles burning lowly around us. The trance had worked.
Emma reached for me, but her fingers slipped right through my arm. She stared— we blinked at each other for a few moments, before she let her hand fall to the floor.
“I didn’t think we’d ever speak to each other again,” Emma began.
“Don’t get your hopes up. Might be the last time.”
Emma frowned. “Don’t say that. You don’t know.”
“I do know that I’m tired of fighting,” I said. “I fought for all the wrong things, and it brought me to death’s door. I’m not sure the choices I’ve made are reversible.”
“If you can’t reverse them, you can move on from them,” Emma said firmly. “No one is who they were yesterday. We’re always changing and evolving. This demon isn’t just an entity inside of you. It is you. And if you’re going to live, you have to wrestle with that piece of yourself and put your past behind you.”
“How can I live with what I’ve done? It was a mistake to choose the Phantom over you,onawilke.It was a mistake to put Malovia before you,” I began. “I realize now that a man can’t save his kingdom if he can’t keep his home safe. You were supposed to be my home, Emma. My job was to take care of those closest for me before I attempted to rescue everyone else. And I failed at that.”
“You did the best you could with what you had at the time,” Emma said gently. “I’ve forgiven you for putting the Phantom before me, but my forgiveness isn’t the most important to earn. It’s your own.”
“What forgiveness can I give myself? My father is dead because of me, and I allowed the creature who killed him to take residence inside my own body. It’s my greatest failure.”
“Your father’s death would’ve come regardless of whether you were there or not,” Emma said. “The gods were going to take him at his time, and his time came.”
“It’s done more than cause me grief. My father’s death brought about a change in Malovia. I’ve condemned my country because Gabby and Elijah took my father’s place. People have died and suffered because of it,” I said, hollowness aching in my spirit.
“You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. Not everything is your fault!” Emma said. “There were other contestants in the King’s Contest, and all of them failed to stop Gabby and Eli.We beat them, and the gods still willed that they be crowned king and queen! You can’t fight the will of the gods!”
I gave a cruel laugh. “How could the gods possibly will such suffering upon us?”
“Because the only way to bring about change is through pain. And you can’t avoid pain— you must walk through it,” Emma said. “Changing Malovia isn’t going to be easy. No matter who’s on that throne, there’s always going to be someone or something to fight against. The Black Claw wouldn’t have vanished if you had been king. They’d still be out there killing people, and even as a monarch, your power would be limited to stop them. You’re just a shifter. You’re not a god. And not even the gods can violate our free will by changing our choices.”
“I want you to understand. Being king— it was my dream, everything I’d ever known. Without that dream, I don’t know who I am anymore.” My voice was so full of agony it nearly made me want to sob. “I look in the mirror now and don’t know who’s looking back.”
“Just because a dream dies doesn’t mean you have to die with it. You can make a new one,” Emma said.
“But who am I without the crown? Since I was born, things have been expected of me— I’ve had dreams planted into my head that I’m not even sure are mine.”
“Fuck their expectations! What doyouwant?” Emma’s expression was burning. “You think that since you lost your chance at being king, you can’t help the people of Malovia, but that’s not true. Change happens when a lot of people do a lot of little things to create an impact. You aren’t responsible for the world!”
My throat burned. “It feels like I am.”
