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I felt all knotted inside with no clear vision on how to untangle myself. “I don’t want you to lose your kingdom.”
“I appreciate that.” He took my hands and my heart fluttered. “I don’t want you to die.”
I bit my lip. “Tell me the plan once more.”
He smiled down at me. “Speak to Lord Winster, steal the bracelet, steal the ambassador’s power, return the bracelet. That’s it. We could do this in a month if all goes well.”
“No,” I said too quickly. His eyes widened, and I evened my tone. “I will do it at the next Choosing Ceremony. That way I get to see my brothers once more before the change takes place.” At least that would give me a chance to explain my decision to them so they wouldn’t feel abandoned, and to tell Eliza how grateful I am to her for caring for them so well.
Bash brought a thumb to my cheek. “Of course.”
I looked straight into his eyes. “And there are no more tricks involved?”
He shook his head. “That’s it.”
Outside the wall of windows in Bash’s mountain castle and across the cobblestone terrace, sat the two chariots with their wisps circling each other as if in conversation, stopping briefly to watch other chariots dart by. I watched with them, taking it all in with a new eye. This realm would soon be mine as well. I’d have a rightful and permanent place here to call my own, and someday its magnificence might even lose its wonder as it becomes a familiar home.
Bash rested his chin atop my head with his arms around me, and I was happier than I’d ever been. I basked in his warmth. I shifted and caught a glimpse of his heart on the pedestal beside his throne and realized I couldn’t feel it beating in his chest. Because his heart wasn’t there. Someday, my heart would stop beating, too, as it hardened to glass.
“Has there ever been a fae queen?” I asked.
He pulled his chin back to glance at me with a rakish gleam in his eyes. “You think I’m making you my queen so soon?”
I lifted my chin. “I don’t need you. I’m a queen in my own right.”
He held me closer before answering, his voice now soured. “There was one once. The first Mortal Queen became a fae before her king betrayed her.” He snarled his words at the mention of the king betraying his queen, where previously he’d told the tale casually.
“Ah, that’s right. The king who ruined it for the rest of us.”
“I can’t despise him too much, though,” Bash said. His lips brushed the top of my hair. “Without him, I wouldn’t have you.”
As someone who’d never shared a romantic connection before, I could listen to such words all day and never tire of how cliché they sounded.
Bash kept me tucked in his arms as snow began to fall outside, and while I’d thought sitting snow was beautiful, falling snow was glorious. Amid the flurries, Bash gave me his promise.
“This realm will be yours, as will I.”
While I smiled up at him, he met my lips with his. When we parted, I gave him my promise. “I will stay in this realm with you.”
The delight and satisfaction in his eyes would be what I took with me to Lord Winster’s home. I climbed aboard the chariot.
“Take me to the lion’s den. I’ve got one battle left.”
Now that I’d gazed upon the homes of kings, Lord Winster’s manor didn’t appear as magnificent as it did quaint in the way it was nestled into a bed of cliffs at the edge of a sea. Instead of being lit as bright as the sky, only one trail of torches lined the pathway to his front door, and a few bright windows crossed the pane of his brick home. They flickered in greeting as I crossed them.
“Stay near,” I ordered the chariot.
Last time, I’d tried to radiate the confidence I lacked inside, but this time it was easy to muster as I knocked on the door. Lord Winster hadn’t met the person these few months had turned me into.
But I hadn’t met the child who answered the door.
I startled. “Oh! Hello. Is Lord Winster home?”
The child popped her thumb from her lips to twist her head around. “Papa?”
I needed the time it took him to answer to recover from the shock. Meanwhile, the girl with golden curls and a pink dress jabbed her thumb back into her mouth to stare at me through eyes that were eerily like her father’s.
He appeared, coat unbuttoned and hair ruffled, to sweep the child up in his arms. She rested her head against him while staring at me.
