He humiliated the Duke with the same elegance they tried to use to humiliate me. He didn’t shout or physically harm the Duke. He simply reminded them who he is and who they invited into their garden.
Sylvin lets out a trill of a laugh then while turning his back to the Duke and presenting me with an arm.
He lets his voice carry for all to hear as he says, “I’m sorry I wasted your time here with a duke I thought had more knowledge and power than he actually does.”
I take his arm and finally let my lips curl up to match his, because whatever else he’s done–whatever choices I still can’t forgive–he didn’t do this for politics or power…he did this forme.
Chapter 20
Wren
Sylvin lifts his free arm and opens the portal with a subtle twist of his wrist, the magic forming in a smooth arc of blue light that ripples outward.
“Shall we try the court with a little more sunlight,” he murmurs, his gaze sliding to mine, “and far fewer thorns?”
The faint smile that follows doesn’t quite reach his eyes. It flickers softly, as if he’s trying to summon the brighter version of himself I knew before yesterday. I don’t know if it’s the weight of the Duke’s arrogance still clinging to him, or if some part of him still replays the things I said over breakfast. Maybe it’s both.
A tightness curls low in my stomach as I stare into the glow of the portal. It’s not just another court waiting on the other side…it’s the last one that might still claim my powers. The final thread of hope I haven’t yet unraveled.
The pressure of that expands in my chest, but I take a breath and meet Sylvin’s eyes. I let the steady strength in the blue depths anchor me as I blow out the air building in my lungs.
Then I nod once and we step forward together.
The moment we cross the threshold, the sticky, humid air of Spring vanishes and is replaced with a dry heat that settles into my skin. The wind meets us immediately, much stronger here on rugged cliffs that stretch high above the ocean below. It’s salt-laced and untamed, threading through my hair and tugging at my dress in welcome. Wind-swept grasses cling to the edges of the rock, bending low but never breaking. Far below I hear the waves crash against the base of the cliffs.
Just like that, Spring is behind us, and Summer begins.
It’s beautiful here, but not in the way I’ve come to expect from fae courts. My spirit lifts with the untamed scene before me.
In both the Winter and Spring Courts, the beauty was curated to make others stare in awe. But here...here, the land is left as it is. Rough cliffs, pounding waves, stone cracked and weathered by time and tide. There’s no illusion of control, only power and the unspoken feeling that if you stay, youmust either bend to its rhythm or be swept away by it.
This beauty doesn’t ask for attention. It's fiercely, unapologetically alive, the same way it feels when I connect to earth.
Hope swirls in my chest as Sylvin walks a few paces ahead, his boots crunching softly against the gravel path that winds along the bluff’s edge. I follow him until he stops near that edge, where I see a sharp decline with stone steps trailing down toward the sandy beach.
“The Duchess will meet you at the base,” he says. “I’ll remain nearby, but I won’t interfere with her. I trust her the most out of all magical beings in this country.”
The words land softly knowing he trusts this fae so much, but they still make my stomach twist.
He won’t be by my side.
I nod again, slower this time, and glance out at the ocean for the first time.
“I didn’t think I’d feel hesitant,” I admit, before I can stop myself. “But I do.”
“Because you don’t trust what’s waiting ahead?”
I shake my head and glance back at him through my wind-swept tangles of hair. “Because I didn’t realize I still trusted you this much, despite what you did.”
It isn’t a compliment, or forgiveness. Just the truth.
He inclines his head as the first genuine smile I’ve seen since he greeted me at breakfast appears.
“I’m only a portal away. Nothing could keep me from getting to you,” he says.
The words are barely a whisper in the howling wind, but they land harder than any gusts could.
He turns and walks the opposite way, disappearing into the golden light that spills across the vibrant green valley.
