Chapter Twenty-Eight
Florian opened his eyes to an empty room. Like the liminal space he had seen with Elodie, there seemed to be no discernible light source; but everything was a calm, bright white, as far as he could see. He blinked, confused, unsure how he got there. He had just been in the Summer Court, hadn’t he? And then...
He could feel the presence of another behind him and spun around. It wasn’t Elodie who stood just a few steps away from him, but Soleil. Here, though, she looked how Thaddeus remembered—whole and unburned, skin dewy and eyes bright with vigor. She smiled as he turned to face her, but the same air of sadness lingered in her expression.
“You’ve been so brave,” she said softly, sending a shiver down his spine at the familiarity of her voice—one he hadn’t heard in two hundred years. In a few steps, she closed the distance between them and gathered him into her arms again. “You did it, Florian. Now the entire world can rest.”
Tears welled in his eyes as she spoke and held him. Her low, soothing tone and gentle hug made him wildly, desperately miss his mother somehow, and his aunt Tatiana at the same time, the closest thing to a mother he could remember. Then relief washed over him as he processed what she said. It was over. He did it. He could rest.
“I—” he started, unsure of what to say, especially as his voice wavered. “I did it? It worked?”
Her smile softened. “You knew what to do. I couldn’t tell you, but you figured it out.”
He nodded, blinking away tears. The Arrow had said it all along:I pierce the heart of sacrifice. He had thought it meant Soleil’s heart, but it didn’t make sense when he was standing there ready to stab her with it. No, it had called for sacrifice from the very beginning—a sacrifice to appease the old magic holding the Blight in place. A life freely given in exchange for the death Soleil had tried to reverse.
The thought made him feel cold all over; but before he could say anything, Soleil lifted one hand to lightly touch his forehead. Somehow, he could feel his tether to Thaddeus’ soul being released like a knot in his stomach he’d never noticed, and the presence left him all at once.
It didn’t quite feel like a physical sensation. Rather, his own thoughts and feelings about what was happening became clear—distinct from Thaddeus, who had been overwhelmingly relieved and grateful to finally be with Soleil again. Without Thaddeus’ emotions overpowering his own, Florian was mostly tired, and afraid, but with his own strange sense of relief and finality, too.
He thought Soleil might leave him then, but she lowered her hand and looked him in the eye again—just as attentive, just as sympathetic.
“I’m sure you must have questions,” she said softly. “I’ll answer as best I can. We can take our time in this place.”
“Why couldn’t you tell me what to do?” Florian asked, the first thing to come to mind. “Or Aderus, when the horse shifters came to you?”
Her pale eyes flickered away, something like sadness and regret clouding over them. “I couldn’t speak at all. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you even if I wanted to. And I couldn’t interfere. The stipulations of old magic are... strange, at best. It had to be a sacrifice given willingly, without influence or demand.”
“But the Arrows were a hint,” Florian said, and she smiled a bit.
“Yes, they were. When the Blight first took over the Summer Court—that’s what you called it, the Blight? I had enough strength then to seal the worst of it in the castle. But I knew the sacrifice would have to be made here, too, since this was where... everything happened. So there needed to be some way to pass through the seal. My first thought was swords, but... Well, Thaddeus had no need of his ring anymore, but there was only so much gold I could transmute from it. So I went smaller.”
Florian managed a brief, shaky smile. “I wondered why they were Arrows.”
“And when I thought of putting the inscription, I was able to, so I did,” she concluded. “That was all I could do, though. My magic didn’t replenish the way it would normally. When Aderus came and disarmed the seal, enough magic went back to me that I could remake it after...”
She trailed off, eyes clouding over again. Curious as he was to know exactly how that first confrontation happened, Florian could see it troubled her. Maybe it would be best not to know any specifics. He already got the general idea from Valyris.
“That second blast sent the Arrows much further,” she finally sighed. “So all I could do was hope someone would eventually find them. And now here you are.”
“I think Thaddeus had to be there, too,” Florian said softly.
“Perhaps,” she said, cupping his cheek again. “I’m grateful for that, at least. But you’re a hero, Florian. This was still your doing.”
He nodded, trying to smile. With Thaddeus no longer connected to him, the longer Soleil spoke, the less regal and lovely she seemed. Now, though she still held a commanding presence, he could only think of how tired and sad she was. In his memories, too, what Thaddeus had found so confident and charming became more arrogant and short-sighted. She had all but destroyed the world for a man—one she loved desperately, but still only one life compared to the countless who had died as a result.
“I don’t...” he started, unsure of what he even wanted to say. “I don’t know how I should feel about you.”
She nodded, pressing her lips together in a regretful expression. “I would hold nothing against you. Trust me, I’ve had two hundred years to reflect. I... I know, Florian. I understand completely.”
“Am I dead?” he finally blurted out, unable to hold it back any more.
“No,” she answered quickly, making his knees feel weak with relief. “Not yet. You have a choice now, Florian. You can come with me, and your body in the Veil will perish. Or you can return if you want to. But—”
“I want to go back,” he interrupted, and she let out a small huff of a laugh.
“I have to warn you first,” she said. “If you go back, the last Arrow will bind you to the Summer Court. I made it from my beloved’s ring with the same magic I used to protect him; and for two hundred years, that magic has kept me bound and protected me while I lingered here, waiting for someone like you. I will go, but the magic will remain a part of you… until you die. Florian,you can go back, but you can never go home. You can never go anywhere but the Summer Court.”
Florian felt cold all over again. To be trapped in the Summer Court like she had been, alive but confined in a cage... What kind of life would that be? Would it be worth it? He thought of all the places that he had wanted to see with Kade. He could never go back to the Winter Court—could never go back to the wolf kingdom. How could he be king? What would happen to him and Kade?
