I had the faintest acknowledgement of Ethan’s mouth pressing to my own. I could not muster a response back, because by that point, I was fading into another world. I savored the final, sweet taste of him as my soul left my body, venturing toward the unknown.
There wasa golden light at the end of a tunnel. I heard birdsong, and tasted honey, and smelled new blossoms on the wind. Up ahead was a beautiful spring land, beckoning me to venture there. I felt no pain, nor did I have any worry. Everything was well.
The first thing I saw was the hag. She waited for me, her elderly form giving me a withered smile as she extended a wrinkled hand, beckoning me to come closer.
I did so without question. The hag had given me my prophecy. She’d been there for me at the very beginning, and every step along the way. It was no wonder she’d appear now, at the conclusion of my quest.
As I ventured closer, the hag morphed. Her face became young, pleasant. Surprise drifted through me as the hag transformed into the Spring Princess, virginal features shining through.
I was beginning to understand. When I’d nearly come close enough to the Spring Princess to touch her, she changed yet again. I caught sight of Milonna’s motherly form. The smile on her face was gentle, though her expression was beaming with pride.
My champion.Milonna opened her arms, and took a step toward me.
Joy clung to me like a warm blanket. I realized, then, what Milonna truly was… the maiden, mother, and crone, all three forms of womanhood in one. She’d been guiding me along my journey all along, taking different shapes. Now I was grateful I’d always listened to the hag’s words, because they’d led me straight to my goddess’s arms.
I fell into her embrace, and as she wrapped me within her affectionate touch, I felt as if the world itself had been repaired. Or, my world, at least.
“Goddess.” I breathed in her beautiful lilac scent and knew as long as I was with her, nothing would ever harm me.
You have done so well,my champion,Milonna said, and she grasped my shoulders as she took a step back.How would you like to join my Brygada?
Figures appeared behind Milonna. Thousands of shieldmaidens and sorceresses, her champions, conjured in a circle around me. They wore armor and robes, carried heavy weapons and powerful magic.
These were the strongest and bravest women that had ever lived, beings that served Milonna in the afterlife as a reward for their great deeds on Earth. Now, they wanted me to be one of them. There was no higher honor.
I glanced behind. I could still hear Ethan’s sobs echoing in the distance, though they got farther away with each passing moment. I thought of him, my family… my friends.
“What about them?” I asked.
They’ll be all right, Milonna said gently, and she extended her hand.Come.
I took Milonna’s hand. I grasped her fingers tightly as she led me to the spring portal, through the golden light and into a new life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ethan
Someone kill me. If the gods have any mercy, they’ll take my life.
They had none, for I was cursed to roam this earthly plane after my love had departed from this world. By myown hand, for I had killed my mate.
Dolinska had been rebuilt by sorcery. After the battle was over and it was clear who had won, the country had hurried to install me as king yet again on Malovia’s throne.
I did not want it. I did not want anything, save for my wife to come back to me.
Magic had come back to the fae world with the reopening of the portal to Edinmyre, stronger than it ever had been. The portal that Emma had opened to Edinmyre had remained open permanently. Fae were drifting back and forth between the two realms, touring their ancestral home.
It was truly a miracle, but the wonder failed to cheer me. There were no miracles left in the world. Not for me.
Sorceresses had reconstructed Milonna’s cathedral with their magic, and it is where Emma lay now. My wife’s body was lying in state, presented at the head of the cathedral in a glass coffin. The coroner had stitched up the hole in her heart that I’d made, and placed a spell upon her to preserve the body, but no embalming had been done. Her hair had been combed, blood washed from her skin as she lay in her finest navy gown. Her hands were placed gently on top of her sword, lips painted red. She lay in the same spot we’d been crowned, the same place we’d taken our wedding vows, underneath the light of the circular stained glass window. If anyone deserved such reverence in the halls of a goddess, it was her.
She’d been dead for six days, presented here to the public so they could say their final farewell. My eyes fixated on Emma’s husk and refused to leave. Her skin was no longer soft but waxy, form rigid and cold. She appeared a lifeless statue, a relic, and not the girl I’d loved.
I’d planned for a future with this woman… fought at her side, made love to her. That bodycouldn’tbe the one I had touched so fondly, the one I’d thought so fair on our wedding day. This must be some sort of cruel dream.
I’d given up everything to be with her. Ultimately, I’d failed to protect her from her final demise.. which was myself.
I no longer had a soul. It’d withered away when she had died.
