“I will recite the incantation,” Arthur stated. “You must imagine her alive again, with as many details as possible. We cannot stop until you truly believe she is here beside you and well.”
That felt near impossible. My eyes told me she was still and cold, unbreathing. I didn’t hear her voice, and I couldn’t feel her presence. Our bond was as dead as she was.
But I closed my eyes, and forced myself to imagine the impossible. I imagined how soft her red hair felt underneath my hands when I ran my fingers through it, and the vibrancy of her green eyes. Arthur started chanting words in the Unseelie language, and they swelled around me as I remembered Emma’s sweet scent, how her skin was as soft as roses, and how wonderful it’d felt to be inside of her that night before everything had changed.
An image of her lying in that coffin, stony and unresponsive, hit me, and it nearly jarred me out of my thoughts. I knew if I opened my eyes at that moment, I’d lose control of my dream, and we’d fail to bring her back.
“Keep trying,” Arthur said, as if he knew what I was thinking. He’d stopped the incantation for a slight moment to encourage me. “We can’t give up.”
Arthur resumed the Unseelie chant, and I scolded myself. Thinking of the past wouldn’t help me now. I had to imagine something new… a better future.
I pictured a sunny day outside the palace. Emma ran under the yellow light of the sun, looking back at me and laughing as I chased her through the gardens. I caught her, and spun her around as the birds chirped around us. Her laugh was vibrant and her voice was sincere. We fell onto a blanket, where servants had laid out our favorites for a picnic. Emma poured honey into my tea before she fed me freshly-picked berries from the garden. I could smell her perfume and feel her lips on mine as I lovingly caressed her arm.
It was so real that I could smell the honey and taste the berries. This day had never happened, and yet, it was as clear to me, as if it was possible it could take place tomorrow. I replayed the scene over and over in my mind, until it had cemented into reality and I forgot that I was at the cathedral. In my mind and in my soul, I was there with her, and that was the only reality that mattered.
Emma is here. She is happy and more alive than she’s ever been,I thought.I don’t need to grieve for her, because everything’s all right and I’ve lost nothing. Emma and I are together. We are fine and both of us are well. She is here in my arms again… I just know it.
With the scene came a burst of something that felt like confirmation, a warm flower in my chest that bloomed like a beautiful rose. In that moment, I ceased to feel loss or pain, because I truly believed it. Emmawashere again, and she was beside me. I’d never lose her, because she had always been close to me. Before I even knew she existed,we were.I only needed to realize it, or rather… remember it.
A gust of wind brushed by my face, and I opened my eyes. The rose petals were drifting into the air, spinning in a fast column around us. The elder branch, lavender, and mugwort had ignited, burning away into ash even though the fire didn’t touch Emma’s body.
At the edge of the circle appeared a portal. It was pure white, so bright that I had to shield my eyes from the harsh glow that filled the cathedral. I was sure anyone who stood outside would see the beaming light streaming through the windows.
Arthur stopped chanting. He closed the book and dropped it to the ground, proceeding toward the wonder with a gaping mouth.
“It’s a portal,” Arthur marveled.
“Should we take it?” I asked. We had no idea where it went. From outside the circle, Tygrys gave an urgent mew, as if encouraging us to go on ahead.
“This must be part of the ritual,” Arthur insisted. “We should take the risk.”
I said nothing more. I approached the portal, and Arthur followed me. I put a hand on his chest to stop him.
“This is my task,” I said firmly. “I need to go alone.”
“She’s my sister,” Arthur said harshly. “I won’t leave her return to fate. We do this together.”
He was insistent, and I didn’t want to waste time arguing about it. The portal could close at any moment. Arthur and I stepped through the portal at the same time, and as we did so, it shut behind us.
I knew immediately that we were in Edinmyre, though it wasn’t a part I recognized. The grass here was white, the sky clear blue, with not a cloud above it. When I looked behind me, I saw hills, forests, and trees… though up ahead, everything was cloaked in a thin veil of fog. The mist was so heavy, I could not see through it.
Curiously, we remained as men. I didn’t understand why we weren’t forced into our shifter forms, as that was what usually happened here, but I didn’t question it. This was a new part of the realm we hadn’t yet seen or experienced, and being stalled by the rules wasn’t going to help us get Emma back any quicker.
“Do we go forward—” Arthur began, but his voice was cut off as we saw a figure approaching through the mist. A man.
I squinted to make out his features, and once I recognized who it was, my knees buckled. I nearly hit the ground before Arthur caught me. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My father approached us, his head held high and his cloak swept behind him. He wasn’t a ghostly figure, as he had appeared to me in the cathedral, but real flesh-and-blood, solid and tall before me. By the gods, he appeared more regal now than when he’d been alive. He came to me with a smile, a visage of pride written across his face.
I ran to him. “Da!”
I stumbled and tripped on the way to him. When I finally reached him, I flung my arms around him and clung him tightly to me. Tears of joy broke from my eyes and streamed down my face as I embraced his broad shoulders. I was both mystified and grateful for his appearance.
“My son.” Father cupped my face in his hands. “You have done so well.”
I gasped to speak through my tears. “But I’ve failed you. So many times—”
“You have lived with a king’s true heart,” Father boomed. “I’ve watched as you’ve fought for the very soul of our country, and done your best to protect the people you love. You did your best every step of the way, and I couldn’t be prouder of you.”
