Opal swaddled Casey before laying him in my arms, so no stain from the battle would touch him. He slept gently against my chest.
“Thanks, Opal. I’ll bring him back shortly. I won’t be long.” She was a great maidservant. I had wonderful people all around me who served me well whenever I needed them. That meant I had to be just as helpful to them as they were to me.
I was able to navigate the halls by holding Casey in one arm and maneuvering the lever of my chair with another. The motorized wheels took me to the temple, which was void of all people. The sacred hall was silent and still as I proceeded toward the tree, sitting at the base and looking at all the intricate emerald leaves. Casey slumbered silently, staying just as quiet as our surroundings.
Crack. Crack. Crack. The sound of the whip hailing fire upon Charlie’s back was imprinted in my memory. I couldn’t get away from it. I hadn’t stopped hearing it since Deuce had delivered the first lash.
That never should’ve happened. He wouldn’t have taken those strikes for me if he hadn’t been there— if I had distanced myself from him like I should’ve been doing for months now. My reserve had slipped and I’d lost my way after Casey had arrived.
Charlie would continue to be my shield unless I no longer allowed him to be one. And I would not let him take another blow that was meant for me ever again. From the first crack of that whip, I’d known what I had to do and what the right decision was.
I just didn’t want to go through with it.
I looked down at Casey’s soft face. “Hey, little baby.” I skimmed his cheek with the tip of my finger. “Aren’t you cute?”
Casey's eyes slowly blinked open. He looked up, squirming as his mouth opened slightly in what seemed like surprise.
“Yeah, I’m your mama. Nice to meet you.” I don’t think he’d had his eyes open when he’d been in my arms the last time. He gazed at me like I was the most miraculous thing in the world.
“You’re used to Daddy, huh?” I brushed back wisps of black hair, expecting him to fuss, because he didn’t know me.
He must’ve recognized the sound of my voice, because his surprised lips widened into an adorable grin, awed by my presence like I was some kind of goddess, and not just a woman.
I think that was his first smile. Nobody had told me if he’d done that before, but he did for me.
“You’re so special, aren’t you, little prince.” I tweaked his nose. “Too special for me to have.”
I thought I could have it all. Become Empress and raise a family, but my family got hurt because I chose to be Empress. I’d tried to have both, and Charlie had nearly died due to my stubborn refusal to give anything up. That proved my dreams weren’t possible.
I needed to make an authentic decision, because I had to stay true to who I was. It was authentic for me to rule, to be in power, to become Empress. I would also stay true to my heart by staying with Charlie.
But I couldn’t have both. If I was Empress, Charlie would inevitably die, and if I chose Charlie, the supernatural world would perish. I had to determine what decision meant the most to me.
The answer was obvious, because without a doubt, I wanted to choose Charlie. But even so, I paused on making the same choice I previously had. I’d picked Charlie over the world the last time I’d faced this decision, and the results had been cataclysmic. Though Charlie had done all the work I’d asked him to do in order to fix our relationship, I had to be honest with myself. I wasn’t ready to go back to this marriage, and I didn’t know if I ever would be.
So what did I choose? My family, or my people?
Casey lifted his tiny fingers and brushed them against my face. My arms slackened, but I still managed to keep Casey close to my chest as an unmistakable spark flared inside my chest.
That was the touch of magic. I’d nearly forgotten what it felt like. My pulse kickstarted, but it didn’t last long before I found images flashing across my eyes, the temple fading around me.
A woman with long raven hair, wearing a rich purple dress and a spiked black crown sat upon a throne within Ilamanthe’s halls, hundreds of people bowing before her. Friends and family gathered at the dais of the throne, kneeling at her feet, each one thriving and alive. The sun shining through the windows was bright, and a cry of rejoicing went up amongst the room as the empire’s enemies were finally declared defeated.
One person did not kneel. A man held a child in his arms, expressionless at the celebration. The woman upon the throne cast her gaze his way, yet the man holding the baby turned his back and walked out.
The vision shifted. Day became night, everything turning to ash and shadow. Black clouds hung throughout the desperate night as screams rose over a bloody battlefield. Explosions sounded in the background, harboring the sounds of death. Bodies of loved ones lay scattered everywhere, torn to shreds and lying lifeless.
The raven-haired woman no longer wore a crown. She clung to the baby in her arms before turning into her husband, clutching at his chest to give him one final kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and shielded his family as a wicked god spread his wings wide above the war-torn field, his nefarious laughter infecting the land. He brought his final spell down upon the world, and everything went dark.
The temple slowly materialized as the vision ended. I came back into my body, feeling the sensation of Casey kicking against my arms.
A solitary tear dripped slowly down my face.
My son had given me the clarity I needed. Though he was so little, naderei were natural guides, and there was no doubting his power. Idril and Caralyn could no longer send me visions, but Casey could share them with me, and he’d just experienced his first foretelling of what was to come.
I already knew there were two paths ahead of me, and I’d have to choose. Those two very different choices were laid in front of me in tragic precision.
I had the ability to beat the Warden, even without my magic. I could lead my allies against him, use my cleverness to end his monstrous rule, and bring Ilamanthe into an age of peace while reigning as Empress. If I did this, none of my loved ones or friends had to die. They’d all make it to the end, and we could heal this world back to the way it should be.
