Page 122 of Tale of the Heart Queen

She looks over at me, catching my stare, and nods. I see the thank-you she shares in her eyes.

“Amya and I will wait here,” I say, placing my hand on her nape and pulling her closer to kiss her temple. “Just call if you need us.”

She nods and then reaches out, taking the hands of Willow and Tristan on either side.

They stand together at the threshold, looking over their family’s ruined queendom.

“Ready?” Lor asks, and Willow and Tristan nod.

She looks over her shoulder and blows me a kiss before the three siblings of Heart enter their homeland together, hand in hand, for the very first time.

CHAPTER 44

LOR

QUEENDOM OF HEART

Willow squeezes my hand so tight that my fingers are going numb. I knew this would be hard, but I’m here to guide them every step of the way.

Tristan and I share a careful look.

Things didn’t go according to plan the last time we were here. If Rion is anywhere near Heart, then we’ll probably know soon enough. Etienne and Mael scouted the area, and I don’t want to be a jerk, but the last time Etienne assured me everything was safe, it wasn’t.

Still, I have my magic and Nadir and Amya are watching over us. Plus, Tristan grows stronger with every passing day.

“It’s . . .” Willow whispers. “It must have been beautiful.”

“I said the same thing,” I reply.

We continue walking, picking over the ruined sidewalks and past the crumbling walls. When I was here with Nadir, we were so focused on finding the Crown, and I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t have the chance to really study this place.

I see the outlines of a building that might have been a shop once and another structure with a partially collapsed curved dome on top, as well as narrow buildings that might have been houses at one time. We walk through a plaza with a statue planted in the center, the top half long gone, leaving only the bottom of a woman’s dress.

“Who do you think it was?” Tristan asks, catching the direction of my gaze.

“Amara,” I say. I don’t know why, and maybe it isn’t, but I like the idea of the first Queen of Heart standing watch. The Empyrium said the first rulers of Ouranos were good kings and queens, and I need a role model more inspiring than my grandmother.

We continue walking, taking in the relics of our grandparents’ ruin. Interspersed between everything are vines and roses. The contrast between life and death, between the past and a possible future, makes my chest tight.

Finally we reach the castle wall and pass into the crumbling courtyard. I note the spot where Nadir and I stood when he said the roses started to grow for me. The same spot where I looked at him and knew I was already falling.

Hand in hand, we stand at the base of the castle, peering up at its jagged spires and the once white stone now grey and mottled by history.

“You okay?” I ask Willow, and she nods, though I can tell she’s putting on a brave face.

“This is . . . harder than I thought it would be. You know?”

“I know,” I say and squeeze her hand.

We enter the castle and walk down the hall in single file. This was where Rion’s soldiers entered, finding us in the throne room after that night when I screamed at Nadir that I would never be his. I can smile at the memory now as I peer over my shoulder. Even if I can’t see him, I know he’s there, just beyond the walls, watching after me.

The reminder of our somewhat rocky relationship makes me think of Tristan.

“How did you leave things with Nerissa?” I ask my brother, whose eyebrows climb up his forehead. He bends down to pick up a stone before tossing it, then catching it in his hand.

“It wasn’t serious. We agreed to leave it open-ended for now. I don’t know if I’m ever going back.” He pins me and Willow with a serious look. “Right?”

“Maybe,” I say.