Page 79
A knowing smile crosses Farron’s face. “You have not only given us back our magic, but you have discovered the secrets of the first fae.”
“Why am I not surprised? Rosalina O’Connell shone her light in the Below. Of course, she can do it in the Above, as well.” Caspian smiles. “Thank you, Rosalina. For all of it.”
I cover my mouth to stop a sob, then sprint to them. They wrap their arms around me, and I’m embraced in their warmth and love.
My mates. We’ve fought for the Vale before, and we’ll do it again.
Together.
Part Four
divinity
31
Caspian
The air grows colder as we rise.
I don’t fly often. Not because I can’t but because I hate how it feels.
The shadows ripple beneath me like oil and smoke, lifting in great, curling plumes from the ground.
They used to be hers. My mother’s. She taught me how to shape them. How to hide in them. How to kill with them.
But now the magic seems…different. As though something inside it has shifted. With the roses replanted in the Gardens of Ithilias, magic is creeping its way back into Airaleth and also into me.
I glance sideways at Rosalina. She flies beside me, her wings golden and bright and burning against the starlit sky.
She’s why.
She planted a rose for me.
This magic is still laced with my mother’s memory, but it doesn’t belong to her anymore.
The green ember burns hotter inside me, and I think of my father, banished from this world forever. This power doesn’t belong to him anymore.
It belongs to me.
And I use it now to lift myself toward the observatory…or what’s left of one. I’d spotted it from the ground, and some maps in the palace had confirmed my suspicions about what it was.
The platform comes into view, a jagged slice of stone floating above the ruined city. We land in silence. Rosalina’s wings glimmer into sparkling mist. My shadows curl around my boots, then retreat.
The observatory is mostly ruins now. Half a dome, scattered star maps, and broken railings. But above, the sky goes on and on.
Rosalina turns, taking it all in. The city below flickers faintly through the mist. “So what are we looking for?” she says, voice hushed. “Scrolls? Documents? Murals?”
I hesitate, stroking my hand over my jaw. The smooth skin takes me by surprise; I’d gotten quite used to the beard I grew in Orca Cove. I only decided to shave it off today. Fresh starts and all that.
The wind brushes past us in a soft current, carrying the scent of moss and stars and that faint, metallic tang of old magic. “Would it be terrible,” I murmur, “to admit I didn’t bring you here looking for answers?”
She eyes me, curious. When we returned to the palace, Ezryn had announced he had an idea and everyone needed to leave him alone. It was the perfect opportunity to explore this place, and who better than with my Flower?
I nudge her and simply say, “I thought you’d like it.”
And that’s it. For once, I don’t have a grand strategy or mastermind plan. I just want a moment with her.
Rosalina sighs, and the tension in her shoulders relaxes a little. Maybe she needs this as much as I do. Her gaze drops to my feet, where the last of my shadows slither away.
