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The Vale.
Will it be enough?
Arms snake around my neck, and there’s a soft press against my back. “It will be.”
I sigh into my mate and run my thumb over her wedding band. “How do you know?”
“Because it has to be.” I hear it in her voice, the tremor of fear. She’s terrified. We all are.
But fighting through it is what makes her brave.
Rosalina slides down beside me, wearing a long sheer robe, her loose hair still damp and curling wildly. “What part of the Vale do you think we’re floating above right now?”
I peer through the clouds, then at these isles. I’ve never considered it. Do they move or stay in one place? Farron surely has a dozen theories.
“You tell me, Rose,” I say.
Her hands clench into fists at her sides, and she shudders, her eyes closed. Her breath increases, fast, heavy pants.
“Rose?”
She opens her eyes, a single tear cutting down her face. “We’re above the Queen’s Realm. Kel, the Vale…it’s crying out for help.”
I take her hand in mine. “And we will answer.”
Part Five
war of the rose
40
Rosalina
“The last time we walked into an underfae camp in the name of diplomacy, we ended up initiating a massive battle and collapsing the entire Voidseal Bridge,” I say matter-of-factly, voice just loud enough to be heard over the icy wind and the crunch of our boots in the snow.
“What are you implying?” Kel asks.
“Only that there’s an expression in the human world. Something like, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’”
“Well, I happen to like that my wife is a little insane.” Kel looks down at me and gives the slightest hint of a smirk. “Besides, it’s too late to back out now. We’re almost there.”
I take a shaky breath and pull my hood farther over my face. I keep my wings retracted.
For now.
Frostfang is bathed in gray light, the stone roads covered in a layer of snow. Smoke wisps from every chimney, and I can only imagine how warm the insides of the buildings are compared to the streets.
Kel and I arrived in Winter this morning after activating the gateway with our new divine weapons. It was far easier this time, all seven of us helping to connect with the Celestial Landing. I wonder if I would have been powerful enough to operate it on my own, as my mother used to. Something to try another day.
For now, I have accompanied Keldarion home. Ezryn is on his way to Florendel, Dayton to Hadria, and Farron to Coppershire. Caspian and Wrenley have left to scour the mountain range between Spring and Summer for the rest of the Queen’s Army. We’ll need to rally all the realms if we’re to have a chance at defeating Sira.
And that means we’re not only here to reclaim Winter.
There is another realm that must fight.
It hadn’t been a long journey from the Celestial Landing to Frostfang; I’d ridden on the back of Kel’s wolf, and I think my face is windburned from the speed. A perimeter of underfae had been stationed around the border of the city, but it appeared movement in and out was still allowed. Vendors, fishmongers, and tradesfolk were leaving and entering the city.
“Trade within Winter must still be operating,” Kel had said when we were scoping out the situation.
