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“Raelametanashi!” Auntie Toru repeated, dripping tears over Raela’s clothing. “You’re awake! The curse is broken!”
Auntie Mo approached on the ground at a more sedate pace, but her hug was no less fierce. “My child, we were so worried. But your prince—Oh! Oh, Raela.” But Auntie Mo’s voice was stopped up, so she stepped back and gestured behind her.
Raela’s heart stopped beating in her chest. It had been years, but time passes slowly for fairies, and the face before her was one her heart remembered well. Auntie Toru released her embrace, and Raela stepped forward. “Auntie Shou?”
“Little cub, how much you’ve grown.” Her auntie’s smile grew in warmth and wrinkles, and Raela flung herself into the old woman’s arms. “I’ve been waiting for your prince,” Auntie Shou murmured. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to watch you grow up. And I’m so sorry I left. It was the only way to save you.”
A sob broke from Raela. Years of grief melted into sweet relief. “I’m sorry I wandered too far, Auntie Shou.”
“Oh, my dear. It wasn’t your fault. I was needed in the future—at Zalina’s castle. It was never your fault.” Her auntie patted her cheek. “Besides, you were a child. What child doesn’t wander?” Raela felt a wave of relief flood through her.
Then a warm hand pressed against her shoulder. Killian leaned forward. “Raela, there is one last reunion.”
Raela’s heart beat hard and fast when she realized what he meant. She wiped her tears and reached for his hand. Her aunties gathered behind them.
The crowd parted and whispers grew, as they headed from the main hall to the breakfast room. A guard, seeing Killian approach, stood to attention and opened the doors for them to enter.
As the doors shut behind them, her ears rang at the sudden silence. She could hear her heart pounding upon seeing the four adults gathered at the other end of the room.
Killian led her forward, his presence and the shuffling of her auntie’s feet a balm for her nerves. Phineas nodded to them both, before stepping away from the other three. Killian gestured toward a large man with a golden crown. “Father, I would like you to meet Raela, the one I love.” And turning to the couple beside the king, Killian’s voice thickened. “Raela, these are my father’s best friends, the king and queen of Walworth, Jonat and Marisha… your parents.”
The man and woman were clinging to each other as if to hold the other upright. They were tall and fair, her mother’s blue-green eyes lined with eyelashes the same blonde as her light, almost-white hair, a whisp lighter than her own. Her father’s hair was more like dried corn, an earthy yellow. And he had bright blue eyes. Eyes just like hers.
Her mother reached forward, her hand shaking. “Raina? I mean …” She glanced at Killian, the fairies, and then back at her daughter. “Raela?”
Raela stepped forward, her heart in her throat and her mind clouded. She didn’t know this couple, but they looked like her. She studied their faces and saw the same love she had always seen in the eyes of her aunties. Except her parents looked afraid and sad. She reached out for her mother.
Her gesture released her parents from their frozen state. Her mother let out a cry and pulled her in closely. Her father wrapped them both in her arms, sniffing back his own tears. Raela felt a wellspring of emotion, and happy tears pushed at her lids, but a giggle bubbled within her. She pulled back and smiled at her parents. Her father wiped at his eyes, while her mother brushed her palm down Raela’s hair. The wind swirled warm through the room as Raela’s joy spun within her.
“My beautiful child. I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so happy the prince broke the curse,” her mother murmured.
Killian chuckled. “She broke mine.”
Raela turned toward him and stepped back into his reach. “I’m glad too. Killian is a good man.”
Killian straightened beside her as his father came toward them. Placing his left hand on Killian’s right shoulder, he gazed at his son. Killian placed his hand on his father’s shoulder in the soldiers’ greeting. The king smiled. “He is a good man. Killian, you saved our kingdom. Against magic. Against monsters. Against unlikely odds. Againstme. I couldn’t break the hold of her magic. I could see it all and do nothing to stop it.” His eyes glanced to where his father had cut through his leg. “And I hurt you.” The king continued, “Phineas has told me about all that you’ve been through and overcome.”
“I’m sorry, Father. I didn’t see what you were trying to teach me all these years.”
The king tugged at his collar. “I-I am sorry for my harshness, Killian. I was wrong to ever make you feel responsible for your mother’s death. I have you now, and I was the fool for never seeing the gift that you are. The gift that she gave me … Killian, I am so proud of you. It was I who failed you. Can you ever forgive me?”
Killian’s grip tightened on his father’s shoulder as his throat bobbed. He nodded, and his father grasped him in a massive hug. Raela wasn’t sure why there was so much back hitting, but they lookedhappy.
Together with her love, her parents, and her aunties, Raela’s happy tears fell anew.
Chapter 26
The Wedding
Killian
Killianstoodattheend of the throne room on a raised platform, his people gathered before him murmuring quietly as the instruments played a gentle tune. Phineas stood beside him, and Jax stood beside Phineas. Both were panting and grumbling about the heat from the many hearths lining the massive room.
The fairies and woodland creatures had outdone themselves. Every window was lined with lace and sheer white fabric; every chandelier glittered with polished stones that cast rainbow light below; and bushels of potted flowers lined the aisle, the platform, the throne chairs, and the rows of seats.
He chuckled quietly. Killian didn’t care where they were married; he would marry her in a muddy cave or a wrecked castle. As long as he marriedher. But allowing the fairy aunties to decorate had made the room absolutely magical—even if it was overly stuffed with flowers. More importantly, giving the fairies this work had distracted them from their usual “helpful” mischief.
Jonat, Marisha, and his father stood at the next platform, in front of three thrones, looking royal and majestic, but even his father swept a finger at his eyes as the music swelled.
