60. Gwyneira

60

GWYNEIRA

B irds chirped in the distance. Wings fluttered. Something hard and rough rested against my back.

“Princess?” an elderly voice called from far away. “Princess, can you hear me?”

I opened my eyes only to squint at the light.

A thin and familiar face swam into view. “Harran?”

The steward stared down at me. “Princess! Oh, thank the gods, you’re all right.”

I blinked in confusion and struggled to move. Dirt and rocks lay beneath me, and a cloudless blue sky hung overhead. Wincing, I started to rub my eyes. “How did I?—”

My gaze caught on my arm. A pale shimmer clung to my skin, like the barest sheen of frost.

A groan came from my right. Pressing a hand to his head, Clay sat up and then froze as if registering what he’d just done. “Wait, we’re… we’re not dead.”

His eyes found me, relief splitting his face into a massive grin. Beyond him, Lars stirred.

“Princess?” Niko’s voice came from my left.

I turned. Byron and Demon were near his side, the wounds on Demon’s chest glowing like banked fire, as if his powers were already working to heal him. A surge of relief and love poured through my link to Ozias behind me, while just ahead, Dex and Casimir sat up groggily.

Confusion crossed my scholar’s face. “H-how are we not dead?”

Clay laughed. “Don’t question it, man.”

Breathless chuckles came from Lars and Dex. A smile tugged at Niko’s lips like it wasn’t sure it should be there, and I suspected my expression was similar.

Because I wondered the same thing. Moreover, I wasn’t the only one with a strange sheen to their skin. We all had it. The shimmer was faint, and it didn’t look like my stepmother’s silver gleam. More like frost, and unless the light hit it just right I wouldn’t even know it was there.

Other details of the courtyard registered. Harran and the nine of us weren’t alone.

I froze. While the old steward hovered nearby, looking anxious, all around the courtyard beyond him lay green-skinned men, shifters, and harpies, each of them unmoving.

“Hey, Cas,” Clay said. “You all right?”

Casimir didn’t answer, looking past me to something at my back.

I turned. My lips parted in shock.

We also weren’t the only ones who looked different. The royal tree stood behind us.

Every inch of it now glistened, as clear as if it was made out of a diamond.

“What the…” Lars whispered.

Unsteadily, I pushed to my feet and walked toward it. As I drew closer, I could see more detail. How it wasn’t simply clear. Inside, the crystal held rings like those found in a tree trunk. Thin veins of glistening liquid pumped through it all.

“It’s still alive,” I said.

A strange, ethereal feeling brushed over my mind, like distant chimes. On impulse, I reached for the trunk.

“Careful,” Dex cautioned.

I nodded, not turning. Gingerly, my fingertips rested on the glass.

My eyes widened. In an instant, my awareness spread out, as if somehow I was here but also… everywhere. In the city. The countryside. In Gentresqua and Cioloren and… my gods, even the Wild Lands.

Everywhere my stepmother’s apple trees on the ley lines had been, but those trees had now become like diamonds. And from it all, that same whisper of chiming carried through my mind.

I pulled back with a small gasp. “It… it took the blast too.”

“What?” Niko’s footsteps came closer.

“We buffered the impact,” I said, turning back to them. “But the tree, the ley lines, the nexus…” My gaze rose, and a breath escaped me at the shimmer clinging to the stone walls. “Even the castle… They’re part of me. They took it too.”

Eyeing the tree, Niko reached out, resting his fingertips on it too.

The chiming in my mind changed. Grew richer, like another layer of sound had joined what I heard.

His wide eyes darted to me. “You feel that?”

I nodded.

Behind us, the others rose, coming closer, reaching out too.

Note by note, the chiming turned to a harmony that stole my breath with its beauty.

“We’re connected to it.” Wonder filled Lars’s voice.

Byron made a noise of agreement. “Not simply a mirror of the world anymore.”

“Our energy and it are the same,” Casimir said.

“But what does that mean?” Clay asked. “For, you know, us ?”

Casimir chuckled softly, as if his power had told him something about the diamond trees that the rest of us couldn’t yet perceive. “I suspect we will have many, many centuries to figure that out.”

His gaze met mine.

“Our…” I wetted my lips, fear and hope fluttering in me at the words. “Our bonds will sustain them?” I twitched my head toward the giants.

He nodded. “We and this world are connected. We survive, it survives. And vice versa.”

A shaky breath escaped me, so much joy filling my chest it was hard to speak.

But my giants simply grinned. “Guess you’ll have to put up with us for a while longer,” Clay teased.

I choked on a laugh. “Forever.”

His smile broadened.

Groaning came from the courtyard. Alarmed, we turned.

On the flagstones, the monsters were stirring.

“Oh, shit.” Clay reached for his sword.

Dex and Lars did the same, while the demon growled.

“Wait.” Niko put a hand to Clay’s arm, his eyes on the monsters.

For a moment, the creatures only blinked as if they were dazed. But when they spotted one another, cries of relief and pain and joy rose. Green-skinned men and shifters shoved to their feet, grabbing one another in hugs, while harpies wailed and huddled together, winged arms around each other.

A smile tugged at Niko’s lips. “I think it’s okay.”

“What?” Clay gave him an incredulous look.

“Their kind can survive possession,” Niko said. “I saw it. And the Voidborn left when the portal opened.” His grin broadened. “They’re not possessed anymore.”

The monsters caught sight of us. The cries of relief and joy subsided as they tensed, pulling back as if bracing for us to attack.

Hands raised, Niko took a step toward them.

“Careful, brother,” the demon snarled.

Nodding, Niko didn’t take his eyes from the creatures. “Can any of you understand me?”

Wary looks passed between the monsters. One of the green-skinned men stepped forward. “I do.” His voice was gruff, and his words had a rough accent that I couldn’t hope to identify.

My sweet giant smiled. “My name is Niko. These are my friends.” He gestured to us. “We’re not your enemies if you’re not ours.”

The green-skinned man eyed him and then jerked his head in a tight nod.

From among the harpies, one woman rose. Her brown braids were a matted mess on her head, and her wings were missing some of their longer feathers. “Are…” Her beak made her words click. “Are the dark things gone?”

Niko nodded.

A shudder that looked driven by pure relief went through the harpy. Behind her, several others closed their eyes like they were thanking their gods.

At the far end of the courtyard, something heavy suddenly banged into the gate. Panicked noises shot through the harpies, while the green-skinned men and shifters tensed like they were preparing to fight.

“Brothers!” More banging followed, along with swearing in Erenlian. A wood beam of the gate splintered under the blows.

A smoky shape flowed through the gap. Gasps rose, but before anyone could attack, the amorphous figure coalesced.

Ruhl huffed a greeting at us and then rose up on his hind legs and knocked the crossbeam on the gate aside.

Brock stormed through, scanning the courtyard fast. At the sight of Clay and Lars, his furious expression cracked into relief. “Gods of the Stone, are you all right?” He strode toward us quickly.

A strangled noise left Harran. “What? That’s a?—”

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “They’re our allies.”

The steward stared at me.

Behind Brock, more giants entered the courtyard. Dathan, Ignatius and so many others who’d come with us through the gateway. The robed figures of witches followed proudly on their heels.

“Well,” Ignatius said, taking in the tree and us alike. “This is…”

“As it should be,” said a familiar voice. The crowd of witches parted.

Rufinia, First Matron of the Jeweled Coven, stood at their center. Her graying cloud of hair was disheveled and she bore a cut on the dark skin of her cheek, but she gave me a smile as she tilted her head in a nod. “Princess Gwyneira.”

Harran cleared his throat, cutting me off before I could respond. “If I may, madam,” the steward said, his face a picture of rigid propriety. “Not princess.” He bowed to me. “ Queen .”

Dex smiled, pride and respect in his eyes. “All hail the queen.”

Grins spread across the faces of my men.

I couldn’t find words. I’d fought for this for so long, and now…

“So,” Clay said like he’d read my mind. “What happens next?”

Byron chuckled. “What would your books say, your highness?”

I stared at him for a moment, thrown. “I-I guess they’d say…” A smile tugged at my lips as the answer came to me. “Now we live happily ever after.”