Harlyn shrugged. “If I can, then I will.”
“Only you can solve it.” Simon glanced at me and smiled. “Five minutes from now, I will make an announcement, ceding my short and mostly miserable reign as king of the Halderians to you, Harlyn. You will lead them better than I ever could. They will follow you, as they should.”
Harlyn’s mouth fell open. “You want me to rule over the Halderians? But that doesn’t make sense. Kestra is still queen over the land.”
I caught the smile on Simon’s face and grinned at him. Then it was my turn to address Harlyn. “That is true, and a problem I will address in ten minutes. At that point, I will cede my even shorter and far more miserable reign as queen of Antora. The person who occupies the Scarlet Throne must be able to unite the kingdom. That is you. And if you will have Gabe, he will make a fine king as well.”
Harlyn looked over at Gabe, the smile widening on her face. When he nodded at her, with a more solemn expression, she nodded respectfully to each of us and said, “If I have half the nobility that either of you has shown, I will consider my reign a great success.” Then she gave us each a quick and enthusiastic embrace, ending with a kiss to Gabe that was hardly quick and much more than enthusiastic.
When they separated, Gabe offered deep bows to each of us, and said, “So, what happens now?”
I took Simon’s hand in mine. “In fifteen minutes, Simon and I will leave Highwyn on his dragon. We will fly until we come to a land where nobody knows his name, or mine. Where there is no war, nor magic. Perhaps where there is no one at all but us.”
“Once we are settled, we will send word to her father,” Simon said.
“And to us as well.” Gabe offered his hand to Simon. “So that your friends may visit once in a while. We are friends, Simon.”
I took Harlyn’s hand at the same time. “We are friends indeed.”
As promised, fifteen minutes later, Simon and I left the palace courtyard, likely for the last time ever. We walked to a clearing while we waited for Rawk to arrive. But there was no rush.
We were finally alone.
Simon pulled me into his arms. “After we land, who will we be? No longer a king and a queen.”
“No longer a rebel and an Infidante.”
He kissed my cheek. “No longer traitors.”
He kissed my jaw next, and I whispered, “From this moment on, I leave behind my Dallisor name. I will honor my Endrean mother and Halderian father, but I will not claim that blood. I will only be Kestra.”
“And I will only be the boy who loves her.”
He leaned toward me, a breath away from a true kiss, when Rawk landed behind us, with an impatient snort that suggested he was not about to wait any longer than he had to.
Simon helped me onto Rawk’s back, then sat behind me as we launched into the air. I had no idea where we were going or when we would get there, and I didn’t mind that at all. We had a lifetime to finish that interrupted kiss.