I didn’t know what that said about me.
“Why are you even here?” I asked.
She stiffened. “In case you missed it yesterday, I am in charge here under Knight Commander Foxheart and Prince Justin. While they were absent, Camp HaveHeart was left in my capable hands.”
“Uh-oh,” Gary whispered.
“Well, that will be something that will need to be addressed once they return. In fact, I do believe you shall be banished. In fact, why don’t you go pack up your belongings now so we don’t have to delay the inevitable?”
The crowd began to whisper furiously around me.
Lady Tina’s eyes narrowed. “I think you’ll find yourself outvoted in that regard. I have more than proven myself to those that
matter.”
“Oh, girl,” Gary whispered. “You should not have said that, girl.”
“Really,” I said coldly. “You tried to turn the people of Verania against me. You played a part in the death of Morgan of Shadows. You nearly got Ryan Foxheart killed. Randall is missing. I was forced into the Dark Woods to seek out a way to finish this once and for all. Tell me, how exactly have you proven yourself to those that matter when I wasn’t here?”
For a moment she looked slightly fearful, and I thought I’d won. But somehow she found the strength to shore herself up against my vindictiveness. She stood tall, and if she were anyone else, I might have been impressed.
“I accept my actions for what they were,” she said, voice even. “I made mistakes. But like before, you place blame on others without accepting any for yourself. What about your actions, Sam? What about everything you did which led to where we stand now?”
I was giving serious consideration to turning her whole body into so much running pus, but before I could, something in me shifted, a void in my head and heart filling like it hadn’t in a long time. My magic began to sing, and I had to close my eyes against the onslaught of it all. It was more than I remembered, but then, I was a different person now.
And I knew what it meant.
Lady Tina was forgotten. Gary and Tiggy and Kevin were forgotten. My parents were forgotten.
The crowd around us, undoubtedly already spreading rumors, didn’t seem to matter anymore.
All I cared about was that my cornerstone was near.
Even when we were children and he was a teenage douchebag I had turned to stone, there had been a connection between us. I truly believed it was because of him my magic manifested the way it had. Randall had once said we were woven together more tightly than even he expected, and I didn’t know if I’d ever heard him speak more of the truth.
I remembered the way his hand had felt in mine when we’d danced that night at the ball the King had thrown when he’d promoted Ryan to Knight Commander. The way Ryan had looked at me as we danced those three waltzes—like I was the only person in the world—had made my skin itch and heart hurt.
He loved me even then, and I didn’t know. I thought he was out of my reach.
And then I’d been at his side, facing the Darks, and the cruel twist of fate revealed itself when my magic sang for the first time in a way I could recognize as home. He was my home, and he belonged to another.
He stood upon a keep far from everything I’d known and wished for nothing more than me.
But wishes spoken aloud never come true. Everyone knew that. So I let him go.
But we were tied together. The both of us. Randall had been right about that. Something about us was always meant to be, and the void was filling, and I thought there was a chance I could do anything asked of me, if only he could be at my side.
Once upon a time, I sat alone in the desert under a night sky and made a wish. One that I’ve never told anyone, because I wanted it to come true.
Make me mortal. When all is said and done. I will protect my King, this one and the next. I will protect my kingdom. I will do all that you ask, but I want a mortal life for my happy ending. This is my wish.
I needed to hope he already hadn’t had Justin’s babies.
Because I would hate to have to steal some children’s father away from them. I’d feel real bad about it for at least a week, and no one wanted that.
I started to push my way through the crowd, but they offered no resistance. They parted as if they, too, had been waiting for this exact moment.
When I reached the open gate, I saw something unexpected.