by Nissa Leder
Ashleigh swallowed as sadness narrowed her eyes. “What about you? Will I get to see you often?”
“I’ll visit when I can. And we can arrange for you to visit the Otherworld, too. But your focus should be on your life here.” Scarlett smiled. “I’ve only ever wanted you safe.”
Her sister pulled her into another hug. “I’ll miss you. But thank you.”
Scarlett rested her chin on Ashleigh’s shoulder. Her sister was human and needed to live a human life. And even though a small part of Scarlett wondered what her human life might have looked like, she was queen now.
And she must return home.
Cade adjusted the cuffs of his suit. It felt odd to be in traditional Summer attire again. His regal, black jacket was decorated with gold swirls. Perfectly fit for a king.
He’d gotten his kingdom back, filling the hole he’d felt without it, but a new hole had been torn through him. Poppy had done as she’d promised. She’d kept him safe. And although his body had been spared from Kassandra’s magic, his heart had been ripped in two.
With a deep breath, he left his room and headed straight to the throne room where her funeral was to be held. The doors were propped open, and when he entered, everyone in attendance stood.
Ahead, past all the rows of people where his throne normally stood, a walnut casket was placed on a pedestal. Despite Poppy not actually being of royal blood, he’d demanded she be given a royal funeral.
He held his breath as he walked to her, paying no attention to the stares around him. In the front row, on each aisle seat, were Raith and Rowen. They dipped their chins in respect as Cade passed them. He placed his hands on the casket, letting the silent tears drip onto its wood, before taking his seat next to his brother.
The Summer Priest stepped from the side of the room and moved behind the casket to begin the service.
Once it was over, and the casket had been lowered into its final resting spot in the royal cemetery, Cade made his way to the parlor.
When he stepped inside, he found Raith already there, drink in his hand.
“Looks like we had the same idea.” Raith lifted his glass. “Join me, brother.”
Cade went to the bar and poured himself a glass of straight liquor. “I always thought winning would feel better than this.” He sat down with a sigh before taking a gulp of his drink. It burned his throat, but he didn’t care.
“We won the war but both of us lost the girl, it seems.” Raith finished his drink and guided the empty glass to the bar with his magic.
Cade just nodded. Saying anything aloud about Poppy’s death was too difficult. So, instead, he changed the subject. “Now that I have the Summer Court back, I’ve been thinking about its future.”
“I predict lots of sunshine and hopefully lots of alcohol,” Raith said.
“Those are fair predictions.” Cade took another drink. “I know things haven’t always been the smoothest between us, but I’d like a chance to start over. I never did win the battle fairly, but I have no intention of rescinding my title as king. I would, however, love it if you’d be my advisor.”
A smirk slid onto Raith’s mouth. “After everything we’ve been through—including you leaving me for dead—who would have predicted you’d willingly ask me to be your right-hand man?”
Cade shrugged. “Maybe it’s just my grief feeding me bad ideas, but I think you’re the right person for the job.”
Raith stood and walked to the bar to pour himself another drink. When he returned to the seating area, he sat next to Cade and raised his glass. “I must be just as crazy as you because I accept.”
The brothers clinked their glasses. “To new beginnings.”
Cade had lost Poppy. He’d never be the same. But he’d regained his crown and his brother and for that, he was thankful.
The fresh Autumn air blew through the trees and into the Woodland camp.
Sage stood outside her tent, watching her tribe sisters go about their usual duties.
Later that night, they would bury the two soldiers they’d lost in the battle, honoring them for their sacrifice—a sacrifice they willingly made.
Sage had never expected any of her sisters to follow her to the Otherworld, but all of the able soldiers had volunteered without a question asked.
Jade, who’d been preparing the bonfire for the night’s ritual, approached her. “Everything is ready. Is there anything else I can do?”
“I need to visit the Autumn Castle, but I will be back before the sun sets,” Sage said. “You are in charge until I return.”
“You mean…”
“Yes, you will be my second in command.” Sage resisted a laugh at the surprise on Jade’s face. “If you accept, that is.”
“Yes, of course.” Jade bowed. “It would be my honor.”
Since Sage was short on time, she evanesced to the outside of the Autumn Court. She lingered outside the hedgerow protecting the palace as she had on her first visit back with Raith.
With a deep breath, she headed toward the hedgerow and, as she drew closer, it parted into an archway. Even as Woodland Queen, her royal blood still granted her entrance to the Autumn Castle.
As she followed the cobblestone path to the entrance, she was surprised to see Willow sitting on the staircase leading to the door. As usual, Willow was dressed in a beautiful gown, but now a large crown rested on her head.
“Is everything okay?” Sage sat next to her sister.
Willow unfolded her hands and ran an index finger over her opposite thumb. “How am I supposed to rule a court that has never had a woman ruler? What if they don’t listen to me?”
Sage took her sister’s hand into her own. “They will listen to you. More than that, they’ll learn to respect you in a way they never respected father and surely never respected Ajax.” She met Willow’s gaze and smiled. “You have a kind heart and truly care about our court and our people. Believe you can do it and you will.”
Willow leaned over and wrapped her arms around Sage. “Are you sure you don’t want to be queen? You’re the oldest. And you have far more experience than I’ll ever have.”
“I was never meant to rule the Autumn Court. But I’m always here if you need me.” Sage smiled.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Although Sage had never pictured herself as a queen, leading her Woodland sisters into battle had felt more right than anything she’d ever done. They were her people now, and though a part of her heart would always live inside the castle, her soul belonged in the forest with her sisters.
After Sage had gone inside and visited with her mother, she found Willow again and said goodbye. With the sun growing low in the sky, she needed to get back to her tribe. She followed the path back outside the castle grounds where she could evanesce back to camp.
When she walked back through the hedgerow archway and neared the forest, something caught her attention in the trees.
Perched on a branch, Garnet hopped to the edge and flew in three circles above Sage’s head before landing on her shoulder.
“Hello, girl.” Sage gently stroked her feathers. “I’m going back into the forest now. You can go and be with Willow now.”
Garnet tilted her head but remained with Sage. Then she nuzzled the top of her beak against Sage’s cheek.
“Well, okay then,” Sage said. Maybe the bird was done living inside the castle walls too. Sage couldn’t blame her for wanting more for her life. “I guess you’re mine now.” Sage pet Garnet on top of her head. “Let’s go to our new home.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Scarlett would miss her sister every day, but they would see each other again soon. She would make sure of it.
She had to make one more stop after saying goodbye to her sister before she could go to the Unseelie Court.
The more she’d thought about it, the more she realized that she was meant to hold all of the Otherworld’s power as Dana had at one time. But after the ritual that took the magic fr
om the tree in the mortal realm and put it into Scarlett and Ankou—then Morta—Scarlett had become far too powerful to be trusted with any more magic than she currently possessed.
She wasn’t sure if her plan would work, but she needed to try. Leaving the magic in the dagger long term was a risk she didn’t want to take. Instead, she would make another gamble.
Scarlett evanesced to the tree in the Silver Lake forest where the magic of the mortal realm used to be held. If the tree had kept the magic safe once, she hoped it could do so again.
She reached out her mind, making sure no one else was near. When she sensed no other presence, she closed her eyes and placed both of her hands on the tree.
With a deep breath, she searched herself for the magic inside that didn’t belong to her. When she found it, she exhaled, willing it to leave her.
Scarlett opened her eyes and saw a silver strand of light flowing from her and into the tree. When the strand disappeared, she knew the magic she’d gained from the ritual had returned to the tree.
Next, she pulled the dagger from her thigh and plunged it into the bark. For a few seconds, the dagger glowed silver. Once it was done, it dropped to the ground.
Scarlett picked it up and grabbed it by the hilt. With the magic from the mortal realm now out of her, she could no longer feel the earth around as strong she’d been able to. Now, if the darkness ever took control of her, she wouldn’t be as dangerous.
Before she could reconsider, Scarlett plunged the dagger into her chest.
The darkness inside it surged through her, making her lightheaded. Her tattoos tingled as a wave of black spread through her mind. Slowly, the rescinded, allowing the light around her to reappear in her vision.
Once all the magic in the dagger had been transferred into her, the dagger crumbled to ash.
The burden of the dark magic belonged to her now. But if she could accept that side to herself, she was confident she could keep the balance between the dark and light within.
With the dagger no longer a threat, Scarlett evanesced to the Unseelie Palace.
Her first stop was Kaelem’s room, where she figured he’d be catching up on his soap operas. He must have missed a few episodes as they prepared for the battle. But he wasn’t there.
She tried the parlor next, thinking he might be pouring himself a drink, but he wasn’t there either.
As she passed Lola in the hallway, Scarlett asked, “Is Kaelem here?”
“On the roof,” Lola said with a grin. “There’s a stairway outside.”
Scarlett went out the front doors and walked around to the side of the palace and followed the stairs up.
When she made it to the top, she was shocked to see Kaelem waiting for her with a bouquet of red roses in his hand.
“Mortals are always expressing their love with roses on TV,” Kaelem said. “And, well, you used to be human and all...”
Roses had never been Scarlett’s favorite, but these were the most beautiful roses she’d ever seen. “Thank you.”
Kaelem reached out and twined his hand with Scarlett’s. “I also read in a magazine that star-gazing is in the top-ten of romantic dates.”
He tugged her across the flat palace roof to a bed made with fluffy, white linens covered in rose petals. He snapped his fingers and the lights all around the palace shut off.
Scarlett glanced up at the stars—the same stars she’d looked at for all her years as a human. With darkness all around, they shined brighter than she’d ever seen.
“It’s spectacular,” she said as she crawled onto the bed and rested her head on a pillow.
Kaelem lay next to her, their hands still connected.
“As much as I’d love to stay and live here with you in the Unseelie Court, I must return and rule my people.” Scarlett hated to ruin the moment, but she didn’t want to lead him on.
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.” He squeezed her hand. “Haven’t you heard of long-long-distance relationships? Carla and her boyfriend…”
“Let me guess,” Scarlett interrupted, “they make long-distance look like a piece of cake.”
“Well, no,” Kaelem said. “They tried the whole long distance thing and failed miserably, but we are going to be way better at it than they were.”
Scarlett leaned her head on his chest.
Her life would never be simple.
But it was her life, and she’d be happy for everything she’d gained.
She’d brought peace to all three realms, and promised to do everything in her power to keep anyone from disrupting that peace as long as she could.
That was something to think about later, though.
For now, she would listen to Kaelem’s heartbeat as she stared at the stars from the safety of his arms.
The End
Although this series has come to an end, the world will continue in a companion series. Visit Nissa’s Facebook page to be the first to hear the details!
Also by Nissa Leder
Whims of Fae
Two Princes of Summer
Prisoner of Darkness
Whims of Fate
A Dark Eternity
A Cursed Reign
Queen of Dark and Light
Curse of the Veil
When Souls Linger
Curse of the Veil
The Soul Crossing
About the Author
Nissa Leder was born and raised in Washington State, but now lives in the sunny Phoenix Valley with her husband, Joe, and their two boxers, two cats, and pet poison dart frogs.
Always an avid reader, she didn’t realize her love for writing her own stories until her freshman year in college. Once she knew her life’s calling, she began studying the craft of writing and eventually obtained an MFA from Spalding University.
When she isn’t writing down the stories that fill her head, she’s likely at the tennis courts working on her forehand or journeying to another world by reading a book. She’s a big believer in following your dreams and encourages everyone to shoot for the moon and pursue their passions.
