Lily slipped her hand into his, not understanding what he meant. Of course, he could see them. They all could.
Father was looking at Mother in a way Lily had never seen him do before. She watched as they drew up their hands and pressed them together, joining the two columns of light, which shone even more brightly, sending sparks shooting from the balcony, raining down on the rocks below like a waterfall made from dazzling light.
Lily squinted as she followed the bright ray of light down to where it broke into two beams, one connecting to Pip and the other to Griffen, who was sitting up now, holding the amethyst in front of him with an expression of awe. He seemed to have been completely healed.
Then, Griffen held out his amethyst to Pip and they touched the love stones together. As they made contact, their beams of light joined so it was now one giant column connecting Pip and Griffen to Mother and Father on the balcony.
Then, without warning, the column shattered, beginning at the top and misting down, sending snowflakes of light floating to the rocks below.
It was, without doubt, the most beautiful sight Lily had ever seen and she gripped Raphael’s hand tighter. Back in Forte Cadence, people had talked about their Evernow and Lily had listened with wide eyes wondering if she’d ever experience a moment when she was happy for time to stand still. There was no doubt that for her this time was now. Not only had she found her true love, but finally, she’d broken free of the life she’d been trapped in. It didn’t matter what happened in her future. Right now, at this very moment, she was blissfully happy.
A rumbling sound shook her from her thoughts and as the last flakes of light settled on the ground, the lighthouse began to quiver.
It was actually happening. Her vision of the lighthouse falling had been a warning and they had to act fast or not only would her Evernow come to an end, but so would the lives of everyone on this tiny island.
“Get in the boat!” she called, letting go of Raphael’s hand. “It’s coming down!”
Everyone who wasn’t already in the boat, clambered in. It was dangerously over capacity, barely managing to stay afloat as one of the men pushed them out into the water. There was some confusion and scurrying and tilting of the boat as the oarsmen heaved them further out into the water, but Lily’s eyes were glued to the lighthouse as the trembling picked up.
“Hurry,” said Lily. “We have to get as far away as possible.”
The oarsmen powered through the water as sections of the lighthouse’s roof broke away and plummeted into the water below, the ripple effect causing the boat to rock, coming dangerously close to tipping them out. But these men had been trained to row fast, and row fast they did. The boat slid through the water with what felt like was incredible ease.
Mother and Father were still visible, standing on the balcony, only instead of holding out their hands, Lily could see their tiny figures embracing. They were both going to die and Lily winced as she realized she didn’t feel in the least bit sad about this. These two people might love each other, but they’d caused nothing but misery to everyone around them. They deserved no better than to go down with this tower of misery.
When the foundations could withstand the trembling no longer, the lighthouse collapsed into itself, taking Mother and Father with it. Lily held her hands to her ears to block out the terrible roar of the crashing of stone upon stone, rock upon rock, and Raphael wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders. She buried her face in his chest, feeling safe when she knew she was anything but.
The noise was soon replaced with a giant cloud of dust that rose from the rocks and swirled in the currents of the sea air. And still, the oarsmen continued to row, only just managing not to capsize in their determination to get everyone a safe distance away.
And just like that, it was gone. The ocean swallowed up the lighthouse, the breeze swept away the dust and the waves lost their power, leaving them bobbing on a calm sea wondering if they’d imagined the whole awe-inspiring thing.
Pip and Griffen were sitting with stunned expressions on their faces, still holding the amethysts together, which were now emitting a gentle purple light.
“Did we do that?” asked Pip, looking around at all the faces staring at her.
The oarsmen shuffled off their seats and dropped awkwardly to their knees in the boat.
“Long live the King and Queen of Feldspar,” said one of the men, bowing his head to Pip and Griffen.
“Long live the King and Queen of Feldspar,” said the others.
Pip and Griffen looked at each other, their brows furrowed, then looked at Lily as if she’d be able to explain what had just happened.
“It’s true,” said Lily. “Father told me that the amethysts can be used to find your true love, but when the true ruler of Feldspar finds their love then something spectacular happens.”
“Well, that was definitely spectacular,” said Aunt Micah, shaking her head.
“You’re the true rulers of Feldspar,” said Lily, overjoyed to have been released from a duty she never wanted. “We all saw it.”
“But…” Griffen had found his voice at last. “Surely that’s you.”
“Father thought it was,” said Lily, smiling. “But it seems he was wrong. Just like he was about so many things.”
“But how can we be the true rulers?” asked Pip. “We’re not even from Feldspar.”
“The crystals know,” said one of the older oarsmen who’d been particularly quiet this whole time. “They always know and their decision is final. You’ve been chosen. Our future is in your hands.”
Pip pulled back her shoulders. “So you mean, we can change how things are around here?”
“This is your kingdom to rule,” said the oarsman.
“You can let the children go free.” Aunt Micah smiled so widely, Lily almost wondered if she had a child inside those mines herself.
“It’s a revolution.” Azrael clapped her hands together. “It’s actually happening!”
Pip nodded and looked at Griffen in stunned silence.
“Please, give us our orders,” said the oarsman.
“Take us back to Feldspar,” said Griffen. “We’ll decide what to do from there.”
The oarsman nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. But if I may point out that the love stones have already decided. All the people from Feldspar will have seen the lights and will be awaiting their new rulers. I’m afraid we’ll be arriving back to quite the scene.”
Griffen wrapped an arm around Pip and they whispered to each other, no doubt trying to come to terms with the wild turn their lives had just taken.
Lily snuggled into Raphael, glad the ocean had fallen so still. With the boat so overloaded, at least they had a chance of making it back in one piece now. She’d had enough of swimming in the ocean for one day. Actually, she’d had enough for a lifetime. Now that the amethysts had been recovered and the lighthouse was no more, with any luck, she’d never need to swim again.
“Are you okay?” asked Raphael, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead as the oarsmen settled into a rhythm to take them back to the mainland.
“I’m better than okay,” she said. “I never wanted to rule Feldspar. And I know you didn’t want to either.”
He smiled at her as his answer.
“How do you think they feel about it?” she asked. “Will they be good rulers?”
“They’ll be wonderful,” he said. “Once they get used to the idea. They have strengths that balance each other out. And there’s no doubt they love each other.”
“I was certain it was going to be us,” she said.
“Are you upset to give the amethysts away?”
“They were never mine to keep.” She reached up and touched him on the cheek. “And I don’t need a vision of you anymore. You’re right here.”
“And not going anywhere, in case you wondered.” He took hold of her hand and brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them softly.
“Besides, the amethysts told me everything I n
eeded to know,” she said.
“And what’s that?” he asked, even though surely, he must know.
“That we’re meant to be together.”
“Just wanted to hear you say it.” He tightened his grip on her and she heard the clinking of glass from inside the bag he carried.
“What’s in the bag?”
“My elixirs,” he said proudly. “Plenty of time to tell you about them later.”
She let out a sigh of absolute contentment. Not at the thought of having to wait to find out more about Raphael, but just because now she had the opportunity to do just that. They had the rest of their lives stretching out before them. And now that the responsibility for the kingdom of Feldspar had come to rest on Pip and Griffen’s shoulders, she was free to return home to Forte Cadence.
Lily looked back out at the flat expanse of ocean they were leaving behind them, finding it impossible to imagine that beneath that innocent calm surface lay not only thousands of crystals but the bodies of Mother and Father. Those two people had taken her from her family and held her captive. She’d dreamed that this lighthouse would fall. And she’d wanted them to fall with it. But now that it had actually happened, it felt different somehow. They’d loved her. And they’d loved each other. Were evil people capable of love?
“Why didn’t they try to get out?” she asked Raphael, not really expecting him to have an answer.
“He wouldn’t leave her,” said Raphael. “It really was true love.”
“She could’ve left with him.” Lily shook her head as she tried to figure it out. “They’d seemed so calm standing there in each other’s arms, not fighting what they must’ve known was to come.”
“She couldn’t leave,” said Raphael.
“That’s what she kept saying. But why?” How was it that everyone seemed to know what was happening here, except her? Raphael hadn’t even known Mother and Father.
“Lily, nobody could see her except for you,” he said, lowering his voice. “And Micah, as it turns out.”
“That can’t be true.” She clamped her hand over her mouth, searching his face for the hint of a smile but coming up empty.
“Lily, it’s true. Micah tried to touch her and her hand passed right through her body.”
Lily shook her head, pushing back thoughts that suddenly seemed to make sense. Not once in all those years had Mother ever touched her. Not once had she seen her eat. And often when Mother had talked to Father, it was like he couldn’t hear. Was the family time they’d insisted upon a way for them to use her to communicate with each other? If Father couldn’t see or hear Mother, then that would make some kind of sense.
No. This was impossible to believe. Surely, she’d have realized. It couldn’t be… She turned to the oldest of the oarsmen.
“Excuse me,” she said. “But who lived in that lighthouse?”
“You,” he said, confused as he continued to pull his oar through the water.
“And who else?” she asked.
“Well, the King visited you every day, so it wasn’t like you were alone. Bad timing though, really.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I was there the day the King brought you to the lighthouse as a gift for his Queen. He hoped once she had you, he’d be able to lure her back home. Horrible business it was.”
“Tell me,” she said. “What was horrible?”
“Her Majesty was so lonely out there, isolating herself as she pined for a daughter. Then the day the King finally brings her one, we arrive to find her floating face down in the water.”
“But I don’t understand.” Lily felt Raphael’s hand slide down her back as he tried to take the sting out of the oarsman’s words
The oarsman shook his head. “We were late the day we brought you over. Seas were rough. The Queen must’ve thought we weren’t coming. Threw herself off the balcony before we could get to her. Like I said, horrible business. Had to cover your eyes, we did. Being such a young one. The King made us swear not to tell anyone. Wanted everyone to believe she was still alive. The way he spoke about her, sometimes we thought she still was.”
Memories of her arrival at the lighthouse flooded back to Lily. She’d been so traumatized that she hadn’t paid all that much attention to how everyone else around her was feeling. But now she remembered the hand clamped over her eyes and the sound of Father’s cries. Being carried into the lighthouse, her eyes still covered, and deposited into a kitchen where finally she was allowed to see again.
It was there that she’d come face to face with Mother, while Father and his men had been busy outside.
Mother had stood on the other side of the table and told her she was sorry she hadn’t waited for her. Lily had remembered thinking she was quite mad as clearly, she had waited for her. Had she really been some kind of ghost, even back then?
She remembered Father coming up to the kitchen after what had felt like a very long time. His face was pale and tears were streaking white lines of salt across his face. He’d also said he was sorry Mother hadn’t waited and Lily had found her voice and said she didn’t understand how someone who was right there hadn’t waited.
Father had cried loudly at this. He’d cried all night long, sitting at that table and Mother had had to guide Lily out of the room and show her the bedroom she’d set up for her, telling her to get into bed and laying out the rules she was to abide by. Father had followed them and watched from the doorway. He’d stayed for days and days before he eventually left, and then returned every day to ask Lily questions about Mother.
Without knowing it, she’d become his connection to his true love. He’d kept her in the lighthouse as his only link to the woman he’d loved.
“They’re together again now,” she said to Raphael, realizing it was going to take her an awfully long time to fully process all of this.
“They are,” he said.
“That was all he ever wanted.”
She could never forgive what Father had done. Not ever. But now that she’d found her own true love, she could understand it a little more. She’d do almost anything to keep Raphael happy. Almost. Because she knew deep in her heart that there was no way she could take away someone else’s happiness in order to nurture her own. Father had destroyed not just her life, but all the lives of those children in the mines. And their parents.
But now that could be set right. Raphael had said that Pip and Griffen had kind hearts. Which meant there was hope not just for her own future, but there was hope for Feldspar.
MICAH
THE AFTER
Micah sat behind Lily and Raphael in the boat, watching them talk, enjoying the gentle romance that was blossoming between them. It hadn’t been like that with Tallis, but that might have been because she’d known him her whole life, so her feelings for him had snuck up and surprised her.
Her heart ached for him now, but there was no way she could return to him until she’d found Gabe. She’d promised to look after that small boy and that was exactly what she intended to do. Once she got him out of the mines, of course. This job should be a whole lot easier now that Pip and Griffen were the somewhat shocked new rulers of Feldspar.
She hoped Gabe knew she was coming for him. He must be so frightened. First to have been taken from his home like that, and then ripped from Micah’s arms when he thought he’d finally found safety.
They were approaching the mainland from somewhere completely different to the secluded beach where they’d left. She could see boats and ships docked at long jetties and a line of buildings along the coastline. But it wasn’t the sight of civilization that startled her, it was the noise. Shouts and cheers echoed across the calm water. It seemed the oarsmen hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d said there’d be excitement about the new rulers.
“Hold on a moment,” said Pip.
The oarsmen stilled their oars and waited for their new Queen to speak.
“I’m not sure what you’re taking us into,” she said. “But I suspect
there won’t be a lot of time for questions when we arrive.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” said the oarsmen in unison.
Micah smiled to see Pip taking charge like this. Good for her! Griffen seemed to have fully recovered ever since the amethyst had been in his possession, and was sitting proudly by her side, nodding at her every word.
“A boy was taken from us when we arrived in Feldspar,” said Pip. “We were told we could find him in the mines. Where exactly are they?”
One of the oarsmen pointed to what looked like some low lying mountains. “Not far from the docks, Your Majesty. We can take you there. The royal carriage will be at your disposal.”
“And will they release the boy to us?” asked Griffen.
“You’re our King and Queen. The Masters will release every boy to you if you ask. And girl for that matter.”
“Then, let’s do this.” Pip nodded her head at Micah, aware of how much this meant to her.
The oarsmen resumed their rowing, continuing to pull them toward the docks, the noise of the crowd of people getting louder with each stroke.
As they got close to the shore, Micah could make out individual people in the blur of color. When they’d seen the sky fill with light, they’d known their King was dead and the crown had been passed on. Keen to see their new rulers, they’d waded into the shallows to greet them. Micah was glad it wasn’t Lily who’d be the center of all this attention. Although she seemed wise beyond her years, her life had been too sheltered for her to have to deal with something like this. Had the amethysts somehow known this when they’d chosen Pip and Griffen to rule the kingdom? Or had the magical stones sensed that Lily was already destined to rule another kingdom?
They passed the first of the people in the water and Micah saw their drawn faces and hopeful eyes. This was a kingdom that had seen much suffering. A new ruler was a chance for change. Perhaps all these people willing for this to happen had somehow brought this event to pass like some kind of silent whisper.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 113
