Page 115 of Calling of the Crown

For Ambrolia.

A couple dozen remained standing, their chins tilted up in defiance, and Elias headed those Fae.

“This is your decision?” I asked, looking at each of those still standing.

“We’ll never bow to the likes of you,” a man spat at me.

“Good. I’ve never been one for the whole bowing concept.” I smiled. “But I’ll be waiting for the day you’re ready to stand beside me. Those not ready to try their hand at peace will remain here, deep in the ocean where you aren’t a threat to yourselves or others. I’ll come by later to provide you with any necessities and see if there’s anything more you need or want. And one day, when you’re ready, I’ll gladly bring you home.”

“So this was your plan?” Elias seethed. “Lock us away and let us rot?”

I met Elias’s glare with an even gaze. “No. That’s the difference between you and me, Elias. Your endgame was always death. And mine? It was always new chances and new life for everyone.”

Chapter Fifty

I TOWERED IN MY MONSTROUS ocean body, watching down below as the water deposited the Fae who’d chosen peace back into the Valley of Wisps. Once they were all safely back on land, I took a deep breath and looked inward.

I’m ready to go back.

I felt myself shrinking and rushing through the air at the same time. Everything blurred as I bounced and drifted like a small wave through the trees until, finally, I slowed at the edge of the field. All eyes turned my way as my watery figure slowly planted my feet on the ground.

With each step I took, I felt myself almost rebuilding. Each step became easier and more solid, and I looked down to see my skin starting to reappear peachy and fleshy. My feet and hands were first, with the change climbing upward. I turned my fingers over, watching my body slowly go from water to flesh once more, and hair fell over my shoulder in blue waves.

“Bria!”

I looked up to see almost all those I loved rush toward me, but none of them were as quick as Rune. He barreled into me, crushing me against his body, and the sharp intake of breath seemed to choke him.

“Thank God,” he gasped. “Thank fucking God you’re okay.”

I squeezed my arms around him, holding onto him like the anchor he’d always been for me.

“And naked,” Dallas added as she came up on the other side of Rune. She handed me the fitted leggings and shirt that had fallen from my body when I’d turned into water. Tears flooded her eyes, and she sniffled. “We thought we’d lost you.”

I offered her a reassuring smile. “You didn’t. It’s weird. I still feel like I’m floating a bit.”

When I finished putting on my tattered clothes—the shirt covered mostly everything, but there was a gaping hole in the fabric along my stomach where Elias’s sword had run me through—Rune grabbed my left hand and slipped the silver ring that had fallen off back onto my finger. He brought my hand up to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back of my hand.

Rune and Dallas stepped aside so I could see all the Fae gathered in the field. Silver-and-blue stood opposite gold-and-green, but both groups stared my way expectantly. They were still divided, still separate and unsure of how to interact, but it was a start.

Squeezing Rune’s hand, which still held mine, I stepped forward with him at my side.

“Today marks the end of a long, trying era in the history of Water and Land Fae. It also marks a beginning. The start of a new partnership. A new foundation on which to grow. A new chance at life. It won’t be easy. There’s a lot of hurt that still exists between us all. But we can work through it. We can face it, Water and Land Fae alike. Together.”

Rune thrust our joined hands high into the air and yelled, “Together!”

The cheer from those gathered was instant. “Together!”

A moment of relief, a sense of being weightless, hit me, and instead of pushing it away since much work still had to be done, I let myself embrace it. I let myself look at the Fae who embraced and cheered, and the Fae who fell to their knees with relief because it was finally over. The war had passed. Peace was just around the corner.

I looked up at Rune with tears cascading down my cheeks. “We did it, Rune.”

He smiled down at me and placed a kiss on my forehead. “We did it, baby.”

The bright feeling of accomplishment lingered even as I set to work with Rune. The two of us divvied up tasks that needed to be done. Those who’d passed in the battle needed to be collected for proper burials, the wounded needed tending to, and arrangements needed to be made for all the Land Fae now without their King. It was a lot to manage, but Rune and I were handling it the best way we could—together.

Realizing the numbers of fallen Fae made breathing harder. There were countless faces I recognized from the greetings I did when Water Fae first arrived on Morardia, forever frozen in pain. Even tougher to see where Aidan and Yasmine, who clung to each other as they sobbed over a dead Talia. Even though we’d never been close, seeing their trio down a person made me sick.

As I finished healing a Wolf Fae, I noticed someone walking toward me. I stood and turned to find my mom drawing close to me. Things had been so chaotic that I hadn’t had time to really see her or process her presence, but now that the dust had settled, nothing was stopping me.

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