Page 78 of Finding Closure

“She didn’t snitch on you,” I told him, chuckling when he seemed shocked. “She talked about the coronation and full ritual in a different journal for me. Or her heir before I was born, all while it was fresh in her mind. She didn’t say anything about anyone going off script.”

“She was loyal like that.” He scrubbed his chin. “Plus, she probably wanted you to take it seriously and make it your own. She was big on that. She wanted people to have their own experiences, not her experiences.”

I nodded, that sounded very much like her from what I’d read of her journals. “I want that morning bath once a month. All of this even. I think it important to take once a month to recenter and really reassess myself.” I snorted. “Plus, I feel so fucking relaxed. Whatever was in that bath and all of the fruit—it’s healing for us. I get it.”

“You’re going to make a great queen, truly, Tamsin,” he rasped, pride in his voice. “I’ll tell the others.”

I chuckled. “Don’t tell them now or you’ll bust us, dummy,” I teased. I felt better when he winced. I thanked him for the contraband food and ate it while praying.

He took the garbage with him, and I went back to my seclusion.

It had been changed a bit for me given I was half demigod. I was allowed some silent attendants while I cleansed in the groves around the vacation palace. Then I had another soak and went to pray at another temple.

To find Onas of all people nervously waiting for me and cloaked.

“Really?” I chuckled.

“This is for people to feel you’re taking it seriously,” he said firmly. “The gods don’t care, and you’re too powerful to cut calories. You’re so damn stressed with everything going onandcleansingthat you should be having loads of calories.” He cleared his throat. “If you want. I would never—”

“Thanks, Onas, I’m starving,” I admitted, taking the bags of burgers as I knelt down. “You did this for Elora, didn’t you?”

He did a double take but then nodded.

“Tell me about her? How her coronation went?”

So he did and I thought that honestly more important than praying. Or the god I was supposed to be praying to could listen as well. He told me how nervous she’d been and how she’d inhaled the contraband food as well. It was a nice moment between us.

“Good luck with Shael,” I told him.

He looked a bit shy. “She makes me feel young and not so tainted. I hated her so much at first because she was so blunt and called me on so much, but she wasn’t wrong. I hated that about her, but then I saw the same pain as I have. Now I just see the woman who tries so much harder than most and has had so much damage done to her because of it.”

I nodded. “I want you both happy.”

He nodded. “If it works, it works. If not, we’re meant to be with other people and I will wish her the best.”

I loved that fairies thought that about love. They had a lot of faults, but they were sohealthyabout how they viewed love and relationships. I was always jealous of that.

No, not jealous. Jealous made me feel as if I wanted to take something and negative. This wasn’t a negative feeling.

I aspired to be that healthy. Yeah, I was envious and willing to work to get there.

Next was Lucca and he seemed extra hesitant. “I was nervous about you being alone and Neldor said we could sneak and check and he’d help me get here since I couldn’t open a portal in Faerie.”

“But he didn’t want to go first in case I got mad,” I surmised.

My huge bear frowned. “I didn’t think of that. Dickhead.”

I died. Seriously.

I gladly ate the cream puffs he snuck me wearing the cloaking Neldor had put on him. I even had him come back to the palace and wait while I cleansed. Then I let him soak with me and nodded when he groaned how nice the bath was. I opened a portal to Neldor and smirked when he came right through seeming worried.

“Just bring them in here for the bath. The commanders keep showing up to the temple, so I don’t want you guys to get caught there. They won’t come here when I’m bathing.”

He blinked at me for a full moment. “Is this like—what is the point of this if no one follows it?”

“I think it’s to give the heir a break when she’s so stressed her head is about to pop off,” I answered, already having figured that out. I gestured to the relaxing bath and trays of food.

“Yeah, good point.”

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