Page 43 of Crowned

“I missed you, Mai-Tai.”

“You too, Cove. So much. Waking up not dead was great and everything, but when I realised it meant maybe not seeing you all again, it felt like a crueller punishment than death,” she confesses with a sniff.

I stroke her hair and hold her tighter.

“Not gonna happen,” I vow. “A world where we’re not together doesn’t exist, Mai-Tai.”

“That’s what I told her,” the prof says, coming into the room with Reef, wheeling a trolley loaded with breakfast goodies.

“Oh my god, that smells amazing,” Malia breathes, scrambling off my lap and rushing over to investigate what’s on offer.

“And not a nut or an olive in sight,” the prof jokes. The pair of them laugh and I raise my brows, wanting in on the joke.

“Let’s just say we did a lot of foraging in the other world,” Malia explains.

“If I never see a fig again in my life, it will be too soon,” the prof adds.

I chuckle at their banter, grateful for the lightness and normalcy of the moment.

“Oh my god, is that bacon?” Malia squeals.

We all laugh.

As Bhodi pours out coffee and fruit juices and we gather around the trolley and help ourselves to the delicious spread that the prof and Reef have prepared, I can’t help but steal glances at Malia. She looks beautiful as ever, but also different somehow, her eyes holding a newfound spark.

We all dig into the delicious breakfast spread, and a sense of contentment washes over me. The familiarity of our little group banter, the laughter that fills the room, it all feels like coming home after a long journey.

Malia looks radiant as she devours a bacon sandwich, her eyes sparkling with happiness. It’s moments like these that make me grateful for every breath I take, for every heartbeat that keeps me going.

Reef catches my eye and gives me a knowing smile. We’ve been through so much together, faced countless dangers side by side, and yet here we are, alive and well, enjoying a simple meal in the comfort of our safe haven, with the ones we’d thought we’d lost forever.

The professor raises his glass in a silent toast, his gaze lingering on each of us in turn. There’s a silent understanding between us, a bond forged in fire and tempered by the trials we’ve faced together.

Once we’ve eaten and cleared away, it’s time to make a plan.

“So…” Malia tentatively breaks the silence. “What now?”

“We need to find out who the traitor is,” the prof replies. “And discover what the Shadow Legion’s imminent plans are, try to work out which Council members, if any, can be trusted, and come up with a plan of attack for keeping the Shikari out of Aerwyna.”

“Simple,” Bhodi quips sourly.

“I’m probably forgetting other things,” the prof adds with a nod. “Reef?”

“Probably,” I cut in. “It’s already a lot though. At least we have all of our memories back. It should help.”

Reef nods, his brow furrowed in thought. “We should start by gathering all the information we have and see if there are any patterns or connections we’ve missed,” he suggests.

Bhodi leans back in his chair, rubbing his temples. “I’ll track down some of my contacts in the underground network. They might have heard something useful.”

Malia frowns, her mind clearly racing with possibilities. “What about me? I want to help but I don’t know what I can do.”

“It’s not really safe—” the prof begins.

“None of us are safe. But you’re not all planning to hide away in a palace, so why should I?”

We exchange nervous glances. Will the prof tell her?

“Malia, you already died once,” he begins softly.

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