Page 97 of The Maleficent Faerie
I love you beyond reason, with all the persistence of revenge and all the violence of hate. I love you into the deepest dark and under the harshest light.
I bled, and the blood reminded me that I was alive, that I was more than the dark hope to which I clung. I want to stay awake, for you. Alive, for you.
As I think the last words, a delicious flush of power surges through my body, rolling outward from my heart to my fingertips.
I inhale, startled and blissful. When I look down at my hand, clasped with Malec’s, my skin has a golden glow, and his fingers are bathed in green light.
Never have I felt more alive, or more perfectly whole. I laugh aloud, and Malec does too, before leaning in to kiss me softly.
As we kiss, waves of light pulse outward from the two of us, rolling up through the tiers of worshipers, illuminating every Fae with an instant burst of magical energy, bathing the humans in a surge of peace and hope.
The song falters as the worshipers gasp and exclaim. But they don’t leave. They stay, resuming the song, more joyfully this time.
Blissful and overwhelmed, I turn to Malec. And I’m shocked to find that tears are trailing down his cheeks.
“Aura,” he whispers. “I have never felt such hope.”
I lace my fingers with his, relishing the sensation of magic refilled, watching our friends glow and smile and sing.
I can hardly believe I’m here. Liberated from the curse, without fear of the realm’s imminent collapse, sitting beside the Void King—my husband—my fellow Conduit, my partner in magic, lover and friend. I have no mothers to please, no Royals to revere, no Princess to guard.
I’m free. I think I could fly... and maybe someday, with the help of my new magic, I will.
A winged shape blots out some of the stars overhead, and at first I think it’s the Guardian, soaring in the distance. But it’s a raven, who descends to perch on my knee, surveying me with one round black eye. When I reach out, the bird lets me pet its ebony feathers. A link quivers between my mind and its consciousness, and though the tenuous connection slips away before I can grasp it, I know that with time and training I’ll be able to summon and speak with ravens as Malec does.
I grin at my husband, and he winks before pulling me close, wrapping his wing around me.
After a moment’s hesitation, I let my head tilt against his shoulder.
We rest there, my maleficent lord and I, while the stars glisten in the Void and the song awakens the goddess in the hearts of our people.
