Page 76 of Royal Fate

“You really trust her, huh?”

“I really do.”

Cyndella sniffed and nodded. “Then I trust her, too.”

“Yeah?” I asked suspiciously. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I’ve been working on myself… with Endora’s help,” she admitted. “And she told me that Mirielle’s not so bad.”

My heart swelled.“I’m glad to hear that you’re working on yourself. And I’ll be really happy when you and Mirielle spend some real time together.”

Cyndella sat up slowly. “I’ve always wanted a sister, you know?”

“I’ll try not take that personally,” I joked, ruffling her hair and standing. “I’ll check in on you tomorrow, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I bid her goodnight and said goodbye to Alle before heading back across the hall to my mate and future queen, but I paused to look at the north and south wing for a moment, my pulse quickening.

You won’t be empty for much longer,I thought happily.Silverhold Tower is going to be alive again at long last.

Epilogue

MIRIELLE

Beads of sweat broke out on my brow again, and I swooned. Cyndella caught my arm, steering me toward the closest chair with a shake of her black chignon.

“No more champagne for you,” my sister-in-law scolded me. “That’s the third time you’ve stumbled in ten minutes.”

“I’m not drinking!” I protested, gratefully accepting the bottle of water she produced for me and guzzling it back. The cool liquid coursed through my veins, immediately making me feel better, but I was still moderately shaky. “I think it’s my nerves.”

I looked around the ballroom, nodding at all the noblefaeries at the party, here to celebrate my marriage to Zen. I’d been against the idea of a huge, post-reception reception, but Zen had insisted upon it.

“It has to be done,” he told me. “The other kings will want to meet the new queen, and this is how business is conducted. I’m sorry. It’s annoying and tacky, but…”

He shrugged.

“We were married six months ago!” I protested when he first informed me of the party. “It will be our one-year anniversary before this thing is planned.”

“Don’t worry about it—they don’t really need an excuse to party,” he joked.

But now that the event was upon us, I hated the idea even more, the way I’d been whisked from one table to the next, introduced as Princess Mirielle in some circles and the queen in others. I couldn’t keep straight who I was supposed to be to whom.

“What do these faeries even know about me?” I demanded when I managed to pull Zen aside. “Do they know I’m Audrina’s daughter?”

“Of course,” he replied. “We had to prove your lineage with all the kingdoms. That’s how you have access to the trusts set aside for the Original family.”

“I never cared about the money,” I told him, and that was true.

I was with Zen, and I was happy with my new family. Feeling safe and loved were the only things I had ever really wanted.

“I know that, Little Mouse. And it’s one of the many reasons I love you.” My mate brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my palm.

But that was two hours ago, and now I was sitting in a chair, almost ready to collapse.

All I knew right then was that I wanted to get out of the overcrowded ballroom and head up to our suite to sleep. I was exhausted.

“I’m going to get Zen,” Cyndella announced. “You look like hell.”

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