Page 118 of The High Mountain Court

She didn’t have time to brace for the impact as three fae warriors barreled into her, squashing her and Hale against the wall, the hood of her cloak flying off. Grabbing the Eagles and Carys, she pulled them into a tight hug, a potent mixture of joy and sorrow coursing through her as she clung to them.

“You were incredible,” Talhan exclaimed, looking to Hale. “Did you see her? She fought off five armored soldiers with that one little dagger!”

“I taught her everything she knows,” Bri said, clapping her on the shoulder. “You didn’t die, Rem.”

“I did,” Remy muttered as Carys slung her arm around Remy’s waist and pulled her into her side.

“I am so sorry about Heather, Remy,” she said, her voice cracking as the group sobered. “She was an amazing person and she will be deeply missed.”

They pressed in closer, arms tightening around each other, mourning the loss of the brown witch.

“And Raffiel,” Talhan said, his golden eyes filled with lament. “They have been washed and dressed, ready to take back to their final resting place.”

Remy bit her lips between her teeth to keep the tears from flowing. She would bury them in the hills behind the ruins of the castle in Yexshire. She would give them the burial her parents never received. Fresh white flowers would always adorn their graves. She would make sure their sacrifices were never forgotten.

“The High Mountain crowns have been loaded into the carriages too,” Carys said, her blue eyes darting between Remy and Hale. “Your crowns, now.”

Bri’s gaze dropped to the string on Remy’s finger. She smacked her brother hard in the chest. “I told you, didn’t I? She was his Fated.” She beamed at Remy with her cat-like grin. “I totally guessed it.”

Talhan guffawed. “She had no idea.”

“So we ride to Yexshire,” Remy sighed, looking at Hale and then back to her friends. “And where will you go?”

“Someone needs to head east and get control of Wynreach until a new sovereign is chosen,” Carys said. “We will go keep the peace.”

“We just got back together,” Talhan whined.

“We will come visit you in the East, Tal,” Remy said, leaning her shoulder into Hale. “After we lead our people to Yexshire.”

“You are free of your oath to me now.” Hale’s voice dropped an octave as he stared down at his hands. “I am not a Prince of the Eastern Court.”

Bri snorted. “No,” she said. “You’re the future King of the High Mountain Court.”

Talhan grinned, looking between Hale and Remy. “We’re with you. Always.”

Remy swallowed the lump in her throat as she smiled at them.

“Come on, let’s get to the carriages.” Bri pulled them down the corridor. “I need to take a nap.”

“It is mid-morning.” Remy chuckled, smelling the lingering scent of ale and moonshine on their breaths.

“Exactly.” Talhan wrapped his hefty arm around Remy’s shoulder as he guided her down the hall. “Time to sleep.”

Their laughter reverberated off the cold stone walls, their joy so at odds with the destruction around them. Remy glanced up at the crumbling wall towering above her. Even through the depths of their losses, there was a feeling of awe too. Against all odds, they had survived.

They had traveled through every court in Okrith together, save for her home court. She hoped there would be nights of drinking and storytelling around the hearth of the rebuilt castle in Yexshire. She hoped they would all go up to the rooftop of Lavender Hall again and sip honey wine in the gardens of Saxbridge. But above all, she hoped that their future adventures would be together more often than apart.

Pulling her fur-trimmed cloak tighter around her, Remy followed Hale out into the blizzard. A carriage waited outside the doorway. Behind them, the Northern castle was all but ruins, only a small part of it remaining untouched by the wrath of Baba Morganna. Two servants from Bern’s group were ready to help Remy into the carriage.

Bern sat downhill on horseback. Surrounded by fifty of his soldiers, he readied his troops to march south into Yexshire. Carys, Talhan, and Bri moved toward the saddled mounts, waiting to head east.

This was her life now—carriages, servants.

Even in the camps of Yexshire while they rebuilt the castle, they would treat her like a queen. She was the queen, though a coronation would have to wait for now.

This was her destiny laid out before her.

For the briefest flicker of time, Remy had thought it wouldn’t have to be her, that Raffiel would take the throne and she could relax and live her life with Hale. But that wasn’t the truth that had been gnawing into her gut these fourteen years. She knew that, for Yexshire to rise again, she would have to take her place on the throne. She knew no one would come in and do it for her.

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