Black Hearted, page 23
“They did it,” she whispered. “They sacrificed so that we could live on for generations.”
I guessed she was assuming Lorelei was dead, too, but I was still holding on to hope. I wasn’t ready to let go. I wasn’t ready to give up.
Zander nodded. “To Zane and Lorelei.” He placed a fist over his chest, and one by one, everyone did the same, even Nysa, who didn’t know who Lorelei was and had only met Zane for all of three seconds at our wedding.
My eyes filled with tears as I met Zander’s gaze.
He needed this. He needed a moment to bury his brother in his heart, because we would never get a body.
We were cut off from Faerie, probably forever.
As we were all lowering our hands, Zander, Stryker, and Adrien all simultaneously gasped, their faces reflecting shock.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
It was Zander who answered, wearing a huge grin.
“Zane lives. I feel him.”
“I feel him too,” Stryker said, and then a crease formed on his brow. “But something feels different.”
Adrien nodded. “I agree, but I still know it’s him. He’s alive!”
Isolde let out a whoop. Stryker picked up Aribella, swirling her in midair, and we all burst into laughter and joy, so much so that one of the babies woke and started fussing.
Everyone quieted, but we still smiled and hugged. Until we heard the scream coming from down the hall in the direction of the throne room.
Stryker, who was nearest the door, had his sword drawn and ready before anyone could even react.
The men told us to stay back as they ran to investigate, but we, of course, ignored them. Nysa stayed behind to guard the babies as Aribella, Isolde, and I followed in our husband’s wake.
The boys burst into the throne room up ahead, swords drawn and shadows poised, ready to cut down any enemy. Adrien, realizing we’d followed them, threw up a shadow wall in front of us, preventing us from coming into the room behind them.
Isolde bared her teeth in frustration at her husband and then lifted her hands, preparing to use her magic to get through the wall, when it suddenly dissolved in front of us, just in time to see one of Zander’s shards drop to the ground harmlessly at his feet, shattering like glass before dissolving.
We burst into the room behind them and took in the scene.
One of Zane’s household staff appeared to have been dusting his throne and had dropped the duster to the ground. She now stood in front of a mirror portal, her hands covering her mouth in shock and awe.
Aribella, Isolde, and I moved closer. The mirror was identical to the ones we all had back in our palaces, but instead of reflecting an image, it was fused open, revealing a woman on the other side standing in a throne room. And not just any woman.
“The Spring queen, Lorelei’s mom,” I gasped.
As Queen Gloriana stared open-mouthed through the portal at us, she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.
“Girls?” She leaned closer, reaching out to try to touch the mirror’s surface, but her hand passed through to our side.
With a gasp of shock, she recoiled. Isolde walked right up to the mirror, getting as close as she could without passing through.
“Is Lorelei with you? The curse no longer holds this land,” Isolde told Queen Gloriana.
Queen Gloriana slowly shook her head, looking downtrodden. “She hasn’t returned yet. But we’ve received word that the curse has lifted here, too.” She leaned forward, peering at Isolde with a look of wonder on her face. “Isolde, is it really you?”
“It is,” Isolde said. “Is my family all right? Did they make it to the Spring Court like I told them to?”
Queen Gloriana nodded. “Yes, they’re safe. They’re all staying here with us at the Spring Palace. So are the Fall queen and king,” she added, and Aribella made a noise next to me.
I glanced over to see tears in her eyes as Stryker pulled her into his arms, cooing softly in her ear that her parents were okay.
Aribella hadn’t spoken much about her parents back in Faerie. I got the impression it was too painful for her, but it was clear now, from the look of relief on her face, how much that news meant to her.
When I turned my focus back to the mirror, Queen Gloriana reached forward again. This time, Isolde gently grasped her hand when it appeared in our world, and the queen yelped. Yanking her hand back, the Spring queen took a shaky step away from the mirror.
“Go get Sera,” Isolde told the housemaid who had discovered the mirror portal. Then she glanced over at Adrien. “I’ll be right back, my love.” Without waiting for him to respond, she stepped through the mirror and into the throne room on the other side.
“Isolde,” Adrien scolded, moving to follow her, but Zander stopped him.
“We don’t know if they will accept us, brother. Let her handle this.”
Adrien ran a nervous hand through his hair, staring at the mirror portal with apprehension. I could understand his hesitancy. What if Isolde got stuck in Faerie?
Aribella turned to me, her eyes bright with excitement. “Do you think that it will stay open? That we can visit our families?”
Families?
I no longer had family in Faerie. It had always just been my mother and me. No siblings, no father.
Someone took my hand, and I looked over to find Zander at my side, smiling down at me. My heart filled. My family was here now, in Ethereum. But I knew what she meant, and who was to say if the portals would remain open? I hoped they would.
I started to tell her I wasn’t sure when a familiar voice called out from the other side of the mirror.
“Dawn!”
I snapped my head up to see Master Duncan standing in the Spring Palace’s throne room. A small crowd was lining up behind him. I recognized Aribella’s mother, Queen Beatrice, among them.
“Where’s my daughter?” Queen Beatrice shouted as she pushed her way forward.
“Can we come over?” Master Duncan asked, inspecting the mirror. He peered at the edging, seemingly deeming it safe.
I glanced at Zander to confirm it was okay, and he nodded before I told Master Duncan it was safe to cross.
This was a historic moment—leaders of Faerie entering the mirror world.
Master Duncan and Queen Beatrice came through first. As I went to greet Master Duncan, Aribella ran into her mother’s arms, the pair sobbing as they embraced.
Then Adrien passed through the mirror to Faerie to check on Isolde.
Just as Serafina, Isolde’s sister, arrived, looking flushed as though she had run the length of Zane’s castle to get here, her sisters—all five of them, minus Isolde—came through the mirror portal. Before we knew it, we were all moving back and forth at will without issue.
From what we could gather, Queen Gloriana had just returned the mirror to the Spring Palace’s throne room. She explained that my mother had stolen it, but she’d sent her soldiers to retrieve it. It turned out that the portal opened the moment the mirror was returned to its place in the throne room, connecting it directly to Zane’s throne room here in the Western Kingdom.
I had to wonder if the same was happening with the other mirror portals, connecting the different Faerie courts with the Ethereum kingdoms. But since we’d all been forced to abandon the other palaces and castles because of the curse, we wouldn’t yet know until we returned.
We told Master Duncan and the others that my mother had been killed. We didn’t share the details of how, and they didn’t ask.
Master Duncan mentioned that I would need to be sworn in as queen and sent a messenger to the Summer Court to check on its status. Since we didn’t have train stations or any fast mode of travel, it would take days, even with a raven delivering the reply.
I was overwhelmed yet filled with joy. Isolde and Seraphina had been reunited with their entire family, as well as Aribella with her parents.
The only fae missing were Zane and Lorelei. If Zane was truly alive, where were they? Stryker’s comment about something feeling different about Zane ran through my mind, but I had to hope that wherever the Western lord and Spring princess were, they were safe with each other.
Though it was late, Zander had the kitchen prepare a full five-course meal and had tables brought into the throne room. We were having a celebration.
One of Lorelei’s younger sisters, her name escaped me, approached with a young red-haired girl. Judging by her clothes, she wasn’t royalty.
“Is this Zane’s house?” the girl asked, seeming unsure.
I nodded. “Yes, it is. Who are you?”
“I’m Nellie. Have you seen Zane?” she asked, hope shining in her eyes. I’d overheard her asking Isolde the same thing a few minutes ago.
I shook my head gently. “I’m sorry, I haven’t. How do you know him?”
She chewed on her lip, looking like she was about to cry. My heart ached for her.
“He’s my friend, and he said he was coming back,” she whispered.
As she turned to leave, I caught her arm gently. She turned back to me, her eyes brimming with tears so full I was sure she could barely see.
“If Zane said he was coming back for you, then he’s coming back for you,” I promised her.
If any of my husband’s brothers were a man of his word, it was Zane. I didn’t know how they were connected, but it was clear Zane had touched this young girl’s heart, and I wanted her to know he wouldn’t abandon her.
“Would you like to stay and have a meal with us while we wait for him?” I offered.
Lifting her chin, she nodded, doing her best to put on a brave face. My heart ached for her.
I called for Nysa to bring the babies since it wasn’t good for me to be away from them for long. When they arrived, fae from both worlds stopped to offer Zander and me their congratulations.
As I glanced around the room, with Zander at my side and our children close, seelie and unseelie alike mingled, gazing around in wonder and passing in and out of the portal with ease.
It was the best feeling in the world. There was a rightness to this. To have the two worlds open, to being one people.
I watched as Stryker extended his hand to Aribella’s father, King Leonard, and created a small horse out of shadows. When it dissolved, they shook hands, smiling.
Zander slipped his hand into mine and glanced at me. “Queen, huh?” he teased.
I gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, we might need to figure that out.”
He nodded. “I’ve always wanted to live in a place that’s hot and sunny.”
I laughed. “You liar. You love the snow.”
Grinning, he pulled me into his arms. “I do. But I’ll go wherever you go. We can spend equal time in both places if your people need you. We’ll figure it out.”
Stars, I married the most understanding man in the realm.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, little bird.”
He leaned in to kiss me, but Nellie’s squeal ripped through the air.
“Zane!” she screamed.
I pulled myself from Zander’s arms and looked toward the open doorway to the throne room.
Zane stood there with Lorelei, holding hands, both wearing smiles.
And I knew just from looking at them that the Spring princess had found her mate.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Zane
Lorelei was amazed by the train system I’d built, and I couldn’t help but feel a burst of pride at that. Her gaze flitted here and there, her eyes wide as saucers as she took everything in—the wood-lacquered benches, the paneled walls, the electric lights, and the Western Kingdom landscape flying by the windows.
The staff onboard were overjoyed to see me, and I was thrilled that we were only a short stop away from Windreum. It was well into the night when we arrived at the main train station, but even with the lateness of the hour, fae danced in the streets. They cheered and threw flower petals as we passed.
“The curse is destroyed! The plague is gone!” they shouted.
Lorelei just smiled, peering at me as she took it all in. “Oh, Zane, these shops are so quaint,” she said as we passed the boutiques.
“I’ll take you tomorrow when they open. Whatever you want is yours,” I told her, and she blushed.
When we reached the front of my castle, my guards were visibly shocked to see me.
“My lord. We’ve been so worried. Your brothers are inside.”
“All of them?” I asked, surprised. When I left, Adrien and Isolde were going to go back to the Southern Kingdom. Something must have happened to make them return.
He nodded. “Lady Dawn had her babies early. Everyone is healthy,” he added quickly, when he saw my brows knit together in concern.
Lorelei squeezed my hand beside me, and my guards opened the front gates to let us in.
“My lord!” Jessie, my favorite housemaid, an elderly unseelie with pointed teeth and gray skin, greeted me with a deep bow as we entered. “Oh, you must come and see what’s happened.”
“I heard. Dawn had her babies,” I told her as we followed her.
“No, my lord. I mean, yes, but it’s not that.” She scurried along the hallway, leading us to my throne room.
I kept a tight grip on Lorelei’s hand as she looked around my castle in wonder. I hoped she liked it, but if she didn’t, that was fine too. I’d let her redecorate the entire thing if she wanted.
When we reached the double doors leading to my throne room, a large crowd of voices could be heard from behind them.
My maid cracked the door open and then bowed before disappearing behind me.
“Are they having a party for Dawn?” Lorelei wondered aloud, echoing what I was thinking.
When I stepped inside and scanned the space, shock rippled through me.
These were not all my people. I recognized Lorelei’s mother, Glori, right away. Seelie from Faerie were in my house.
How?
Then I spotted the mirror on the far wall. It looked identical to the one I’d seen when I rescued Lorelei from Queen Liliana’s Summer Court manor house. And through it, rather than reflecting the scene in front of us, I could see into what I recognized as the Spring Palace’s throne room.
“Zane!” Nellie’s voice pulled my head to the right, where she was sitting at a table with Lorelei’s sisters, eating what looked like chocolate cake.
I grinned, releasing Lorelei’s hand and opening my arms as Nellie ran into them.
“You came back for me,” she whimpered into my ear and sniffled.
“I told you I would. Were you a good girl for Queen Glori?” I asked.
She nodded, pulling back and wiping at her eyes. “But she said I need to learn better table manners.”
We both laughed at that.
Lorelei squatted down beside us. “Hey, Nellie.”
“Hey.” Nellie hugged Lorelei like she already knew her, which surprised me.
When they separated, Lorelei glanced over at me and laughed. “I might have been visiting her in her dreams to make sure she knew you were okay—and to get to know her.”
I smiled. Now it made sense. “Did you tell her about the puppy?” I asked.
“What puppy?” Nellie said excitedly as Lorelei smacked my arm.
“No. That was supposed to be a surprise.”
“What puppy?” Stryker’s voice came from behind me, and standing, I spun around to find my eldest and most stoic brother staring back at me with something that looked almost close to a smile.
It was good to see him. It was good to see everyone, considering I thought I never would again.
“Still too grumpy for a hug?” I asked.
He grinned, the expression still looking a little foreign on his face as the jagged scar on his cheek puckered. “That depends. Did you get me a puppy?”
I laughed, pulling him in for a hug anyway, which he returned.
“Well done, brother,” he said, patting my back. When he pulled back, there was a suspicious shine in his eyes that I would swear were tears if it was anyone but him. “We thought we’d lost you for a second there,” he said, his voice gruff.
Looking into his gaze, I sobered a little, realizing they’d felt me die. “For a second there, you did,” I said, but then glanced over at Lorelei. “But someone was too stubborn to let me go.”
Lorelei ducked her head, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink.
It seemed like Stryker was going to ask something when Zander and Adrien appeared and swallowed me in a hug.
“We’re so glad you’re all right,” Zander said right before he released me. Adrien, looking overcome with emotion, just nodded his agreement.
“Excuse me.” I felt a tug on my jacket and looked down to see Nellie. “What puppy?”
I noticed that Lorelei had left my side to join her mother and sisters.
“Your puppy. And one for Lorelei,” I told her.
Nellie whooped, fist-pumping in the air, while my brothers looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“Who is she?” Zander asked.
“My …” I hesitated. Daughter felt weird—I’d had to have been ten years old to have her. “Sister,” I said, watching her for a reaction.
She grinned at me, nodding with tears in her eyes.
“Sister?” Zander repeated. I hoped he wasn’t going to make a big deal of it and risk offending Nellie. I hadn’t had any time to explain how I found her and that she had no one to go home to.
“Well, does she know she has three other brothers now, too?” Zander asked.
“Thank you,” I mouthed to him as he took Nellie’s hand and began introducing her to everyone in the room, including her two new “brothers,” Stryker and Adrien.
Seeing my throne room filled to the brim with fae from Faerie and Ethereum alike brought tears to my eyes. An unseelie house-maid handed Aribella’s mother a napkin, and she flinched for only a second before taking it with a smile. It would take time to break down the walls of lies that the previous generations had built, but I knew that together we could do it, making way for a new generation to come.
“Zane,” Lorelei called to me, waving me over to where she stood with her family.
