The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Big Enough - Part 43

My mother starts a jumbled explanation, her voice full of sorrow. "We didn't want to leave you, but we had a bad feeling that night. It was like a terror deep in my chest that something bad was going to happen. I had a lot of Auspicator friends – fortune tellers, with varying powers, so I knew to trust my instincts. We left you with the Sirens, just to be safe. Did they – do they know who you are?" she asks, talking between bouts of crying.

I shake my head. "I don't think so. I haven't seen them in a long time."

Mason comes up beside me and his swagger makes me smile a little. Nothing seems to faze him for long. "If you hadn't left her there, I'm not sure where we'd be now. It's because of her that Grayson is no longer in power. She accidently started a revolution." He grins at me, but there's so much pride in his face that it breaks my heart a little. He reaches out and ruffles my hair playfully. "She's going to be a legend of a Queen."

"Queen? But, how?" my mother asks, wiping her tears. "I think my brain shut off when you started talking. I just couldn't stop looking at you, wondering if it was true."

"The Fourth Realm confirmed it. They traced her life line when her choices and impact on the realms wasn't making much sense. Not to mention how quickly your girl can pick up magic," Mason continues, grinning.

I take a deep breath and spill out my tale. "Ryan and I met on the Third Realm and fell in love; I angered Grayson by saying something stupid and he banished me to the Second Realm. Ryan followed me and the balance in the Third Realm was thrown out of whack causing a revolution of sorts, I guess. It's not good up there right now. We have to defeat Grayson and get back," I say, wiping my own tears. I'm having a hard time taking my eyes off the two people who so clearly love me beyond all reason, in spite of the time and distance. It feels almost as though I have my Second Realm parents back in a different form. This is what family feels like...

My father looks at me, scrubbing his own tears off his face. "What's the catch? If the Fourth Realm is helping, there's always a catch."

I take in his rugged appearance, the opposite of my more refined Siren father and I wonder how different my life might have been. I know it's useless to wonder, but I can't seem to help myself.

I take a deep breath. "First we defeat Grayson and his army, then we look at the terms and conditions of getting us all back to the Third Realm. I still have to complete my sequence to open the portal."

"Are you on the final step?" my mother asks, looking deep into my gray eyes.

"Yes," I admit, "but I don't know what it is yet."

"Your mother and I will gladly sacrifice ourselves if it comes to that," my father says, pulling my mother close to his side. It reminds me so much of how Ryan pulls me in whenever he's trying to buoy me up for something difficult that it makes my heart ache.

Their words settle in me. "Why would – " I start to say and then Mason cuts me off.

"We'll need your help getting the other Journeyers on our side. Hannah – er – Autumn will be the next Queen of the Realms – she and Ryan are bonded. But, to do that we have to send Grayson to the Ether before we worry about completing the sequence. One thing at a time," Mason cautions, giving them both a meaningful look that is lost on me. They seem to get it immediately.

"Of course. Of course," my father says, turning from us and heading into the fray of Journeyers.

"I'm staying with you," my mother says, patting my hand. "If anyone dies today, it won't be you. I would die a thousand times to keep you safe." Her eyes fill with tears and spill over, sliding down her cheeks once more. She wipes them away impatiently.

Mason jumps down and starts mingling with the other Journeyers, trying to get people organized. He stands in the middle of the crowd and calls out in a commanding voice, "Listen up – I don't know how much magic you've got right now since you just came out of the tree, but I am going to come around and give each of you a little jolt of power. We must protect our Queen when Grayson comes. But, I must be the one who sends him to the Ether – only I have the dagger that can drive him to the darkness." There is a murmur through the crowd and another level of tension seeps into the Journeyers gathered around Mason.

My mother turns to me and her face is clouded with concern. "That's the Lord of the Realm? You've been spending time with the Lord of the Realm and you're still alive? He was...dangerous before I went into the tree. We all went out of our way to avoid him when we jumped realms. He had a vicious temper."

"I'm counting on that temper to send Grayson to the Ether," I say grimly. I watch him moving around the Journeyers, touching them and passing his power into them. I'm sure it presents some sort of danger for him to give some of it up at this juncture. "Mostly," I continue, "he's not like that anymore, though. I'm not sure he ever truly was that person; I don't know. I only know the man he is today and he's good and loyal and he tries so hard to do the right thing."

She gives me a gentle smile. "Bonded to the ruler and in love with the Lord of the Realm?"

Strangely, her observation doesn't shock me. I've been on the cusp of the same realization for weeks now; I would never have thought I was capable of loving two men. My heart never felt big enough, but it does now. Now, it feels big enough to love realms full of people and that should make me happy, I think.

"I do love him, yeah. I love them both," I say and pull down the top of my dress to reveal my bonding scar. I run my fingers over the mark. "I would do anything for either of them – I'd even give up my life. But, Ryan? Oh mother, if you met him, you'd know that my heart has grown big enough to hold them both. But, Mason could never eclipse Ryan. They're like the sun and the moon to me. Both these colossal beacons of hope, but I'd always take the heat of the sun over the coolness of a dark sky."

She puts her arm around my waist and pulls me to her side, squeezing me tight. "I may not have raised you, my dear, but you're exactly the person I always hoped you'd be."

Tears fill my eyes as I look at the scene before me. Riven is passing around weapons; Mason is using his power to give people a fighting chance; Rocco is watching the sky; Clara is busy healing the tree; my father – my father is talking people around to our cause and my mother, a mother I always wanted and never knew I was missing, is standing beside me, squeezing me tight. I want to remember this moment in every life, in any moment whenever I feel a little uncertain. Great things are possible across the realms. The only two people who could make this moment even more perfect are Ryan and Maizie. I rub my scar again, wishing I could simply wish them here.

"Incoming!" Rocco bellows from beside the base of the Wishing Tree.

Author's Note:

If you've read both books, how has Hannah changed from the first one? Were you surprised that Hannah admitted to both herself and her mother that she's in love with both men? If you were Hannah, who would you pick?

If you're enjoying the story, consider voting or commenting. I would love to hear from you. :)