[Book 4 of the Grounding the Storm series] Roux is back in the safe hands of those that care for her most. With a ticking clock over their heads, the rebellion forms into the operation Bren dreamed it would be since the day he joined. But the threat...
Walking towards the balcony, Renit's fingers laced in my own, I keep my eyes on the back of Silas's head and the gold crown pushing down his chestnut hair. If anyone needs a quick styling, it's him. The length of the waved trusses is nearly longer than my own. But that is the least of his worries right now.
He braces his hands against the golden railing and looks down at the celebration taking place in the mostly clean courtyard. The fur-lined robe clasped over his chest swims down his back like drapes in the breeze and grazes against the stone floor of the balcony. Down below, the echoing of music cascades to our level and brushes against the inner walls of the great hall. A room that survived oblivious destruction.
Silas smiles at me when I come to stand at his side. It's a weak display of emotion, and from the exhaustion lining his eyes, I know there is more on his mind than this banquet. The normal people, faces I don't recognize, thanked me for what I did to help restore their land of happiness. Even if they had never experienced it before, there was no mistaking it. The freedom. The feeling that this is finally home. They bestowed any gift they could scrounge up in their residences. Fur pelts, home-baked goods, elegant shawls and strips of silk fabric.
Most were homemade, others—it was easy to tell they picked up something in their home and brought it along to thank either the prince or the new king with. Either way, as I glance back at the many dancing figures in the great hall, a different form of elegance, I find that none of that matters.
Swirling through the crowd in a light manner that I have never seen on display, Tesha tips her head back and laughs at something Citlali says. Both their smiles are wide, but the twinkle I saw in the former's eyes was enough to tell me that Alaric's death not only ruined the heart of my childhood friend but hers too. The remnant of tears clings to the white of Tesha's eyes.
I did what I could to persuade Bren into staying here at the castle. Silas offered him a position as captain of the guard, and with Alaric's body underneath a sheet in an uncovered merchant wagon, he had to refuse the offer until further notice. No worries, the new king had said. The position won't be filled until you come back home.
Home.
The only home Bren desires is Arego, and I won't be surprised to discover that he doesn't return until his mind is cleared of all sorrow. Losing Celestine, then Alaric...that's two members of his family that he can't make up for. And with Arego becoming an official city in Esaria, he'll be more than happy to offer his services there instead.
He'll never agree with the path I chose for myself. Renit isn't the witch he envisioned me marrying; living in the castle as a princess isn't what he wanted for me either. If life was perfect, my family would still be alive and I'd still have Renit at my side. But those days...I choose to ignore. For life will never hold perfection and the longer we search for such an unattainable goal, the harder it is to find proper happiness.
Silas sighs dramatically to yank me from my thoughts. The dancing figures in the courtyard don't acknowledge the king watching them, but they bask in his presence.
"Are you aware of how much shit I have to clean up?" Silas grumbles.
Renit snorts. "Literal shit, or what our family line left to us?"
Scrunching up his nose, Silas watches a young girl no older than five balance herself on the edge of a stone planter. "Considering no one has cleaned the stables in weeks, I have to say both." He straightens himself and looks over at us, those tired eyes trying to fight the light. "No worries, though. I have my brother, my sister—" He gives a pointed stare in my direction, "—and I have my lovely witch of decease. Honestly, life doesn't get better than this."
We stare at each other for a long moment. If there's one thing that connects us until the end of our days, it's the fatal fact that we both served under his father's control. We both know what it feels like to have freedom and our sanity taken away from us, and though he slipped further than the castle ever would have allowed, we're back. And we're alive.
That's all that matters.
He extends his arm out towards me, tears pricking his eyes, and I slide in against his side. The substantial weight of his arm drapes around my shoulders, and seconds later, it deepens when Renit wraps his arm around my shoulders too.
That little girl leaps off the end of the planter box, light blooming at her fingertips. "Where is Avalie, anyway?" I ask.
I haven't seen her in hours.
Silas jerks his chin down into the courtyard. It's then I spot the glowing figure of a white gown and a radiant smile. I hadn't noticed her before, but Avalie got through her life without the eyes of the world following her around every corner. She sits on the edge of a stone planter not too far from that young witch. Watching her leap over the crumbled flowerbeds.
Without making myself too obvious, I shift my stare to the side of Silas's face. The softness in his eyes pinned against the rock hard features of his face is what I imagined a true king to look like. And with the crown on his head, the extravagance of his outfit...he is a true king. Born into it and promised a throne, Silas is the leader we were meant to have all along.
Nothing ends perfectly. As a group, working as one, we didn't plan on making it out alive but most of us still have beating hearts in our chests. Throughout this journey, from that night in Arego to this moment, I never thought I'd make it this long without facing more than I did. Though I'm the last left of my family, the last Aimrey, my future is not defined by such.
I have a chance to experience a great future alongside my husband and my brother. Though not blood, they're as much of family to me as my mother, my father, and Celestine.
Their warmth leaks into me from either side and we stand in silence, staring out at the courtyard below. Above our heads, a clear sky warrants glistening stars. If I look hard enough, the sight will remind me of nights on the cliff sides in Arego. Not training or exerting myself to the point of exhaustion. It was nights like these that we'd take a blanket and watch the stars without a word spoken.
The celebration continues on behind us, filled with mingling guests, laughter, and the strum of beautiful music. The people we love are there, too, enjoying their first night with newfound freedom. Even Arjun will stick around for the next week to negotiate a trade agreement with Esaria, as well as frequent travel and a private residence for Tesha. If she wishes to have such luxuries.
If I look farther than the castle., to the distant hillsides over the flickering candles in Mailan, I find an entire world waiting. A kingdom in need of restoring, and the man belonging to the waist my arm is looped around is perfect for the job.
It's not over. Not yet. But as Renit leans down and presses a kiss to my temple, I know everything will be all right. Not because of what we've faced as spitfire and foolish prince. But because this heart needs him. I need him. Nothing will get in the way of that for we have something their father never strived for.
A better life.
A new day in Esaria.
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