Chapter 93
CHAPTER 93
Rosalina
M y dreams are sweet. There is no true image, no sounds, just an ethereal sense of contentment. A pastel haze encompasses my vision. My body is warm, safe. There’s a sense of rightness in my chest. I want to stay here forever.
Time passes slowly as I float through my consciousness. Distantly, I notice I seem to be drifting somewhere. Down. Down. Down. The light turns to darkness, then to a spark of emerald green. But I’m not afraid. No, this also feels right. Like I’m getting close to—
“Keldarion,” I whisper. The haze begins to form a silhouette. I would know the broadness of his shoulders, the shift in his stance, even in my dreams. “Kel!”
He turns to me, and a soft smile appears on his face as his features come more into focus. I float forward, my body not truly corporal yet.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he murmurs. “I didn’t think I’d be able to reach you in the labyrinth. But … it seems there’s some strong magic here helping my own.”
This isn’t a dream anymore. This is the strength of our mate bond, connecting us from between the realms, the same way it did when he was in Winter, and I was in Spring. He’s found me even when he’s so far below the surface. My heart screams for him. My mate, my first mate.
I fly over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He grabs my waist and spins me. I laugh, giddy from the feel of him.
“Kiss me, Rose,” he murmurs, and I do. Our lips touch, soft at first, savoring each other. I’ve missed the press of his mouth on mine, the steadiness in which he grips me, like he’ll never let me go. Then, he changes, kissing me with the untamed wildness within him. A wildness I would traverse forever if I could.
I press my body tight to his, and he matches my intensity, fingers near bruising.
“Say we won’t be apart much longer,” I gasp between kisses.
“Not much longer. Soon, you’ll be back in my arms for real, and I won’t ever let you go.”
My skin tingles. Right now, I’m able to touch him, but my hold on this place feels tenuous. “I’m so grateful to see you just for a moment. There’s so much to tell you.” I look around. Everything besides Kel is dark and hazy with that green glow. “Where is Papa? Is he all right?”
“Yes. We’ll be making our way back home soon,” he says.
“My mother?”
The gentlest of smiles appears on Kel’s face. “That’s why I was hoping I could bring you here. I wanted you to see her.”
Kel takes my hand and leads me through the haze. Structures begin to form: giant crystals that gleam with a malevolence I can feel even across the realms. Between the crystals lies a cage with translucent green walls.
“They won’t be able to see you,” Kel whispers. “But I wanted you to see them.”
My heart beats strong and steady in my chest as I step forward. The mist shifts, revealing two more figures: one out of the cage and one within.
Papa’s sitting on the outside, leaning his head and palm against the transparent wall. Tears streak down his face as he stares at the figure inside.
A woman leans against him, her hand up to his. The barrier separates them from truly touching.
I know her. I know her from the photograph of us in front of the willow tree. I know her from stories Papa told and legends from the realms.
But more than that, I know her within. Her blood sings in my veins, sharing a thousand tales from a thousand years. I know her in a way that is so ingrained and visceral, it feels like I know her better than anyone else.
Her love was with us all this time. It was what brought me to the Vale. It’s what gave me the strength to pick up the Bow of Radiance. She is everything around us. She is everything within me.
My mother.
If I was more than a flit of mist, my legs would have given out. Instead, I drift over to my parents.
They stare at each other with a love that transcends all the ages of the world. Papa murmurs softly to her, and she laughs. Memories, I realize. They’re reminiscing over memories.
“What’s going on?” I murmur to Kel. “You’re waiting until Caspian and Farron destroy the prison?”
Kel holds my gaze. I know that look. A look that says, “you’re about to fall apart, but I’ll hold you together.” “Rose, it’s not as simple as we thought.”
“We didn’t think it was simple, but we knew we would do it,” I say, voice taking on a frantic note. “You have to get her out, Kel. No matter what, you have to get her out.”
Kel reaches for me, hand shivering through my shoulder. My body’s beginning to fade into incorporeality. “I wanted you to see your parents together.”
No, no, no. Why is his voice so soft? Why couldn’t I just see them together when she’s freed? What is Kel saying?
“Rosalina.”
I stiffen. The voice doesn’t belong to Kel.
The woman in the cage is looking at me. She’s very beautiful, but … tired. So tired.
I fall to the ground beside my father. He doesn’t notice me. The haze starts to creep in, his figure obscured. The prison walls shift away, until only the woman sits before me. I know I’m visible only to her in this moment. “Mom?”
Her eyes crinkle, gorgeous lines like gold filament through cracked pottery appearing in the corners. “My brave girl. What a life you’ve lived!”
“You’re coming home with us, Mom,” I whisper. “I want to meet you for real.”
“Oh, we’ve met before,” she says. “We’ve met in the songs of Spring and in the tides of Summer. We’ve met with each harvest of Autumn, and through the storms of Winter. You’ll find me there, dear one, whenever you need me.”
“No.” My voice hitches. “You have to come home.”
“I’m there every time I close my eyes.” A pained expression crosses her face. “You don’t have long here. Rosalina, I …”
“What is it?” I try to grab her hand, but I don’t have arms anymore. I’m fading away.
“I’m so sorry for everything. I have no right to ask you for anything—”
“Ask,” I breathe.
She shifts forward, eyes wild with desperation. “You must protect Castletree. It is the heart of the Vale. My heart. Whatever happens, do not let it fall. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mom.” The words barely make it out.
“One more thing.”
I need to hear what it is, but pieces of my essence are being torn away. I fight to stay here with her, with Kel and Papa.
My mother reaches out, and I feel her hand in mine like a tether. “You have a sister. I couldn’t protect her. I wish I had a chance to get to know her. She doesn’t deserve the life she’s been given. Please, do what I could not. Save her. All I want is for her to have peace.”
The shards of me shatter, erupting away. The mist bursts back in, forming shapes and figures once again: first the huge crystals, then the prison, then Papa, and Kel.
I am nothing but splinters of a person. Kel looks up at me as I drift away. See you soon, darling , he says in my mind.
See you soon , I say back.
Before there’s nothing left, I fight for one last moment. “Papa,” I whisper.
My father looks up at me, his blue-fire gaze holding on to mine.
Then I’m ripped away.
I wake up in my bed in Summer, gasping and gripping the sheets.
“Rosie?” Dayton’s voice. He’s standing on the balcony, dawn basking him in light as if the sun woke up just to grace his skin.
I can’t catch my breath. My heart rams against my ribs.
“Rosie, what happened?” Dayton rushes over to the bed and puts his arms around me.
“I saw her … I saw my mother,” I gasp.
But it’s not her image I can’t chase from my mind.
It’s Papa’s. His crystal-blue gaze.
I’ve seen that gaze before. Seen it angry, conniving, resentful. Seen it tired, desperate, sad. Seen it in tears because she was left with nothing.
While I grew up with my father.
“Dayton,” I whisper. “Wrenley is my sister.”
He leans back against the bedframe, eyes faraway. “The Nightingale. It can’t be.”
“I think she needs our help, Day.”
He chokes out a laugh. “Only Rosalina O’Connell would want to help the assassin who tried to murder her! Not to mention seduce me.”
“Come on.” I poke his chest. “We’ve done weirder things.”
He pulls me tight to him and kisses the top of my head. “As long as I get to do them with you.”
I hold on to this moment. I will see Kel again, and my father. I don’t know what’s happening down Below, but I will not let my mother stay imprisoned.
And my sister …
What would our life have been like if we had the opportunity to grow up together? How alone she must have been all these years, raised by Sira in the dark. At least she had Caspian. He cares for her. Loves her, even.
Caspian’s had the chance to know her in a way I never have. Despite working for Sira, I know Caspian’s kind and funny and clever. If he loves Wrenley like a sister, there must be more to her than I know.
My mother believes she deserves peace. If I can give her that, I will. Even if she hates me. Even if she wants to kill me.
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell Dayton. “We always do.”