60. Farron
Farron
He’s so heavy.
He’s so heavy in my arms.
Of course. Dayton has always been broad and strong.
But this is different. He’s so heavy because he can’t move himself. He can’t even stand.
Golden and purple briars wrap around us, but I can’t let go of Day. I won’t let him go. We break through the earth to the surface.
Castletree. Home.
But it can never be home without him.
The other princes gather nearby. George is on the ground, Queen Aurelia in his arms. Rosalina rushes from their side to ours.
Not good, not a good sign, because then her mother must be okay, and Day is…
Rosalina drops to her knees and carefully pulls Dayton’s head onto her lap.
He blinks up at her dreamily. “Got your mom back, Blossom?”
“Yeah, Day, I did.” Tears pool in her eyes, and she looks across at me. “What’s happening to him?”
“He was fine and then he…” I start. “He collapsed.”
His skin is ghastly pale, breath shallow, sweat dotting his brow.
“Farron used the Green Flame to tie him to life,” Caspian says, stepping forward. “When he gave it up, there wasn’t anything keeping Dayton together anymore. I suspect when we destroyed the Baron’s connection to our world, that was his last thread.”
A bubbling sob bursts out of Rosalina’s lips.
I hold Caspian’s lavender gaze. His irises are specked with tiny dots of green. “But you can do it. You still have the power.”
Caspian looks down at his hands. Green flames curl up and down his arms. “This magic…it’s not meant for that. There was something wrong about the way he was brought back before. You felt that, Farron.”
I turn away from the Prince of Thorns, because he’s right. I did feel that. It’s why I had to let Billy go—
“I can’t lose them both,” I choke out. My brother. My love. My heart’s not built for this sort of grief.
“It’ll be alright,” Dayton murmurs, his voice so weak. “I don’t want that fire inside me, Fare. Let me go like this, a hero. In a blaze of glory, like Dammy said.”
“Day, no!” Rosalina sobs. Her hands on his chest are glowing, but from the look on her face, the fact that Ezryn is standing behind her, not even trying to heal him…
There’s nothing they can do.
There’s nothing to heal. The fire I fueled his body with has burnt out.
“I can’t survive this.” My hair falls over my brow, and I collapse over him. Eyes closing, I rest my head over his chest. His heartbeat is slow. So slow.
Every one is precious.
“Such a pretty color, like the brightest leaves.” With the last of his strength, Dayton smooths a hand through my hair.
Hands that have protected me. Held me. Loved me.
Another sob racks through me. I clutch him tighter. A distinct and strange feeling runs through me. I notice it immediately because it’s so different from the terrible soul-wrenching grief that consumes my body.
Something beautiful that burns in the most comforting way—the press of a high summer sun on your shoulders, the crackle of an autumn fire.
Something that burst into life that’s been living inside me for a long time. And by the shocked gasp that escapes Dayton’s lips…
He feels it too.
I open my eyes and pull away, blinking at him. He rubs his chest, a crooked smile on his face.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I reply.
The light bursts between us, blinding and brilliant, a tether of golden light hovering between our chests.
“Mates,” Rosalina gasps, smiling.
This shouldn’t be possible to see, but I follow the golden motes of dust swirling in the air to the queen. She’s still held tight in George’s arms, her palm extended, glowing. Like she’s pulling back the veil for us.
“Fare,” Dayton says, running a hand along the golden thread, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Rosie.”
“Yeah?”
“Always knew we were mates.”
I laugh, because even at this moment, he can make me smile. “You do realize that this means we could have broken our curses a long time ago?”
Dayton throws his head back, another laugh echoing in his chest. “We still beat Kel. That’s all that matters.”
“Heh,” Ezryn laughs. “Even Cas unlocked his mate bond before Kel. Wasn’t hard.”
Keldarion lets out a light chuckle, and the three other princes gather around us, bending down.
“You’ll look after them,” Dayton says weakly.
It’s Keldarion who nods and places a hand on Dayton’s shoulder. “With every beat of my heart. Thank you for all you’ve done, High Prince of Summer.”
Tears run down Cas’s cheek as he crouches beside Keldarion. “Guess I’m going to win our bet, Sunshine.”
“Shame.” Dayton still manages to smirk back.
Ezryn removes his helm and bends his brow to Dayton. “I will let Delphia know of the glorious hero her brother proved to be. I will guide and teach her how to be a high princess. I promise you, brother, she will never be alone.”
A tear slides down Dayton’s cheek. He’s blinking more now, eyes growing glassy.
“No,” I choke out, clutching tighter to him. We can’t be doing this. “I don’t know how to say goodbye to you.”
“Then don’t, Fare,” Dayton says so faintly. Maybe I’m hearing it in my mind. “Just tell me you love me. And please, kiss me once as your mate.”
I look across at Rosalina, her face as broken as mine, holding him so carefully in her lap. I can’t do this.
What if this is our last kiss? I can’t kiss him, thinking it will be our last kiss. I can’t.
You can, she whispers in my mind. For Day.
I choke out a sob and lower myself to his lips, still tasting of summer and salt. Tide-kissed forever. He sighs against me, using one of his precious last breaths to love me.
“Through every season and every storm,” I murmur against his cheek.
Stars, I can barely hear his heartbeat now. Every one that echoes through me feels like a miracle.
Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, I cry out in my mind.
Rosalina bends over next to us, and I reach out and grasp her hand as if it’s a tether. She kisses Dayton’s cheek, whispering in his ear, “You’re the tide…and…” She chokes back a sob. “I love you.”
“You…” Dayton begins, but there’s no more breath in his lungs for words. You two are the greatest treasure I ever found. I love you.
So much light bursts around us it’s almost blinding, all our threads intertwining. “Goodbye, Day,” I gasp out. “We’ll be woven together forever.”