Epilogue
Fenn and I returned to my court to find Kade on the brink of succumbing to her hibernation. The remaining dragons flanked her like soldiers, prepared to defend her if necessary.
We brought a pouch of stardust with us to break the curse. But by the time we reached the castle, I could already tell the enchantment had broken with Rosalina’s death. Servants bustled about, and shouts of concern and distress echoed throughout the castle.
Before I faced my people, I sprinkled a smattering of stardust around Azure, the dying Blue Amethyst. Fenn and I had already put plans in place to bring back her mother, whom Sonara had chained up in her dungeon. She was too wounded to fly, but once she had healed, she could be reunited with her youngling.
But for now, the stardust would heal Azure. Already, I could see her tiny form wriggling toward the stardust, sniffing around with interest. Her tongue lapped up a few of the crystal flakes, and color was already brightening her eyes.
With a small smile, I left Mal in charge of the pouch of stardust, indicating he needed to knock over a few more piles of it whenever Azure looked like she needed more. Then, Fenn and I made our way to the castle.
I went to the tea room first. As I made my way down the hall, trying to shove back the memories of when I was here in Rosalina’s dreamscape, the echoes of tearful shouts met my ears. When I reached the doorway, I stood there for a moment, taking in the scene before me.
Gigi and Mother sat on the sofa, embracing one another tightly, both of them weeping. They looked up at my approach, their mouths falling open in shock.
For a long, tense moment, we only stared at each other. I stood there, enduring their scrutiny, waiting for them to send me away, to shudder at the monster they knew me to be. My powers were no longer bound; I was the Dragon Queen, and I was dangerous and deadly.
Gigi reacted first. She jumped to her feet and flew toward me, barreling into me with a fierce embrace. Her arms wrapped around me, and she sobbed into my dress, her shoulders trembling.
“I knew you could do it,” she said, her voice muffled as she cried. “I knew it!”
I held her, my own eyes pricking with tears. Gods, I had missed her! We clung to each other with all the desperation of two sisters who had almost lost one another. Though we were not connected by blood, she would always be my sister.
My grip on her relaxed as Mother approached, her eyes moist and full of hesitation.
“You—You know everything, then?” she asked in a solemn voice.
I withdrew, and Gigi positioned herself next to me, clutching my hand in hers. “Yes,” I said softly.
Mother nodded once, a single tear racing down her cheek. She sniffed, then released a shuddering sob. “Oh, Aurelia .”
Then, she was holding me, cradling my head against her chest. Gigi joined us, and Mother’s arms gathered both of us close to her as if we were both her children. As if she had raised us both from the womb.
Gigi was her flesh and blood. And I was not.
But in this moment, I felt as loved, as cherished as if I had been born into this family. As if we had lived and loved together.
And that feeling of intense joy and love and relief blossomed within me until I felt as if the broken remains of my memories and past lives could be healed in this singular moment.
I didn’t bring up our plans for the future. Not yet. The time for that would come later.
Mother and I saw to the needs of our people, sending the healer to inspect those who had been under the curse, and reaching out to the nobles in the outer cities who hadn’t been affected by the enchantment to assure them all was well in the castle. There had been riots and skirmishes, and it would take a while to quell the unrest that had risen from the ordeal. But for the most part, the kingdom was safe.
I had been avoiding my father. I let Mother bring him up to speed, knowing I was not yet ready to face him.
When I could put it off no longer, I sent word to the witch clans, politely requesting Samiria’s presence. I wasn’t sure if she would come, after everything that had happened. But, to my surprise, she did—and so did Ruby, Jade, and Sapphire. Together, we met with my parents and sister in the throne room and outlined everything that had happened. The three Midnight witches lifted the spell that had bound Samiria, finally allowing her to speak about it. And for hours, we discussed what had happened and what to expect from my newfound power.
“My great-grandparents thought your power would protect us,” Father said to me, his voice stoic and as unfeeling as ever. “It was the only reason they took you in. The only reason we continued to keep your secret from generation to generation.”
“But,” Mother interjected, shooting him a worried glance, “we came to love you, Aurelia. We still do. When it was clear your memories wouldn’t come back, we began to see you as part of our family, not—not?—”
“A weapon,” I finished in a hollow voice.
Mother flinched, but Father met my stare.
“We did what we had to do,” he said softly. “For the good of our kingdom.”
“And promising my dragons to Tyrone?” I asked, unable to keep the bite from my voice. “Was that for the good of the kingdom, too?”
Father’s eyes widened slightly—the only sign of his surprise. After a moment, he said, “That was to clean up your mess. It was the only way to maintain our alliance with them, after you ended the engagement so abruptly.”
“Because he violated me,” I growled. “Tyrone was a monster. And I refused to bind myself to a man who would force me into his bed without my consent. ”
A hushed silence fell around us. Mother’s face turned ghostly pale, and Gigi looked like she might vomit. Even Father had the good sense to look shocked, his expression stricken with horror.
“Aurelia,” Father said, his voice strained. “I—I did not know. I?—”
I shook my head. “Because I did not tell you.” Perhaps if I had, things would have been different. But I supposed it didn’t matter anymore. With Tyrone dead, the bargain had been nullified. All that remained were my traumatized memories and the betrayal of knowing my father had made such a bargain in the first place.
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and forced myself to ask, “So, what now? Will you send me away?”
Father’s head reared back. “What?”
Mother’s hand went to her chest, and Gigi stepped forward, her eyes full of panic. “Aurie, what are you talking about?”
“With the Dream Mage dead, you all don’t need me anymore,” I said, my voice thick as I struggled to hold back my tears. “My powers are too dangerous.”
Father stared at me, but his expression was stoic, giving away nothing. Mother gripped his arm tightly. “Stefan…” Her voice was pleading.
“But—But Aurie isn’t dangerous anymore!” Gigi sputtered. “Right?” She looked at me beseechingly.
I wrung my hands together, trying to stifle the anxiety coursing through me. When it had just been Mother, Gigi, and me in that tea room, things had seemed so much simpler. But with Father here, knowing he hadn’t abdicated to me yet, things were complicated.
Before I could answer, Sapphire spoke. “Aurelia has unlocked her magic. She did it in the safety of the Dream Realm. We believe that, because of this, her powers are less volatile and explosive. The reason why they were uncontrollable before was because she was trying too hard to quash them.”
“It is different,” I agreed. “I have my memories back, and never in the six hundred years of my existence have I known such… inner peace with my magic. I was always deathly afraid of unleashing too much, of releasing my devastation and hurting people.” I paused, thinking of how Mal had compared my magic to the trust between a dragon and his rider in flight. “But instead of leashing my magic, I le t it free. It is no longer bottled up inside me. It is no longer a threat.”
“So you say,” said Father.
“ Stefan ,” Mother chided.
I shook my head, unable to keep the tears from leaking, tracking down my cheeks and dripping onto the floor. “It’s all right. If you all will feel safer if I leave, I understand. I cannot blame you, not after everything that’s happened. We aren’t truly family, after all.”
“Aurelia, you are our family,” Mother said, stepping toward me, her arm outstretched. Father raised a hand to silence her, but to everyone’s surprise, she shoved his hand away. “ No , Stefan. I will not be silenced. Aurelia is our daughter. I don’t care what you say or what her past is. She has proven herself to us again and again. She was the only one unaffected by the sleeping curse, and she saved us all. If you send her away, I will go with her.”
“So will I.” Gigi’s chin lifted with her words, her eyes glinting with a fierce determination I had never seen in her before.
My heart swelled and knotted all at once, torn between relief, gratitude, and fear for my family being ripped apart. I cast a frightened look at my father, whose face had paled, his beard twitching with his frown.
“You were planning to abdicate to me before all this,” I said, my voice tentative. “Was that all a ruse? A lie?”
“Of course not!” Mother said hastily. “We love you and trust you to protect our people, Aurelia.”
But my eyes were on Father. I believed Mother loved me. But Father?
After a long moment Father sighed. “When—When my father’s health was failing, he told me the truth about you. I believed you to be an estranged cousin, kept away in our manor in the country. But after he died, leaving the kingdom to me, I didn't want to shut you up in that old house any longer. The witch clans here had successfully bound your magic, so we thought it best to claim you as our daughter. We thought that no kingdom would ever dare to challenge us if we had the Dragon Queen within these very walls. And the witches assured us the binding spell would hold.
“But as more years passed, we started to think of you as more than just a defense tactic. You became a family member. Especially after Gigi was born. All we had to do was pretend there were enough years between you two so that she didn’t notice that you did not age. After that, it was easy for you two to become sisters. You were—You were so good with her. You were the only one who could calm her down when she was upset.”
My heart swelled in my chest, and my eyes suddenly felt hot. Mother sniffed, and I found tears streaming down her face. Gigi’s eyes were wet, too, as she gazed at me with love and affection.
“It—It was hard for me to see past your true identity,” Father admitted, his gaze fixed on the stone floor. “Your mother and Gigi loved you so easily, but it was harder for me. I was scared. And when the witches checked in on you, assuring us that it was unlikely your powers would ever manifest… I saw an opportunity. We had a powerful connection to the witches because of you. And a powerful connection to the dragons as well. Not only that, but you loved the Summer Court so much. It was clear the block on your memories wasn’t affecting your life at all. And I thought that, if you became queen of this court, you could keep our people safe. You were loyal to us. You believed you belonged here.”
Father took a deep breath before continuing, “Your mother is right. We did come to care for you and trusted you to look after this kingdom. We still do. But things are different now. Your powers have been unlocked. And you have your memories back. You know who you are now. I—I’m afraid this changes everything.”
I straightened to my full height, forcing myself to meet his gaze. Though everything in me wilted, and I yearned to flee from this situation, to throw myself onto my bed and sob until I had nothing left, I lifted my chin. I gathered the courage within me, projecting strength I didn’t think I was capable of.
“Yes,” I said, my voice even and firm, despite the raging emotions within me. “I know who I am. I am the Dragon Queen. I am the Summer Princess. I am a daughter of Midnight and a daughter of Summer. I belong to both courts, Father.” I fought to take a steadying breath. “Will you let me prove that to you? Now that I am myself, now that my memories and my magic have been freed, let me show you I can be trusted. Let me prove to you that I can be the fearless protector our kingdom deserves. I won’t ask you to abdicate to me unless you know with complete certainty that I can keep our people safe.”
The entire room fell silent from the promise of my words. Gigi watched me, her eyes shining with admiration. Mother had her hands pressed to her chest, tears spilling down her face as she glanced from me to Father and back again.
Even the witches remained silent and somber. Ruby, Jade, and Sapphire stood side-by-side, while Samiria remained on the opposite side of the room. It was clear from her stiff posture that she wasn’t happy to be in the same room as the other witches. I couldn’t blame her.
At long last, Father cleared his throat and said in a strained voice, “Yes, Aurelia. Of course. I—I will grant you that opportunity.”
“Thank you.” My words were strained, my throat tight with emotion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have wedding preparations to take care of.”
Father blinked. “Wedding? You—You and the Midnight Prince?—”
“Yes,” I said, a soft smile lighting my face. For the first time since I entered the room, the tightness in my chest eased at the thought of my marriage to Fenn. “It is a mutually beneficial arrangement for both kingdoms. I would… love to have your blessing, Father, but even if I don’t, nothing will keep me from marrying him. I love Fennick with my entire soul. I want to bind myself to him for eternity. If you have ever felt love for me in your life, you would grant me that much.”
Father’s eyes flared wide, his mouth opening slightly. My words clearly caught him off guard. I wasn’t sure if it was my intense declaration of love, or the fact that it was the prince of a former enemy kingdom that shocked him. But for a long moment, he only stared at me, his eyes flickering as he processed this.
At long last, he nodded stiffly, and that was all I needed.
One by one, we filed out of the room, starting with Mother and Gigi.
“Give him time,” Mother whispered to me, swiping a tear from her face. “He just needs time. ”
I nodded, unsure if this was true. Mother clearly believed it, but I didn’t know if Father could ever love a monster like me.
But this was a start. I was not afraid.
After all, I had the soul of a dragon living inside me.
Mother left the room, followed by Gigi, who swept me into a tight embrace, murmuring assurances that nothing had changed for her and we would always be sisters. I thanked her, tears rolling down my face from the promise of her words.
When she left, it was only me and the witches remaining.
Sapphire spoke first. “So, you intend to remain here.”
“I do,” I said. “I may have my memories back, but my life is here. But, with the union of our courts and the freedoms Fenn is granting to your clans, I will be visiting often.”
The three witches only looked at me somberly. Ruby said, “You cannot have both, Dragon Queen. You cannot be a part of our clan if you serve the seelie courts.”
I found myself smiling. “I don’t want to be a part of your clan.”
For the first time since I’d known them, Sapphire, Ruby, and Jade looked confused, exchanging bewildered looks with one another. Across the room, Samiria was smiling.
“I was meant to unite the realm,” I went on, my voice full of conviction. “And that is what I plan to do. Not by spinning prophecies and practicing runic magic, but by serving the people of this land and protecting them to the best of my ability. That is the true meaning behind the prophecy that started it all.”
Samiria pressed a fist to her chest and bowed low. “Well said, my queen.”
I turned to face her, my eyes softening. “Samiria, if you accept, I would be honored to have you as the Keeper of the Dragons in my absence.”
Samiria bowed again. “The honor is mine, Your Highness.”
I smiled at the formality, then turned to the three witches of the Midnight Court. Their expressions had been wiped clean once more as they gazed at me, their wide lavender eyes blinking slowly. I inclined my head in reverence to all three of them, then paused when I met Sapphire’s gaze.
“Thank you for everything,” I whispered to her, pressing my hand to my chest as a sign of respect .
Sapphire reached out, taking my hand in hers. Her skin was cool against mine, and she squeezed once. “Take care, Dragon Queen.”
After parting from the witches, my body was spent. I found Fenn waiting for me in my chambers, wearing nothing but his shirtsleeves and trousers, the loose fabric hanging from his lean body. He lounged on my bed with a book in his hand, though his gaze was fixed on the window. An unusually solemn expression was on his face, his eyes somber.
I knew he was thinking of his mother. Every day, her death haunted him. I wasn’t sure if he would ever forgive himself.
After a moment, he looked up to see me standing in the doorway, a crooked smile playing on his lips. That smile told me he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. And I would respect that. I would give him as much space as he needed.
We had both been through an ordeal. It would be a long journey for us to fully recover from it. I wasn’t completely certain we ever would.
“You look rather comfortable in my bed,” I commented lightly, already pulling pins from my hair and letting the curls cascade down my back.
Fenn watched me let my hair down, a dark, hungry look brimming in his eyes. He set his book down, rising to his feet and closing the distance between us.
“I’ll be much more comfortable if you join me,” he murmured, pressing kisses against my hair. His hands came around my back as he began pulling at the strings of my dress. “Gods, I can’t believe these dresses you Summer folk wear. They are impossible.”
I sighed. “One step at a time, Fenn. Let’s quiet the unrest in the realm before we make decrees on fashion changes.”
He laughed, his breath tickling my neck. When the bodice was loosened, he tugged at my dress until it pooled at my feet, leaving me in nothing but my shift. His mouth was on my throat, working his way down. I sucked in a sharp breath when his lips grazed the top of my breast. My head rolled back, my eyes closing as the heat of his mouth warmed my body and soul.
I needed this. All day, I had yearned to be in his arms, especially knowing he would have to return to his court tomorrow morning. We hadn’t worked out the details yet, but for now, we had decided to split our time between our two kingdoms. We both had responsibilities to our courts and our people. And luckily, with my shifter abilities, traveling between kingdoms was effortless in my dragon form. I could even fly to the Star Court and bring Fenn back to my court in less than half a day’s time.
Eventually, I would want to start training Gigi in court politics, the economy, and the safety of our kingdom. The hope was that one day, she could take my place as queen and I could live with Fenn in the Star Court.
But that was far in the future and not something to worry about tonight.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Fenn asked between kisses.
My mind already felt tired just thinking about the whole ordeal with Father. When Fenn withdrew to peer into my eyes, his expression earnest, I shook my head. “Not right now. But soon.”
I walked him backward until we collapsed on the bed in a tangle of limbs. I brought my mouth to his once more, tasting him fully, losing myself in the feel of his skin against mine.
“For now, just hold me,” I murmured against his lips. “Tomorrow, we can conquer the world, but tonight is ours.” I rolled, straddling him, grinding my hips against his.
He groaned, his fingers clenching around my thighs. “As the Dragon Queen commands.”
As we shed our clothes and lost ourselves in the passion and collision of our bodies, I felt a certainty grow within me, igniting a powerful flame that could never be doused. I knew that together, Fenn and I could face anything. Together, with the strength of our love and magic, the support of our people and kingdoms, we could shine brighter than the stars.
And so we did.
Want to know what happens to Azure, the Blue Amethyst dragon with magical powers? Read the next Crowns of the Fae book, Crown of Briars , a Beauty and the Beast retelling!