Chapter 65 Rosalina
Rosalina
They lied to me. Again.
Why do they always lie to me?
I know my focus needs to be on Mount Rhuvenmark, suddenly awakening with lava, and the impending threat of an eruption, but my every thought is consumed with the image of Farron, wielding the Green Flame as easily as if it were the blessing of Autumn.
My golden briars fall away, dropping myself, my mates, and Kairyn to the floor of Castletree’s entrance hall.
Ezryn leans down next to his brother, pressing a hand to his chest, accessible through the broken chest plate. “He’s alive but unconscious.”
Kairyn’s usually tawny skin is sallow, but he’s otherwise unharmed. Though he looks like one of them now. Large horns jut from his skull, thick and curled back, reminding me of a Cape buffalo. A fleshy tail lies limp beside him, tipped with a tuft of not hair but what could be moss.
I turn my attention to Farron. He’s still kneeling on the ground, his sweat-damp hair hanging as a curtain in front of his face.
He looks up to me and smiles. But it’s not the kind smile of a boy whose kisses tasted of cinnamon, who blushed when our hands touched in the library reaching for the same book. No, this smile is gleefully delirious.
“He’s dead,” he says, giving a bubbling laugh. “He’s dead. I’ve avenged you, Mother. I’ve avenged you.”
My legs feel shaky, and I stumble back, catching myself on the banister.
“What in the seven realms did you do to me?” It’s Dayton who breaks Farron’s unending muttering. His voice, usually so confident, is shattered.
Farron snaps his head up in an eerily precise movement. “I saved you.”
“You lied—” I snarl, stepping in front of Dayton. “You and Caspian lied to me.”
“It was Caspian’s idea,” Farron says, standing and dusting off his clothes. “Truthfully, I’m thankful I no longer have to hide this power. We would have been dead without it.”
Keldarion grumbles low in his throat, glaring at the Autumn Prince, but then looks to me. He’s letting me deal with this first, though I’m sure he has some choice words for Farron.
It’s Caspian I turn to next. The vicious words I had in store for him die when I see the steady streams of tears running down his face. When he notices our attention, he quickly wipes his eyes.
“Let your rage lie upon me as well, for I too knew of this deception.” Ezryn puts a hand on the Prince of Thorns’s shoulder. “It is time for the truth.”
“Ezryn,” I whisper. He kept this secret from me? How could he?
“I couldn’t stand everyone treating him like a monster.” Caspian shakes his head, flinging tears to the ground. “I’m used to it.”
A piece of my heart softens at that, but I chew my bottom lip. “You shouldn’t have lied. We’ve had too many secrets between all of us.”
“I know, Rosie,” he says, voice low with defeat. “Stars, even I’m sick of them.”
Dayton still looks in shock, taking deep breaths as if he’s barely holding on. I can feel his torment through our mate bond. It’s one thing for Caspian to have used such magic on him, but for Farron, the man he loves, to have lied about it…
And what’s worst of all is Farron appears unbothered. He’s studying all of us as if we’re taking up his valuable time.
I walk over to him and stare up into his golden eyes…except they’re not all gold anymore. Specks of green float through his irises. “Farron, how did you get this magic?”
A smile—that delirious smile—breaks out over his face. “I stepped into the pool of Green Flame and was offered a great gift.”
“The Baron, my father,” Caspian rasps, “offered him a seed of his power, and Farron foolishly took it.”
“Your father?” I whisper.
I glance around. Dayton’s on the ground now, still trying to control his breathing, while Ezryn kneels beside him and rubs his back. But from Keldarion’s rigid expression, I can assume he already knew.
It all falls into place—that magic that never felt like it belonged in the Vale. No wonder Caspian resented it so much.
“Another secret.” Caspian shrugs. “I suppose Mother just couldn’t find a single fae in this universe who could stand her.”
“What did you offer in exchange for this power?” Ezryn asks, turning to Farron.
“It was a gift,” Farron says.
“Gods like Furiondemius don’t give gifts,” Keldarion says. “Don’t be naive, pup.”
Farron lets out a breathy laugh and turns from Kel. “Scorn me if you will, but without my gift of the Green Flame, Daytonales would be dead. Sira would have killed us and started her reign over the Enchanted Vale.”
“You don’t know that,” I say, but my voice holds little conviction.
“I do,” Farron says, deep and commanding. He grabs my shoulders. “I took this power for you. For your mates. For all the Enchanted Vale.”
“We don’t understand this magic, Fare. I’m worried.”
“Magic isn’t inherently evil or good. You know me, Rosalina. You know who I am, down to the stars that made me.”
Tears streak my face as I look at him. “In the starlight way.”
“The Green Flame let me keep the Summer Prince with us,” he continues. “It saved us in our darkest hour, and it will help us claim the Enchanted Vale as ours alone.”
His words should comfort me, but they don’t. Maybe it’s the desperate expression on Caspian’s face, how I’ve never seen the Prince of Thorns so silent, or the heartbreak running through Dayton’s mate bond.
Or maybe it’s because Farron is clearly looking at me, but I can’t unsee the image of him in Mount Rhuvenmark, wreathed in the power of the Green Flame.
“You shouldn’t have kept this from me.”
“I know,” he says and awkwardly, almost stiffly, drops his forehead to mine. “I’m…sorry.”
“It’s not me you have the most to apologize for. It’s him.” I pull away.
Dayton has moved, hand on the enchanted doorknob, already turning the dial to Winter. “I have nothing to say to him,” he mutters, then pulls the door open, walking into Keep Wolfhelm.
I look at Farron. “Until you make it right with him, it’s not right between us. Day might need some space, but you should at least see if he wants to talk privately.”
Farron gives a long sigh and runs his hands through his hair. “Yes, Princess.” He stops in front of Caspian and wipes a tear off Cas’s cheek. They stare at each other for a moment, then Farron heads to the door. He pauses and looks back at us. “The Green Flame will save the Vale. I’ve seen it.”