Chapter 40
Jessamine had known coming back to Inverholm would be both wonderful and difficult. She had known walking through the streets and seeing everyone alive would be surreal.
But whatever she had thought, it was nothing compared to the reality. Just trying to get into the realm, first of all, was difficult. Elric held her hand and brought her with him, but the moment she felt herself pulling away from her golden light, there was something that made her… stick.
Like a spiderweb had trapped her, she didn’t want to leave the sunlit haven she had built for herself.
Jessamine could feel him tugging on her.
Elric was trying desperately to help her into the living realm, but she wasn’t budging.
She stayed right next to her tree. And then a fear zinged through her body.
What if she couldn’t go back? What if she was stuck here?
Alone? With only Elric to visit her, and she would just forever be the goddess who had to watch other people living while she remained here.
“Remember your body,” Elric’s voice murmured in her ear.
“Remember what it was like to feel the ground beneath your feet, the flex of your thighs, the sensation of your stomach and your lungs breathing in air. Feel your heartbeat against your palms and the wind at the nape of your neck. You can do this, my love. All you have to do is try.”
Jessamine did what he said. She remembered the body she had lived in for such a long time, and then she was free.
Blinking her eyes open, she was back. Back in her kingdom. Back with the sights of all the people she loved, all the people she had sacrificed so much for, right in front of her.
He’d brought her to the streets right in front of the castle.
The streets that she remembered only as abandoned.
It felt like just yesterday she had stood here, staring up at a castle that had long been forgotten.
The vacant cobblestones had been cracked and dust covered, as though no one had walked over them in months.
All the plants had been overgrown, spilling out between the stones in skeletal remains of what had once been thriving topiary and beautiful art.
Now there was life again. Sure, there was a lot of work to do. There was still moss in between the cobblestones, but it was emerald green and alive. The bushes still desperately needed to be trimmed, but there were flowers blooming on them.
So many people were walking around her. No more silent streets and alleyways that were filled with shadows and the whispers of people who had long been gone.
No, now there were people everywhere. Men, women, and children, all of them wearing brightly colored clothing.
Wearing determined expressions on their faces, they were all rebuilding this city in the way that only those who had grown up here could.
She had known Inverholm was resilient, but she was seeing it now with her own eyes.
They were still helping each other. So many of them all working together even though the districts had never gotten along all that well.
Groping for Elric’s arm, she grabbed onto him to hold herself up. “Elric, it’s so beautiful.”
“And that is all because of you.”
“Because of us.” She stared up at him, another depth of her love unlocking. “None of this would have been possible without you.”
His expression softened. Elric wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the castle. “We’ll go see how they’ve fixed the city in a bit, nightmare. But I think you should see your coven. It’s been a long time, after all. They’ve all been dying to see you again.”
Her coven.
How strange it was to think that. “If we’re dual gods, does that mean it’s our coven?”
“In a way,” he said as he meandered them up the path that led to the castle.
“They can choose which one of us they prefer, of course. There are quite a few ways to worship a god. Most of them are bloody and cruel, but others are kind and soft. Like you. I think we’ll start to see the coven turning to dark and light the longer we give them to figure it out. ”
“Neither way to worship is wrong, though,” she added.
“Of course not. They can worship however they see fit. Light and dark are not bad things. One needs the other to exist.” He gave her shoulder a little squeeze, moving them until she could actually see the castle. “Now, take a look at what they’ve done to your home.”
She feasted her eyes on the new castle, and her heart soared. There was so much to look at that it was hard to really see all of what had happened.
The towers were so colorful now. Banners hung from each window, each in the pretty sapphire color of her family.
As if they wanted everyone to know that the castle was taken over by the rightful ruling house.
Even though Jessamine wasn’t there. They had still wanted everyone to know that she had returned, and that there were no Orenda nobles in the castle.
Her mother would have been so proud.
The gardens were blooming far out of season. They were brightly colored, full of flowers that definitely shouldn’t have been blooming at the moment, but there they were. Blooming, bright, vivid, stunning. The air was full of crackling magic as birds soared overhead.
Then she realized those birds were carrying small scrolls. Messages as they darted through the air toward different districts.
“Elissa?” she asked, pointing up at the birds.
“She’s gotten quite proficient at that, yes. Who knew a cosmic witch would ignore the stars entirely and focus on birds?” He snorted. “Witches never cease to amaze me, though. I shouldn’t be surprised a few of them step out of the normal life and onto a path that they forge on their own.”
She hurried up the final steps to the front doors of the castle and threw them open.
Beyond those doors were even more changes.
Her entire home had been filled with magic.
Crystal scrying globes were dotted here and there, skulls decorated much of the ceiling, and there was an air of magic in here, too.
She could almost smell the brimstone-and-fire scent as she walked down the hall.
A navy-blue carpet cushioned her feet. Candles hung on the walls, but when she looked, she realized they weren’t actually hanging. They were hovering. At her glance, one of the candles floated over her as though it would guide her where she wanted to go.
“Magic,” she whispered.
Elric grinned. “Everywhere you look.”
Some missing puzzle piece settled in her chest as she realized this was how her kingdom should have always been.
There was no reason for them to have chased the witches away, burning them and killing them, all because some people didn’t have the same magic that they had.
Instead, they should have been using them to help.
Using witches to make their lives easier.
A woven basket rolled past her, filled to the brim with what looked like clothing. And then… yes, she realized it was going down the stairs, deeper into the castle, where she knew there were washing stations.
“If I look in the kitchen…” She gave Elric a meaningful glance.
“You know, I argued with Sybil that the dishes should do themselves, but she was insistent that at least one or two things had to be manually done. The younger witches will grow lazy, is what she warned me against.” He shrugged.
“I said they have better things to do, but she said learning how to clean is the least they can do until they learn how to control their magic.”
“The younger witches?”
Again, that grin sparked. “From what I can sense, there are a lot more witches now. While you and I were resting, there were plenty more people who decided they would like to continue worshipping the gods.”
Her heart was so full it was near to bursting as she spun around once, taking in all the details of this place. Her home. Her castle that was now far better than it had ever been when she was a princess.
A door burst open, and Sybil raced into the room. She didn’t stop until she had flung her arms around Jessamine and pulled her in for a hug so tight it made Jessamine’s ribs creak.
“There you are,” Sybil breathed into her neck. “We were all waiting for you to come back! It took you long enough.”
“Sybil.” Jessamine hugged her even tighter, comfort be damned. “I missed you so much.”
“Oh, you did not! You were having a grand time being a goddess, I’m certain of that.” She pulled away, and her hands framed Jessamine’s face. “You look better than I’ve ever seen you.”
Jessamine wasn’t so sure about that. But then she remembered that Sybil had only seen her when she was dead. And that was likely something that no one had really considered. She hadn’t even thought about being alive until this moment, and then…
She rushed down the hall, toward the grand stairwell that split in two.
There were mirrors on either side of those stairs, usually there to provide guests one last opportunity to freshen up before they were led up to see the queen in the throne room.
But as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she was shocked to see a completely different person.
Jessamine had become so used to being dead that seeing herself with color in her cheeks was a rather odd sight.
That pink stain was rather pretty. Her lips weren’t the usual dark-purple color.
Instead, they were now a light pink as well.
No more dark circles marred the underneath of her eyes, nor were there such pronounced hollows in her cheeks.
All the cracks on her face were gone as well. Disappeared entirely, leaving only smooth porcelain skin that was really quite lovely. Her dark hair was no longer tangled, as though it wouldn’t dare put a strand out of place while the magic flowed through her veins.
She looked… healthy.
Alive.