Chapter 31
The journey back was solemn. No words could ease the pain.
But the moment Gaia crossed into Lythira, something in me shifted.
It felt so good to be home.
Sunlight slipped into Lioran’s chambers as I nestled into his chair—watching him, waiting for him to wake. I refused to enter my old chambers once we returned.
The weight of the bargain consumed me.
Each moment was fading faster. We returned to enjoy our last moments together, but as I watch him in his quiet slumber, I knew there would never be enough moments to keep. The bargain would claim me. His future would be tied.
The queen’s final words hadn’t left me. On our journey home, I couldn’t bring myself to ask the book if what I assumed was correct. My fingers met the leather book’s embroidery.
“You aren’t here anymore, are you?” I whispered.
I am with you through these pages only.
The book was meant to be a guide for you when I knew we’d never find each other again.
He would never be with me. “How did you know?”
I was a visionary.
I saw my end, before it came.
Even if I hadn’t, I knew he wouldn’t let me live with what I had created.
I would never know the father that loved me.
He was stolen by the one who raised me. I would never get to sit with him, or see how I resembled him.
The dull ache sat, before I could say the words.
“I love you,” I whispered. He was gone. He couldn’t feel it, but if there was a chance he could hear my words still, I needed him to know.
My daughter—I love you still.
“It’s not fair.”
Our fate isn’t fair.
I knew it never would be.
Before our worlds were divided, your mother brought you to me.
I lived in that moment every day.
“I wish I remembered it; I wish I remembered you.”
Someday we will meet again, Aelira.
“That day may be soon.”
Don’t speak that way.
Only the stars know your future.
Even visionaries can be wrong.
“I don’t think Cora is wrong.”
I saw it all unfolding, maybe even the way Cora sees it now.
We are not always correct in what we see.
The smallest shift can alter everything.
“What did you see?”
I saw the woman you would become.
I saw you mend the dying land.
There may still be a way.
Tears collected on my sleeve.
“Thank you for everything,” I whispered as I pressed the book closed. If there was a way, perhaps we would find it, but even if we didn’t—I had everything I wanted beside me.
Lioran rubbed his eyes “Please come back to bed.” His curls lay across the pillow. I climbed in beside him, still gripping the book.
“My father is not alive anymore.” The leather cover shifted between my unsteady fingertips.
“My love…I know you were hoping to find him.” He brushed tears off my cheek. “He must have loved you very much.”
“Your mother knew.” It wasn’t enough for her to take everything I desired from me—she wanted her words to plunge deeper.
“Why do you think that?”
“After she reminded you of your promise. She said he would have been proud of me.”
Silence fell between us. His fingers curled inward, and his gaze narrowed.
“King Ardyn killed him…” I whispered the truth until my throat ached from each word. He killed him and let my mother live. Yet looking back I’m not sure if she was really living at all.
Tears often clung to her cheeks when no one was watching. She spoke with such softness that I never understood. Until now. Now I knew her heart was broken. He made her continue with life as if it never happened at all.
“Aelira. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it is like to find out after all this time. After everything you’ve been through.”
For a moment I just looked at him. He drew me in to his side and held me closer.
“He doesn’t think I will die.” The words settled on me as I said them.
His eyes widened. “What did he say?” I placed the book into his hands. My father’s words were still there, as if he wasn’t ready to leave me yet.
“We will keep our hope.” He moved closer behind me, his arms sliding around me, and I leaned back into him.
“What if it’s false hope?” My voice trailed off.
“It’s still hope…and I will keep hanging on to it.”
The lingering chill sent shivers down my spine, but Lioran only gripped me closer.
“When you go back…I want you to find happiness—to fall in love again.” My stomach clenched as my view became a cloudy haze.
“I’m not going back.”
“You have to arrange your marriage.”
He placed the book down beside us and released me from his hold.
I prepared myself for the words I didn’t want to hear.
“I am staying with you. There is nowhere else I need to be. We are going to Myrwood together.” His lips found mine again.
For a moment, I almost protested, but instead, I let myself settle in his words—in the promise of another tomorrow.
“I love you.” I ran my hand down his chest, his silver eyes caught mine.
“You have my love always.”
I examined a perfect, pale purple rose in the garden as I waited for Lioran to be done with his council meeting. Their scent lingered heavier than before. I heard every blade of grass sway, the call of doves in the distance.
Lythira’s melody hummed through my veins. Each day since the bargain, something shifted and settled deeper within me. Today, I was weaker than the day before, but the sun’s glow radiated over me—its warmth a sweet embrace.
“I thought I might find you here.” Lioran’s voice brushed over me, his hand resting on my shoulder.
“I have a surprise for you, but you need to get ready for it. Juniper is in your chambers waiting for you.” A sweet grin spread across his face.
“Go ahead. I’ll see you later.” He raised my hand to his lips and brushed my skin with a gentle kiss.
I turned to look back at him before I stepped back inside the castle. His curls blew free in the wind, his eyes softened as they caught mine. He was lighter and almost joyful. I held the arch door frame, taking him in before heading inside.
He planned something just for us, my heart thundered as my mind raced wondering what it could be.
An opulent emerald gown lay on the bed. The silk was more magnificent than any fabric I had ever worn. Pink roses and leaves were embroidered into the fabric.
“The prince had it made for you. He sent word to our best seamstress before you returned from Nythrel. Do you like it?”
“Yes, I love it. It’s beautiful.” It was fit for fae royalty. She removed my simple gown and tugged the other over me. The sleeves hung low past my fingertips. I braced myself for the pull of ribbons. The dress was already tight.
“You look radiant in it,” she softly mused.
“But the corset…”
Juniper giggled. “The prince had specific instructions for the design—no corset.” I breathed freely, feeling the lightweight gown sway with my body as I moved.
He had thought of everything.
“Do you know what the surprise is?” I asked as my hands gripped the sleeves, playing with the flowing fabric.
She nodded. “I do, but I promised I wouldn’t ruin it, only prepare you for it.”
My smile flowed freely. Tonight, we would just exist, together.
The bargain, his promise to his parents—it would all wait another day.
Juniper twisted half of my hair back, leaving a cascade of loose, chocolate waves trickling down the open back of the dress.
She placed a circlet of golden leaves on my head.
“He will be waiting for you in the garden.”
“Thank you, Juniper.”
Joy flooded me. The gown flowed freely behind me as I took in the ivy that cascaded over the castle halls—each step I took led me closer to him.
The sun dipped near the horizon, hues of pinks dancing with blue in the sky. Lioran stood in the center of the courtyard, dressed in a matching, satin emerald tunic. His back to me.
“Will you tell me what you’ve planned now?” He turned around with my words. His silver eyes sparkled, catching fragments of light.
His chest trembled with his exhale and tears pooled in his eyes. “You look stunning.”
“I hear you are to thank for that.” I reached out to touch him, but I pulled back in case others were watching. He pulled me in toward him, his hands wrapped confidently around me as his lips brushed over mine.
“What if someone sees us?”
His shoulders settled back, his chin raised high. “Let them,” he said.
For a moment, he was himself again, and I was still me—despite the bargain. The weight of it still pinned me down, but my heart was free.
He paused and inhaled deeply. My hands settled in his palms. “I’m grateful you crossed the divide.” He stumbled over his words for a moment, his eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t need to say anything. Tonight, we get to be together.”
“I’ve spent too much time not saying what I need to,” he said.
“I was living half in the darkness, the decay of these lands consuming me, until the stars led me straight to you. Every flower you’ve brought to life, every tree you’ve embraced, not only revived these lands, but it restored me.
My love for you runs deeper than the roots of the trees.
It vibrates through Lythira’s core and mine.
” His fingers trailed my cheek, until he pulled me in toward him, his lips heavy on mine.
“We belong here, together—in our home. I choose you, Aelira, for all the days we can be together. I want to bond with you forever—live the life we imagined.”
“Lioran…” My voice quaked through the tears.
His shoulders went rigid, as if he was bracing himself for me to say no. “Will you marry me tonight beneath the stars?”
My lips parted, ready to say yes, but I couldn’t. “What of your promise to your parents, to the High Court?”
“I promised I will marry—I am delivering on my promise, binding myself to the only fae I could spend my life with. The stars insisted our paths cross, tested us, left us to fall apart, but we will rise above it and stand together.”
“If they find out…” I shuddered.
“I will be the one to tell them. It is my choice—I choose you.” He exhaled. “Will you bond with me, Aelira?” he asked again.
“I thought you’d never ask,” I whispered with a smile. “Yes, Lioran—I am yours always.”
I pulled him closer, kissing him deeply.
Joy glimmered in his eyes, bolder and brighter than before. His smile spread.
He removed a wooden box from his tunic, engraved with leaves. “You are my future.” He pried open the box, revealing a dazzling emerald hugged by silver leaves.
Lioran slid the ring on my finger.
A quiet warmth flooded me.