Chapter 61
Chapter Sixty-One
REIYANA
T he following days had passed in a haze—peaceful, but not restful. Decisions had been made, the course set, yet the weight of it lingered in Reiya’s chest, pressing soft and constant like a bruise beneath her ribs.
She’d told herself it would ease once Castiel was gone.
For two weeks, he remained a political prisoner in Turasid’s dungeon—confined, but granted the respect due to a duke’s son awaiting trial.
His presence was a thorn in Kaelen’s and Alarik’s side, especially with Hassamir still at large, but they honoured their word to the Aethonian Crown and returned him unscathed.
Today, finally, he was going.
From her place atop the cliffs, she could see the desert stretched out before her, bathed in the pale gold of early dawn.
She stood between Kaelen and Alarik, the cool hush of morning brushing their skin.
Below, a thin line of soldiers cut across the sands, their long shadows dark against the earth.
At the centre, the enclosed cart rolled forward, wheels lifting faint clouds of dust as it carried Castiel toward the border—and whatever waited beyond it.
The wind tugged at Reiya’s cloak, teasing strands of hair loose from her braid. Her fingers slipped into the folds of fabric, brushing against the cool weight of the wing-shaped pendant.
Once, she’d clung to it like a lifeline.
A symbol of escape. A girl’s desperate dream of freedom.
She lifted the crystal into the light, watching as it flickered—its gleam softer now, less a beacon than a memory.
She’d offered it to the Xians before they left, but Su Lian only smiled, shaking her head.
‘What’s done is done, Yara,’ she had said, brushing a warm hand over Reiya’s cheek. ‘You don’t need to give us this to be remembered. And we don’t need to keep it to know who you are.’
Some things belonged to the past.
And this—this was a relic from a life she no longer claimed.
Her fingers tightened around the pendant. Then, with a decisive swing of her arm, she let it fly. The crystal tumbled in a slow arc, catching the rising sun—until the wheel of Castiel’s cart crushed it beneath the weight of its passage, swallowing it into the sands.
A long breath escaped her lips, and her heart lightened.
A hand slipped into hers. Alarik’s grip was steady. His thumb traced slow circles over her knuckles, a silent promise that the past held no claim on her now.
His golden gaze searched hers. “Do you regret any of this?”
Reiya didn’t hesitate. “Not even for a moment.”
Kaelen, standing at her other side, hummed. His lips curved against her forehead as he pressed a lingering kiss there.
“Not even us?” His voice dipped, teasing. “I remember how hard you fought against the idea of Alphas.”
A faint smile ghosted her lips. “Especially the two of you.”
Then she turned around and sighed, feigning long-suffering patience. “But I suppose someone has to keep you both in line.”
Alarik tilted his head, considering. “Then it’s a good thing we’ve found someone who’s willing to try.”
Their laughter was quiet but full of light. Full of certainty.
She laced her fingers with theirs, feeling the quiet strength in their touch. Feeling the truth of what they’d built and would continue to build— together .
Her gaze drifted back to the horizon, where Castiel’s carriage was vanishing into the dunes.
Once, she had thought he was her escape—the key to breaking free from everything she feared.
Now, she knew better.
“I used to think freedom meant running,” she murmured. “That if I could just break away, I’d be free.”
She let out a long sigh, the truth settling into her bones.
“But freedom isn’t in the escape. It’s in the choice. In standing where you belong—on your terms, with the people you choose.”
Kaelen kissed the curve of her shoulder. “And we’ll stand with you, for as long as you’ll have us.”
Alarik’s lips brushed her temple. “Let there be no doubt—that means forever.”
No matter what lay ahead, she would face it—not as a princess running from the world, but as a woman who had finally chosen her place within it.
Kaelen tilted his head toward the horses, his grin lazy, warm. “Come, Brightheart. The desert awaits.”
Reiya let them lead her, their hands slipping from hers only to help her into Shivanar’s saddle.
Freedom was no longer something she chased. It was something she already carried within her.
And as they rode away from the cliffs, their shadows stretching long beneath the dawn’s blush, Princess Reiyana was free .