Page 146 of Crowned By Roses

“We’re home, my Rose,” he says. “All of us.”

Ezryn helps me to my feet, and I hold on to his steady weight as I try to take everything in.

We’re in Castletree’s entrance hall. The floors are marble and shining, the stained-glass windows stretch up the walls, and the familiar stone staircase leads up to the landing⁠—

“All the seasonal wings are back!” Dayton hollers, bounding up the stairs, turning to a giant golden wolf, then back to his fae form, then a wolf again.

“He really is a big puppy.” Ezryn sighs.

“The Summer wing, of course.” Dayton jumps up and down. “Autumn, Winter, Spring and⁠—”

“A wing for the Below,” Caspian whispers, then sprints after him. His eyes refract with every color of the rainbow as he stares down a glittering hall lined with crystals.

“And the Above,” Wrenley says.

What once led to the Queen’s Tower is now an open, swooping arch in the same design as we saw on the isles. Ivy creeps over etched constellations.

It’s not the same as it was before. This is our Castletree.

I glide over to the entrance door, which is now blooming with roses. Not only red ones but sapphire blue, blush pink, ocean teal, amber orange, dusky purple, oil-slick iridescent, and rose gold.

They grew together this time.

We grew together.

I lean my forehead against the familiar wood. “I missed you, Castletree.”

But it wasn’t only Castletree that needed healing. Wrenley’s expression is still sick with worry, and I summon the princes back to me. Together, we open the front door. Is it enough to save everyone?

Sunlight pours in. I hold my hand up to shield my eyes. The briar bridge Caspian and I created has bloomed into something bright and big and beautiful, the railing lined with purple and gold roses. The seven of us walk across it. No longer clogged with ash, the ground blooms with wildflowers. Trees sprout into the air as if trying to caress the rising sun, and the moat sparkles with fresh, clean water.

“Magic has returned to the Vale,” Kel says softly but not weakly.

On the other side of the bridge, our army stands at attention. The airships have landed in the Briar…though it’s not a briar and not a battleground but a sprawling meadow. Dayton’s armada floats on the River Gami, which is wider than I’ve seen before.

Yes, magic has returned to the Vale. But all is not right.

The keening sounds of death fill the air. Sira’s creatures still wander helplessly, one by one slowly fading away.

Tears fall down Jack’s face as he tries desperately to hold Kairyn’s body together. Specks of ash float away from him.

“I thought you had a way to fix this.” Wrenley stalks toward me, voice raspy. Her eyes flash with rage more intense than I’ve ever seen on her face. But it’s not rage. It’s fear and grief, rioting through her body so strongly, I can feel it in my own.

I thought I had a way to fix it too. But healing the Vale wasn’t enough to save Sira’s creatures. A throb of pain shoots through my heart. Why wasn’t it enough?

“Or is this what you always wanted?” Wrenley hisses. “A world free of monsters?”

When I look at her, I see the unspoken words in her eyes: A world free of people like me.

I don’t let myself feel the barb of her words. Caressing her cheek, I whisper, “I have loved a great many monsters.” I cast a gaze to where the princes stand, shoulder to shoulder.

It’s not only my beasts or my sister but those who have been touched by Sira’s darkness. Faustrius. Aquila. Heidigog. Kairyn. All those who dared to hope against her darkness.

I step to the edge of the bridge and force myself to look at the whispers of ash falling across the meadow.

Queen Aurelia was a skilled linguist. Brave to the point of recklessness, where she could power the entire Celestial Landing by herself. So adventurous, she built a brand-new world and then a brand-new life in an entirely different one.

I am not my mother.