Page 78 of Crowned By Roses

It doesn’t feel like they’re mine anymore. Now they belong to this realm and all the realms. As it should be. It’s bittersweet and beautiful. After all the journeys we’ve taken and adventures we’ve gone on, it feels like goodbye.

“Castletree will always be your home,” I whisper.

Then I close my eyes. I’m not done yet. I dig my hands into the soil before the four roses, feeling that electrifying pull of ancient magic. It’s so intoxicating, I could get lost in it. But I feel my knees on the earth, wings stretching out behind me, my pulse steady and strong.

“Grow,” I say. “Please grow.”

Two new roses emerge, blooming bright and beautiful.

One with purple petals. The other with gold.

“This is for Caspian, my mate and the love of my life,” I say, binding the connection of the purple rose with the energy weaving through the earth. The Below, so feared and hated by the surface realms, is still a part of the Vale. It has its own beauty, its own purpose. “He taught me to trust myself above all else and that love is stronger than hate.”

Who would I be without him, the man who learned to hide so much pain? I think of him now, guiding us all, free to laugh, to love who he wants, and to fight for his family. Our love healed each other.

I take a deep breath, and last of all, I turn my attention to the golden rose. “This,” I whisper, “is for Rosalina. For me. The love of my life.” I touch each petal, fingers soft but sure. “All my life, I thought I was weak and stupid, trapped by my own limitations. But I taught myself that I am stronger than I know. I am wise and good and kind. I matter to this world, and this world matters to me.”

Then I allow myself to truly cry, watering the roses with my tears.

One by one, their petals spread, flourishing, stretching up toward the sky. I tilt my head. Small, bulbous rose hips grow, nestled within the petals. Carefully, I reach out and pluck one out of the sapphire rose. Within, there’s a seed. I gather the seeds from all the roses until I get to the golden one.

Two rose hips. Two seeds.

Carefully, I place them in my satchel. I don’t know why you’re giving these to me, but I know they’re important.

Then I wait, watching the petals bloom toward the sky.

I don’t know what I expected to happen. An explosion of magic? A rush of power surging through me?

But the world does feel different. A sense of peace flows through me. Back in Orca Cove, when I worked at the bookstore, I always felt like I was waiting for someone. My father to come home, my mother to reappear, a love to take me away.

And as much as I grieve my father, as much as I revere my mother, and as much as I love my mates, it wasn’t any of them I was waiting for.

It was me.

“I’ve got you,” I tell myself, and I know as long as that’s true, I will be okay.

I stay with the roses until the golden light turns into the white glow of moonlight in a sapphire sky. I would stay longer, but something tears me away.

There’s a strange sound. A whooshing. And the crackle of fire⁠—

I turn, looking up. A boulder is flying through the air. Beside it burns a brilliant orange flame.

And on the boulder…

Kel. Ez. Dayton. Cas. And the flame takes shape, forming a figure. Farron!

That means…

Ezryn moves his hand as if controlling the boulder with reins, slowly lowering it to the earth. But Kel can’t wait for the rock to land. He leaps off, slowing his descent with an icy breeze. Dayton gives a hearty laugh, then dives, a waterfall erupting from his hands, carrying him down. Caspian rolls his eyes and teleports in a wisp of shadow.

The boulder eases down, and Ez jumps off. Farron lands beside the other four, the flames winking out.

“Well, my Rose,” Keldarion says, hands on his hips, “it would appear we have our magic back.” His eyes widen as he catches sight of my wings. “Rosalina…”

“Wings?” Dayton breathes. “And I thought a siren’s tail was something!”

“How is it possible?” Ezryn shakes his head. “You truly are the most extraordinary being.”