Annalora began to beg and cajole. “Ferah, give me the whistle, and I can make all of this go away. I just need to get rid of her.”
The elf-girl stood up, still looking battle-weary and terrified. “I should never have told you of the prophecy which foretold the dark prince’s reign and the end of our world.”
“Grow up,” Annalora snapped. “You and the Godmothers would never have been able to stop the prophecy. This is the end. Can’t you see that?”
Mina got up from the floor and glanced around the room. She caught a reflection in the glass—Teague pacing in the corner of the room, unable to strike because the whistle was still in play. It seemed that none of the others could see him.
“You killed the Fates,” Ferah cried out. Her hand holding the whistle shook in fury.
“Something you should have done long ago.” Annalora tried to play it off as no big deal. “Now we can start fresh, build the Fae world anew. Just give me the whistle, and I’ll end her. You can be head of the Royal Guard. I’ll give you anything you want.” She’d continued to walk and talk until she was only a foot from the elf.
Ferah shook her head. “No, this world will not be built on your darkness.” She turned to look at Mina. “I see light when I look at you. I’ll follow you till the end.”
She reached out to hand the whistle to Mina, but Annalora grabbed one of Ferah’s own daggers from her bandolier and stabbed the girl.
Ferah’s eyes fluttered in disbelief. The whistle fell from her limp fingers followed by a trickle of blood. It dropped and bounced on the floor.
“No!” Mina let the fury she had been holding back burst forth.
The room erupted into a ball of light, and Annalora backed up, her arms in front of her face. Mina turned her anger on Annalora and did as Teague had done centuries ago. She blasted the girl through the glass tower window.
Annalora screamed, and then silence followed.
Ferah lay on the ground, unable to speak. She held up her hand, and Mina rushed to her side and grasped it between her own.
“I’m so sorry,” she said in a pained whisper, “for betraying you over and over. Even in the Godmother’s Guild, I tried to drown you. I never had enough faith. I’m sorry.” She let out one last breath, and her head fell to the side.
“Teague,” Mina screamed, but he didn’t appear. She searched the floor in a blur of tears and picked up the bone whistle. She snapped it in two and threw it across the floor. Within seconds, he appeared by her side.
“Do something!” she begged.
“I can’t, my love,” Teague soothed. “Her soul has already passed to the In Between. I can meet her there and help her pass over and not be lost, but that is all.”
Mina rocked back onto her heels and wiped at her eyes. Another earthquake erupted, and the jagged shards of remaining glass rained down beside them in colored pieces.
Teague helped her up. He led her to the empty windows, and they watched as the two yellow suns began to turn dark.
“What are we going to do?”
He reached for her hand, and she looked up into his white eyes. “We save our world.”
“How?”
“When the worlds were first created, there was darkness. From that darkness, light came forth. There’s a balance of light and dark. My mother the moon, my father the sun. I think it’s safe to say that I’m darkness. And you, Mina, are light. I asked you once before if you would stay with me and rule by my side. I need you. I can’t exist without you. So I ask again, will you stay with me?”
Mina turned and looked at their hands clasped together and over at the world that was crumbling and dying around them. She wouldn’t let the circumstances pressure her into doing the wrong thing. She glanced into his eyes and still saw white. It didn’t scare her. On him, it looked majestic and not deathly. Maybe because his eyes conveyed so much love.
In fact, there was so much love, so much honor, that she wasn’t searching for them to change to blue or gray. The color didn’t matter anymore. The soul did. The prince, as he stood before her, was both Teague and Jared, and she had a part of his soul.
Teague also possessed a bit of hers.
“Yes,” she answered. “I’ll stay.” She felt a thrill as he smiled and bent to kiss her.
His lips claimed hers in a passionate kiss, and he whispered, “I’ve waited forever for you. Now I’m yours. Love me, rule with me. I’ll love and protect you for eternity.” The corner of his mouth lifted up in a smile as he reached up to caress her cheek.
“Eternity sounds perfect.” Mina rose up on tiptoes to wrap her hands around his neck, and he laid a trail of kisses down her face until he kissed her mouth again.
“Then open your soul to me like you did before.” He gently pulled away, and they turned to look out the tower across the land.
It was easy to do, to close her eyes and think of the love she had for him. She felt Teague do the same, and their minds touched.