I understood why he saved his brother’s life and I also understood why Sadie hated him for it. Navin’s brother had been attacking her, trying to kill her just as much as she was trying to kill him, and it was not his brother’s scythe that Navin had stopped. He hadn’t intervened to protect her, probably because he knew she was far more likely to win.
Navin looked at me with pained eyes and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” He turned back toward the forest before I could reply. As I watched him disappear into the shadows of the golden trees, I wondered if he’d stay in Olmdere and reconnect with his family. Ora would be rolling Galen den’ Mora out of town alone.
Ora watched Mina and Hector, clutching a hand to their chest as if feeling the sorrow blooming there.
“We’ll give her your love,” I promised Ora, glancing from Mina to them.
“She knows she already has it,” they said with a sad half-smile. “I couldn’t be leaving her in better hands. I know I’ll see you again soon.” Ora wrapped me in a warm hug. “Until then, be well. Be you.”
I nodded, swallowing back more tears.
Ora took a fabric-wrapped parcel out of their pocket and handed it to Grae. “That thing you asked me for.”
I quirked my brow at Grae, but he didn’t reply, simply nodding and pocketing the fabric.
The wind whipped our hair and cupped our ears as we waved to Ora. The wagon slowly disappeared into the golden forest, and I knew my fox badge would be swinging above the dining table along with the rest of them. It had been the first place that truly felt like home.
Grae slung his arm over my shoulders and I leaned into his warm side. I’d let that feeling guide me as I rebuilt Olmdere—a place where my people felt that same belonging.
Forty-Two
The crisp air swirled around us, promising the coming autumn. Dappled sunlight streamed through the swaying branches of the golden oak tree. I leaned into Grae, listening to his steady heartbeat beneath my cheek.
Water rushed from the river below, spilling into the turquoise lake. The color had brightened from its murky black since the ostekke’s death. Humans were swimming in it again, delighting in the warm waters, baked for months by the hot summer sun.
I plucked a leaf off the branch and twirled it by the stem.
Grae kissed my temple. “What are you thinking about?”
I let the leaf fall, floating through the air down into the river. My eyes followed the golden speck as the river carried it away.
“This may be my new favorite tree,” I whispered.
“Mine too,” he murmured, sweeping my hair behind my ear.
My sleeveless linen dress billowed with the breeze. I loved the flow of the fabric on the hot summer’s day. Claiming the word “merem” had freed me. I wore the clothes that made me happy and I lived as the person I knew I was.
Mina was the first human appointed to my council, along with the town leaders from each of the five counties. A parcel had arrived from Queen Ingrid the day after Sawyn’s death—a silver and diamond tiara, a gift from the Ice Wolf pack congratulating my victory. Sawyn’s body was barely burned and the Taigosi queen was already politicking. I had sent the tiara back, along with a bag of gold from my treasury, asking Queen Ingrid to supply its worth in grain and produce instead. Sure enough, five massive wagons rolled into the capital the following week, one for each county, enough to fill their bellies twice over while the rebuild began.
The laughter of children splashing in the lake carried uphill.
I closed my eyes. “Gods, I would give anything to protect that sound.”
“You have.” Grae’s voice dropped to a low rumble as his arms tightened around me. “And you will. We all will.”
I craned my neck back to look into his warm eyes, his cheeks dimpling even as he took in my worried expression.
“There is so much to do—towns to rebuild, fields to sow . . .” I released a slow breath. “The war with Damrienn hasn’t even begun.”
My mind flashed to the haggard-looking face of the Damrienn messenger who had arrived that morning. King Nero demanded we yield Olmdere to him or ready for war. I knew he’d do it and yet the actuality of it stole my breath away. I’d barely taken my place on my throne and already I needed to defend it.
“He has to get through Taigos to march his armies here and Ingrid hates him almost as much as we do. We have time.” Grae swept his calloused hand down my bare arm. “For now, your people are safe.”
I shook my head. “You will be at war with your own father.”
“You are my family.” He searched my face and reached into his pocket, his fist clenching around something. “You are my everything, little fox.”
He opened his palm to reveal a gold ring holding a large amber stone ringed with diamonds.
“Is this—”
“Your protection stone.” Grae smiled.
My eyebrows shot up. “You kept it all this time?”
“I gave it to Ora to turn into a ring.” He looked down at the ring, the diamonds casting spectrums of glittering light all around us. He chuckled. “Though in hindsight it would’ve been better to hang on to it, had I known how many monsters we’d encounter. I’d planned on giving it to you before the siege, but . . .”
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered. “Are you—are you proposing to me?”
“Poorly, it seems,” he huffed, flashing that charming grin. “I am already yours in every way. You are the merem of my heart. Be mine? Marry me?”
My heart cracked open at those words, a smile splitting across my face as I nodded. “Yes.”
Grae slid the ring onto my finger and pulled my face to his. We could barely contain our smiles long enough to kiss. Joy rushed through me like I’d never known. Here in this golden tree, with the river rushing below me, and the sounds of my kingdom finally at peace, I knew I didn’t have to dig any deeper to find who I was or where I wanted to be. Grae’s arm threaded around me and pulled me tighter against him.
My eyes fell to the rushing turquoise water—the same river that flowed down from the mountains of Taigos and over the gold mines of Sevelde, the life force of Olmdere, the history of war and prosperity carved through the land. The fight was only beginning, but I finally knew what I was fighting for—for all of us, those who struggled to be all the things they felt inside, those who didn’t yet know how to carve their own path. I knew then that my reign would be like this river, forging ahead, finding my own way until everything flowed into the stillness and beauty of the lake at my back. The Golden Court would rise like a river after a rainstorm and all our enemies will be washed away.
Dramatis Personae
People
Calla Marriel: Gold Wolf, twin to Briar, child of the late King and Queen of Olmdere Briar Marriel: Gold Wolf, twin to Calla, Crown Princess, child of the late King and Queen of Olmdere Grae Claudius: Silver Wolf, Crown Prince of Damrienn
Nero Claudius: Silver Wolf, King of Damrienn
Maez Claudius: Silver Wolf, cousin to Grae and niece to the king, one of Grae’s royal guard Sadie Rauxtide: Silver Wolf, sister to Hector, one of Grae’s royal guard Hector Rauxtide: Silver Wolf, brother to Sadie, one of Grae’s royal guard Ora: human, leader of Galen den’ Mora musical troupe
Navin: human, part of Galen den’ Mora