“Of course you would agree with him,” I say, sneering. But Ezryn pulls me close, and I melt against him, feeling the hard metal planes of his body through the thin layers of my nightdress.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” I whisper. “I was so worried about you, caught in that terrible dream.”
“It wasn’t just a dream,” Ezryn whispers back. “The pollen brought forth my memories. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“So, now you are aware of both of our greatest shames,” Ezryn says. “Only a few know the truth of the day I received Spring’s Blessing, Kel included.”
All this time, they’ve both been hiding so much pain.
“It is no great shame to love someone, to want to prove your devotion.” I run a hand along Kel’s jaw before rolling back to Ezryn. “Ez, you may have been told this before, but let me say it once more. I felt you in that memory. It was not your fault; I don’t understand the magic required during the passing of a Blessing—”
“But if I had—” Ezryn shakes his head.
“There was nothing else you could do. It was an accident. It doesn’t mean you didn’t love your mother. The fragility in which you hold me, the tender care in which you use your magic now, is all proof of that love for her.”
Ezryn shivers beneath me. I cannot imagine what he’s been going through, to carry that burden for so long.
“Ezryn, you have my forgiveness, but you don’t need it. Only you can offer the forgiveness you seek.” Gently, I touch his helm, then place a light kiss where his lips would be. Cold metal prickles my mouth.
Ezryn holds me around the waist. “Petal, I do not know if the day will ever come where I am able to do that.”
The bed moves as Kel slides an arm over me, clasping Ezryn’s forearm. “But we keep trying. Each time we fall, we rise again.”
Ezryn nods. “Tomorrow, I will return to Florendel. I will need to reopen the way between Castletree’s main door and Keep Hammergarden. With the loss of our tokens, we will no longer be able to use the mirror to travel anywhere in the Enchanted Vale.”
I know the loss of the necklaces is a terrible thing, but the idea of opening the ways between Castletree and the realms feels like hope. We’ve already opened the way connecting Castletree to Autumn. Kel opened the one to Winter for his own personal use, and now we’ll open Spring. Only Summer remains closed.
“We will retrieve them,” Keldarion says. “Though, I cannot fathom what the Below wants with the tokens. Only the High Ruler can use their realm’s token to travel to Castletree.”
I could use my moonstone rose as well, but there’s no Blessing inside me.
“We must be wary of that assassin. The Nightingale,” Ezryn says.
My body goes cold thinking of her hands around my throat. “She could summon and control thorns like Caspian.”
“That’s what those other thorns were in the grove,” Ezryn says. “I knew there was something different about them.”
“Kel,” I say, “you told me that only Caspian could control the briars. Well, both her and I can, too.”
Keldarion shakes his head. “Your magic is a mystery. Those of the Below may use it for evil, but I promise we will unravel your secrets together, Rosalina.”
Ezryn turns to us. “Once I’m in Spring, I must ensure my brother and father’s safety and rid Spring of these toxic weeds. Who knows what effect they’ve had on others? My realm has been unattended to for too long.”
I curl closer at the thought of him leaving.
Ezryn looks down at me. “I’ll also send word to Autumn to have your father transported to Spring. We have the best healers in the realm, and I’ll personally take charge of his care.”
“Then I’m going with you,” I say.
“Rosalina,” Kel says.
“I want to help prepare for my father’s arrival and be at his side while he’s healing. Kel, you and the other princes need to restore magic to Castletree. Besides, Astrid and Marigold are still in Spring.”
“Keep Hammergarden is well fortified,” Ezryn says. “We will be safe there. You know I would sooner cut out my heart than let harm befall Rosalina.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Keldarion grumbles.
“And also, I have to get your sword,” I say, suddenly remembering.
“I assumed the Below took it,” Keldarion says.
“No, I threw it into the lake so no one would find it,” I say. “But you’ll have to get it before you go back to Winter. That’s your plan, isn’t it?”
Ezryn tightens his fists. “Do you still intend to pass on your Blessing?”
What? How could Kel consider such a thing?
“I do not know,” Keldarion says. “First, we must replenish Castletree’s magic, then devise a plan to retrieve the necklaces. I will not pass on the rule of Castletree in such a state.”
I run my fingers along his rough knuckles. “Think carefully about this, Kel. You were meant to be High Prince of Winter.”
He gives a low sigh and kisses my hair. Sleep begins to take me, even though it’s morning. “Please stay,” I mumble. “Both of you.”
64
Keldarion
“You can sleep,” Ezryn says. “I’ll keep watch.”
Drowsiness pricks at my consciousness, but I won’t let it take me. “I don’t want to miss a moment of this.”
Rosalina lies huddled between us. Her head rests on Ezryn’s arm, her back pressed against my chest. She’s deep in sleep, body twitching every so often in dreams. Lying here with my mate and my best friend, with the afternoon light drifting in through the curtains, is a relaxing respite I have not felt in an age. “I thought you might have been asleep yourself,” I whisper to him.
“No,” Ezryn says.
I chuckle. “Should have known. Your whole body would rattle with your snores.”
Ezryn gives a quiet laugh, and I’m struck with the bitter edge of sadness that I do not remember the last time we laughed together.
He regards me, and I can tell by the tilt of his helm, it’s something serious. “I know why you didn’t tell me about your bargain with Caspian.”
“I was ashamed.”
“More ashamed than me for what I did at my Blessing? Your parents—you, Kel—were the only ones I could tell. Your family sheltered me against myself. Shame has never been a barrier between us.”
“Ez …”
“After you defied your father and they banished Caspian, I begged you not to follow him. But you confided in me that you were going to Cryptgarden anyway. It was later that I discovered the truth of his plots, how he was working for the Below the whole time. One of his very own minions betrayed his true intentions to me. And when you didn’t return from the Below, it forced me to retrieve you with your army. The army you told Caspian came at your order.”
“If he found out you led that army, he would have killed you.”
“He tried to kill you.”
“I knew I could survive it.” I massage my wrist, still unsure if I have.
“That was the last secret you ever told me.”
I swallow in a dry throat. He’s not wrong.
“You didn’t tell me of your bargain with Caspian, nor when your own mate walked through these very castle doors.” He gives a long sigh. “You lied to him for me, Kel. But you never forgave me.”