His throat worked, but he couldn’t disobey her. A stream of fae danced off his tongue, and wisps of light shot out of the vial to swirl through the air.
“They need a way out,” Ari said, and Sebastian hurried to throw open the window. A gust of salty air rushed in, sending the wisps fluttering, but then they rushed for the opening. Ari joined Sebastian as they watched one hundred brilliant strands of light race for Kosim Thalas. He lifted the vial, which still had plenty of soul lights inside it.
“What do we do with these?” he asked softly. “The bodies are decayed. They can’t return.”
“Well they aren’t going to spend eternity trapped in this vial either,” she said, and turned to Teague. “Set these souls free.”
“Free to do what?” he snapped.
“Free to find their way to what comes next. Do it now.”
He spoke in fae again, and the rest of the shimmering wisps escaped the flask, danced through the air to the window, and then chased each other toward the canopy of stars above them.
“Good-bye, Kora,” Sebastian whispered. Ari slid her arm behind his back and leaned her head against his shoulder as the wisps disappeared into the fabric of the brilliant night sky.
“One last thing,” she said.
“Do you want me to do it?” he asked, his shoulders tense, but his tone steady.
Yes, she did, but that was unfair. He’d shown the courage to do the hardest things over and over again, and the scars he bore from it would last a lifetime. It was her turn to do the hardest thing. Her turn to bear the scar.
“Wait for me,” she said, and left him standing with the sea breeze and the moonlight.
When she stood in front of Teague, his clothes ripped, his pipe forgotten on the floor, she held his gaze. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Teague sneered at her. “If you’re expecting an apology for Cleo or the merchant, you’ll be disappointed. If you think I’m going to regret using your brother, you’re wrong.”
Anger burned within her, but it was fading into a weary, resolute purpose. She wanted to be done. She wanted all of Súndraille to be done.
“Let me guess,” Teague said. “I’m your personal Wish Granter now. You want to expand the influence of Súndraille. You want riches. You want—”
“I want you to set your soul free,” she said quietly. The words were heavy, cumbersome things that took all her strength to speak, but she could find no pity as his eyes widened and pleaded for mercy.
Mercy he had refused to show to Cleo. To Thad. To anyone who had dealings with him.
His mouth opened in a soundless howl of agony, and his skin shimmered with light that gathered in his chest and then poured out of him. She turned away as his body fell to the floor and joined Sebastian as they watched the soul of Rumpelstiltskin sway in the breeze, flutter over trees and through grasses, and then drift toward the open sea and the distant isle of Llorenyae.
For a long moment, they stood there, cocooned in silence and starlight. Ari leaned her head against Sebastian’s shoulder, and he tangled his fingers with hers.
Finally, he looked at her, peace on his face and warmth in his eyes, and said, “Ready?”
She smiled. “Ready.”
Hand in hand, they stepped into the windswept night and headed toward the palace.
FIVE MONTHS LATER
FIFTY-TWO
“I DON’T THINK I can do this.” Sebastian tugged at the collar of his silk shirt and looked over his shoulder for the door that led from the palace library to the garden.
“Of course you can.” Ari straightened his cravat and batted his hands away when he went for his collar again.
“There will be crowds of nobility in there.”
“Yes, but there will also be pie.”
He gave her a pained look. She smiled and leaned into him.
“So much has changed. Your father is in the dungeon for life. Your mother has a clean start in a new city. And you have the respect of everyone in Kosim Thalas.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
She snorted. “You single-handedly dismantled Teague’s criminal organization—”
“I had plenty of help from the city guard—”
“Who were following your orders. You cleaned up the streets of east Kosim Thalas—”
“Again with help from the guard.” He looked at the exit.
“And then you started a school for children in the slums—”
“Actually I just found the teachers. They’re the ones—”
“Who’s giving this pep talk?” She glared at him.
His eyes crinkled. “I guess you are.”
“If you can handle the renovation of east Kosim Thalas, you can handle a room full of nobility.” She smoothed a hand over his hair and brushed a speck of lint from his shoulder. “Besides, I have a surprise for you afterward.”
He ran his hands down her arms and tangled his fingers with hers. “It had better be a really amazing surprise.”
She grinned, her heart feeling like it was expanding in her chest. It was an amazing surprise if she did say so herself. She couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when she showed him.
“Ready?” she asked as a page knocked on the library’s door.
“No,” he said, but he walked with her anyway. They left the library, moved down a short hall past windows closed to keep out the chillier winds of winter, and entered the ballroom.
“Sebastian Vaughn, our guest of honor!” Thad threw out his arms in welcome, a genuine smile on his face, and miracle of miracles, Sebastian managed to (awkwardly) smile back.
Ari walked confidently onto the platform and stood beside her brother. She was getting used to wearing a crown and to handling the responsibilities that came with it. And the people were getting used to Thad and Ari ruling Súndraille as a team.
“We should make this quick before Sebastian runs for the door,” Ari said under her breath as her brother took her elbow and gently steered the two of them toward the stage that usually held the musicians for a ball.
“I heard that,” Sebastian said.
“Is she wrong?” Thad asked.
Sebastian treated them both to a mock glare and then muttered, “No.”
Moments later, the crowd of nobility was seated in the chairs that had been placed in rows before the stage, and Thad was listing all Sebastian’s recent accomplishments while Sebastian looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him.
Thad turned to Sebastian, his eyes gleaming with emotion, and said in a husky voice, “And finally, the throne recognizes your incredible act of selfless bravery, which saved the life of the princess and rid our kingdom of the threat of Alistair Teague.”