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I was no longer a moon fae. I was both lightanddark, a creature somewhere in between the two. And I loved it. Our child would be, too. I pressed a palm to my belly as we walked the final few steps to my brother’s bedchamber. Two Issosianguards stood at the door, one of them opening the door as soon as Athelyn nodded.
I was suddenly glad Gael had abandoned my brother. Athelyn had taken his role as steward with honor. Gael would not have done. I was sure of that.
Once inside, I rushed past Athelyn to my brother’s bedside. The nursemaid dipped in a curtsy then hurried away. It was strange to see him laying so still in his bed. My brother had always been a male of action, of movement.
His eyes were closed. I sat on the edge of his bed and placed a hand on his arm. “Baelynn. Can you hear me?”
His face was a sickly pale, his beautiful white hair slick with sweat around his forehead and pointed ears. When he opened his eyes, I bit my lip to keep from making a sound. They were no longer a vibrant violet like mine but swallowed almost entirely with white. The plague had worked quickly on him.
“Una?” His brow furrowed. “I must be dreaming again.”
“You are not,” I assured him, taking his hand in mine and pressing a kiss to it before holding it to my cheek. “I’m here, brother.”
His frown deepened in concern and confusion before his gaze slid over my shoulder where I could feel Goll standing. Soryn and Keffa had remained outside the bedchamber.
“You are truly here?” His face broke into a weak smile. “He allowed you to come say goodbye?”
My heart lurched at the thought of Baelynn being on death’s doorstep. The disease had progressed so quickly through him, not like it had with our father. It seemed the mutation of the virus had increased in its aggression. Thank the gods, I now had the power to cure all those afflicted.
Baelynn’s gaze returned to Goll. “Thank you for allowing her to come.”
“I allowed nothing.” Goll brushed my shoulder gently before letting his hand fall away. “As Queen of Northgall, she can do whatever she wants.”
Baelynn was frowning again, his gaze flicking between us. “What is he talking about?” he asked me. “Queen?”
I nodded and sniffed to delay the tears coming. “It is true, brother.”
Then he did something I didn’t expect at all. He laughed. “Now I know I’m not dreaming. Only my headstrong sister could walk into Northgall a prisoner and make herself a queen.”
I laughed with him, for he’d always said I was too headstrong for my own good, and my stubbornness would get me into trouble one day.
“I’ve come to help you, Baelynn.”
“How?”
I gusted out a breath on a laugh. “That story is too long to tell right now. I simply need you to lie still.”
“I can hardly do anything else, sister.”
His sarcasm didn’t suit him. He had always been the hopeful one, the one determined to find a way out of any situation. He had been sure we’d somehow win the war up until the moment they were in Issos and at our gates. Even then, he tried to convince me not to sign the treaty.
Smiling at him, I pressed both my palms to the linen shirt covering his chest. I didn’t need to say any words of magick to summon it forward. It was always there now, brimming to the surface. I was bursting with healing magick.
Without a word, it flowed down my arms, through my fingers, and into Baelynn. He gasped, his mouth opening wide as he arched his neck, his eyes sliding closed. He pressed a hand over one of mine. An ethereal glow of green flowed from my fingertips into his body.
When I knew it was enough—I don’t know how I knew, but I did—I removed my hands. He opened his eyes, both shining bright like purple gems.
“By the gods, Una. You can make miracles happen.”
“No, brother. It is the gods’ work, but I can heal all those sick with the plague.”
I knew that was my purpose. And as the new Queen of Northgall, it would be the wife of the wraith king who healed both the light and the dark fae. Not the Princess of Issos. Somehow, I knew that was what Goddess Elska wanted. A fae in between light and dark to heal the sick, to wipe the lands clean of this plague. To start anew.
He struggled to sit up and get out of bed, not because he seemed weak but because the nurse had tucked him so thoroughly beneath the covers. I stood quickly, and Goll helped him to stand.
“Thank you,” he said gratefully, then opened his arms to me.
I fell into his embrace, sighing with relief. We hugged for a moment, and then I heard him say again, “Thank you.”
