Page 115 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

Rowhan said nothing and dipped his head.

The Priestess approached Palto. “You defied everything to send Calroy and Yeri back. That took more courage than any weapon ever forged. Now finish what you started. That is all anyone can ask of you.”

Palto placed a fist to his heart.

She moved to Calroy. He stiffened just enough I noticed, embracing what words of wisdom would lay upon her.

“Your memory has carried you well.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, then let go. “That kind of discipline is rare, even in gods. But discipline without trust is just another cage.” Her gaze moved briefly to me, then back to him. “Let her carry it with you now. You don’t have to hold it alone anymore.”

Last, The Priestess came to me, both hands on my shoulders. “You have spent all your life being Star. Don’t abandon her in becoming Yeri. The goddess is formidable. But the girl who survived is the one the queen should fear. That girl never broke. Remember that.”

I swallowed, tears welling in my eyes.

“Your power will return when you need it most. Not a moment before. Not a moment after.” Her voice was steady and certain. “Don’t chase it. Trust it. It has never left you. It has only been waiting for you to remember who you are.”

Her pale eyes moved briefly to Calroy, then back to me.

“The queen destroyed the gods by dividing them. She could not break what was bound together. Don’t let her find a way to divide you now. Your love is not your weakness. It is your strength. Your power.”

Then she reached out and pressed her hand briefly to my chest, just above my heart. “You already know everything you need to know. It lives here. It always has.”

She stepped back and looked at us, her pale eyes moving from face to face one last time.

“The queen has held power for far too long.” The breeze moved through the path, the wind chimes catching it softly behind the Priestess. “You will be outnumbered. There will be a moment when everything in you says it is over. That you’ve lost too much and there is nothing left to give.” She let the words take root. “That is the moment you give more. That is the moment you remember what you are fighting for—not for a throne, not for power, but for each other.”

Silence settled over Pandrano.

Then she stepped aside, a permission to leave.

We filed out one by one, horses waiting at the edge of the path, the village still quiet around us, the wind chimes the only sound. I glanced over my shoulder. The Priestess stood, remaining in the same spot, one hand raised in farewell. Then the tall grass closed around us, and Pandrano folded behind us like it had never been there at all.

The ride took half a day.

Calroy pulled our horse to a stop when we reached the tree line, where Selene waited.

She stood with the same effortless grace I remembered from the tavern—golden hair pulled back, a sword strapped at her hip. Though more like a soldier than the woman who’d greeted children with open arms, nevertheless she was stunning.

I waited for the old jealousy to rise. For the image that had haunted me—her hands on Calroy’s chest, his mouth against her skin, the sounds I’d never been able to unhear.

It didn’t come.

What I felt instead was something closer to gratitude. The past belonged to a version of Calroy who hadn’t yet found what he was looking for—me. I knew now what that searching had cost him. Selene had been there for him when I couldn’t be, and for that alone, I was grateful.

Selene didn’t stand alone. Behind her stood an army, perhaps a couple of thousand strong. Winged people, dark wings half-unfurled, each one had escaped the queen’s culling. They stood in loose clusters, talking to comrades around them, and examining each other’s swords. The sight of them stopped my breath short.

Every tunic had been cut and sewn to fit around their wings, the fabric slit clean down the back, exactly like Calroy’s.

Scattered among the winged people were men and women in the colors of kingdoms I recognized from the map. The ice kingdom, Varen, in blue. The desert kingdom, Solara, in red. Auris, second richest to Caelum, in yellow. Thornwood, in green. Even a few from Jeju, in brown. Nobody from Eldenmoor, the old Seelie territory, ruled by the Seelie queen’s brother.

These rebel fighters did not come with their kingdoms. They came of their own free will to help the winged people get their homes back. Their cause filled my heart with joy. From Ranis’s actions at the barn, I’d thought there were good people—you just had to be lucky enough to find them—but in this moment, we’d come upon thousands.

“Wow,” Jina gasped on her mount. Ranis had taught her to ride during their time together, and now she handled the horse on her own. “I’ve never seen so many wings in one place, or so many different colored uniforms. I wish Ranis were here to see this.”

So did I. He’d left for Varen to bring an army of his own. I wondered if he’d already told his father everything, or if he was still finding the words. Either way, I hoped he’d return to us whole as a prince ready to fight, even if his father would not aid us.

“I could stare at their chest… I mean wings all day.” Minha snickered, waggling her eyebrows, adjusting her grip on the reins.

She handled her own horse now too. As for me, I’d rather stay on Theron’s stallion with him.