Page 212 of A Courage of the Chosen

Mercifully, they hadn’t gone on any more killing sprees.

I was the one to take care of them, while Callahan was grieving with Freya. It was quick, and I made their deaths as painless as I could. I’d passed Hume in the dungeons, and he scowled in my direction as I strode past his cell.

I’ve decided that, for his crimes, he will die. I want no trace of what suffering this world has endured to remain, and that includes him.

Hector volunteered to be the one to execute him, and come the morning of my coronation, Hume Renfrow will cease to exist. Barely a footnote in this story.

Lady Navin will serve her sentence in Caithness, and is expected to be transported in the next few days, to begin one hundred years of servitude to the Seelie realm.

Monuments to honor those who have fallen will be placed in the town square at the heart of Elfayne City. Golden warriors, with the names of every single Seelie that now rest in peace with Dhia to be etched into them. It’ll take time to find them all, but Lady Calder and Lord Sellar are already working to make sure no one is forgotten.

Especially the two people who have left a gaping hole in our lives.

We returned to the palace two days after the battle that’s already being written into the history books. Callahan and I wanted to continue helping the injured, gather the dead, and say goodbye to the brave soldiers who gave their lives that day.

The funeral pyres burned for many hours, smoke pluming high into the sky. I stood at my husband’s side as they were set alight, and remained shoulder to shoulder with my people as we said the rites to grant them peaceful journeys into Dhia’s embrace.

But it was the private funeral, with a much smaller pyre, in a clearing not far from the palace, that has stayed with me.

Callahan refused to rest until he found the perfect spot overlooking Ederline, and built the wooden base himself. Any time someone tried to help him, he snarled in their direction. Even Eòghann, who had wanted to do this for his brother, too. He stood down in the face of Cal’s grief, but stayed with him while he made sure every log was perfectly placed.

Brodie and Rach were laid to rest together.

The fires that consumed them burned brighter and hotter than anything I’d ever seen, and when the will-o-the-wisps appeared to usher them into the beyond, Callahan fell to his knees and cried silently, while his mother was held up by her brother and Grandpa. We stayed until nothing but cinders remained. I whispered my goodbye to my friends as their ashes were carried away on the winter wind, with the hopes it would reach them wherever they are now.

Callahan and I haven’t left our rooms since.

And in that time, just as the spirit told me, what Callahan and I had to do became the stain on our souls that we’d carry forever. There’d been no way to avoid it, and we’d abated their suffering, although that doesn’t make the killing of so many an easy thing to bear.

Time will lessen it, but for now, I mourn alongside my people.

We made sure Erin was okay, staying with Freya and Lord Sellar while we knit ourselves back together before the coronation, which will take place the day after the mourning period ends.

I wanted to wait longer. To give my people more time to heal, but the rest of the council said there is cause for celebration, too. Even Callahan agreed that we should give them some light, after so many years of darkness. So, the plans were made, and in less than three hours, I will sit upon my throne for the very first time.

While I thought marrying me would make him king, and he’ll be referred to as such, Callahan isn’t technically the ruler. That role is mine and mine alone, and I’m the only one that possesses the powers of the monarch. Again, I’d been about to object, but Cal silenced me.

“I don’t want it, Elsie. I only want you.” He’d taken my hand and kissed it. “No more arguing with them on my account, mo sholas.”

The council hasn’t gathered again since that meeting where we told them what happened, and won’t meet again until after the coronation ball.

On the ride back to the palace, I shared with Callahan, Reyne, and Eòghann what Dhia and the spirits showed me after I passed out trying to save Rach. And for the first time in our lives, not a single one of them had anything to say.

We were subdued for a long time after that, and I used that opportunity to process everything from the last few days, and what the next part of the journey will bring; the lessons I need to pass on.

Despite having been in some kind of magically induced coma, I was exhausted. Grief has a way of doing that, and I’ve lost so much that it feels second nature to nurse myself through it.

In a way, I’m glad to have experienced this kind of loss before, because it means I can be a pillar for Cal and the others to lean on while they piece themselves back together in a way I’m all too familiar with.

Callahan has slept so deeply since we’ve sequestered ourselves away, and for longer than I’ve ever known. It’s as though he hasn’t had any rest at all for the last one hundred years, and now there’s no more threat, he’s finally able to sleep without worrying what tomorrow will bring.

The morning of my coronation arrives without ceremony. A crisp winter day, hushed by a blanket of snow, and I curl on the sofa with a cup of coffee, a thick blanket banded around my legs, before the fire that crackles peacefully in the hearth while Callahan finishes his shower.

My stomach rumbles, but we promised Erin we’d have breakfast together today, after we’ve had so long to ourselves. She was quite happy with Freya and Livvy’s company, but has sent us a steady stream of hand-drawn pictures. I’ve kept every single one of them in my nightstand.

When she wanted to see us, she did. But I think the astute little girl recognized that we needed some time to heal, like she did.

I cried when she brought us the giant bear Callahan sourced for her bedroom. She was determined when she said, “It’s to keep you both safe while you sleep.” And it’s stayed on a chair facing the bed ever since.