Page 139 of Crowned By Roses

Why did I think I could do so now?

Maybe it wasn’t a thought but a feeling. If I had unleashed my arrow, I would have killed Sira. But what would have become of Castletree? Would my blast have killed it? Withered what remained of its roots to ash? Or would all the hate, the fear, the pain that make up Sira have been trapped within it? What of the hate and fear and pain that make up me?

I don’t know what to do now. My magic weaves through the stone and wood, but it caresses something else too. Her. Sira and I are in this together.

“Let go of me,” she says.

“No.” It’s the one thing I cannot, will not, do.

My power is her power, and her power is my power, and our power is Castletree, all woven together. If I die, we die together.

Sira’s voice is a ragged growl. “You are…not strong enough. You are alone!”

Alone.

Fear courses through me, rivaled only by my hatred for her. No. I don’t want those to be the last emotions I feel.

I want to remember the warmth of my mates’ arms. My sister’s elusive laugh. The safety of being among friends. That starlight glow in my parents’ gazes when they looked at each other.

I squeeze my eyes shut. The end. The closing of a book. The completion of a journey. I won’t be afraid, even though Sira is nearest to me.

Let her feel my love as we die. Let her know it in the cold void of her heart. I would have her die with the understanding that she never took that from Aurelia’s daughter.

“You,” Sira whispers, “are alone.”

Pinpricks of warmth tremble across my wings, spreading as if the sun has just risen over dew-covered grass.

My heart beats, and there’s an echo in my ears as if a second heart beats with it. Then a third. Then a fourth.

Then hundreds and hundreds of hearts beat with mine. Voices clatter through my mind.

The Golden Rose⁠—

Fight—

I’m hurt. Please, help me⁠—

Where is my⁠—