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Thicket glanced at the boy. “Elian’s kiss may not have woken me up,” she said, “but he did help me. When I was in the curse, someone wished I would wake up. Shortly after, I did.”
Elian finally glanced over at her, eyes wide and disbelieving.
She hadn’t been sure if it was him, but this reaction confirmed it.
“And Elian also has pretty cool magic,” she told the boy. “Why don’t you get him to show you?”
The boy’s eyes lit up. He darted back to Elian. “Show me, show me, show me.” The other children joined in on the chorus.
Elian finally gave in. He conjured his badger, its body made of flickering yellow fire with a single stripe of purple running down its center. The children gasped pointing at the purple stripe in awe. They berated him with questions, like how did he get that color fire and whether or not he was strong. Elian did his best to answer them all, a sheepish hand flung across his neck. It was clear to her he wasn’t used to praise.
He deserved this. To be adored and looked up to with the reverence of a prince.
He deserved to be seen.
Bern settled in next to her. Thicket shot her a sidelong glare as she caught her friend wiping tears from the corner of her eye. “I am glad to see your laughing fit is done.”
“Oh, come on. That was hilarious.” Bern bit her lip, stifling what remained of her laughter. “I’m really glad you’re okay, Kit.”
Thicket messed with the folds of her dress, making sure they covered the entirety of her legs. “You aren’t mad at me for running off?”
“I could never be mad at you.”
Thicket arched an eyebrow. “Never?”
Bern wrapped her arm around Thicket’s shoulder. “Don’t you go looking for excuses to get rid of me,” she said. “You are stuck with me for life. I don’t care if you lose your memories, you make the worst mistakes possible—or even go bald. I will be right here, by your side, no matter what. And everyone, despite their fear. They believe in you, too. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t.”
The doubts she had spent the last week trying to purge herself of eased just the slightest.
She glanced back at the group of children. They were following Elian’s badger around as it romped about the courtyard, sniffing and scratching at the stones. Then, from one of the cracks, it pulled out a glinting bracelet studded with pearls. The children squealed, taking turns passing it around. Thicket laughed, heart warming at the sight.
She wanted this peace to last. Wanted to look outside every day and see everyone smiling.
She wanted to give people what she didn’t have.
A home.
“Alouette will be here soon, along with Dymree’s army,” Thicket said. “Then, we can finally end this once and for all.”
Bern pulled away. Her brows were creased, casting worried shadows across her face. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
Bern’s lips parted then pinched into a grim line. “Alouette has been abducted.”
Chapter Eighteen
They hurried back to the house, Thicket’s mind racing. First, Lavender had driven them from Bilya, then she kidnapped Alouette… Thicket didn’t need hissed threats from her dreams to tell her Lavender was setting the stage for her failure.
The only thing she didn’t know was why. Lavender wanted to be queen, but if that was her true goal there were so many other ways to go about it. Why give them a week to respond to her ultimatum? Why chase them from Bilya instead of killing them all? Why not attack while they were weak and defenseless?
What was she really after?
They rounded the last corner. Waves lapped against the sides of the narrow street, spraying the stones and making them slick. Thicket couldn’t stop in time. Her boots slid out from under her and she careened towards the open sea.
A strong arm wrapped around hers, pulling her back onto the street. Thicket sighed as the panicked sparks settled. “Thank y—” she was cut off by the deep lines of Marcellus’ scowl hovering only a breath away.
She jolted, a new sense of fizzling nerves tearing across her body. She tried to extricate herself but Marcellus’ grip held firm. “What part of ‘stay put and I will go get the Council’ did you not understand?” He turned his glare on Elian. “And what point of ‘make sure she stays’ didn’t you understand?”
