“Excuse me, Queen Arabella?” A young man’s voice speaks up from the back of the crowd. The fae part as we pause our procession, to let a younger fae through. He looks barely out of his teens and my heart breaks at the fact he was frozen before he could fully become an adult.
“Go ahead. What’s your name?” I give him a reassuring smile and wave him on.
“Collin, ma’am. I heard you speaking about portals. I was an apprentice to a portal maker. I’m hardly an expert, but I know my way around portal making. Perhaps if you have the magic, I can help walk through the process. I can even test it, I’m sure your mates wouldn’t approve of you going first anyway," he says with a small smile.
“Smart kid," Emrick rumbles without hesitation.
“That would be wonderful. Come find me when you’re settled in at camp. You can join our next council meeting as one of the representatives of the new fae," I say with a pat on his arm. He looked at me in awe.
“It would be an honor, your majesty," he whispers reverently before melting back into the crowd.
The trek through the rest of Winter is uneventful and cold. The fae who were frozen seemed to be soaking in the outside air and reveling in their freedom. That’s definitely a feeling I can relate to. Even walking freely in the halls after being in that awful cell was like paradise to me.
As we approach the bridge to our town, a patrolling guard spots us. He lets out a shrill whistle and gets in a defensive position, until he sees it’s us leading the group. The other guards are already rushing to his aid as well as a crowd of townspeople. I’m impressed they’ve gotten our defense down to a science.
“The queen lives! They’ve returned!” he yells, which is met by a chorus of screams. I see River’s curly hair bobbing through the crowd before she races toward us. She crashes into me, knocking us both on the ground and I hold her tight. Both of us are crying and I hadn't realized just how bad I missed her until she was here in front of me.
“I can’t believe you’re alive, I was so worried!” she sobs, tears coursing down her cheeks as she pulls us both up to sit.
“It’s a long, awful story," I whisper in a haunted voice. I can’t keep the images of killing the king out of my head, a moment of vulnerability shining through. I shudder and she looks at me, worried all over again.
“I’m here if you ever want to talk about it. But I’m so happy you’re back. Tristan refused to let anyone talk about you being hurt or dead. He focused everyone on rebuilding instead. Look,” she sounds excited as she points to the camp, pulling herself out of her sadness.
As I finally turn my focus away from the people and onto the actual land, I'm in shock. Somehow in the month and a half we had been gone, they’d created a real city. There’s a stone mansion on the plateau, and several stone buildings surround the farm area. I even note a barracks and a large pavilion that houses picnic tables. The school Jacob helped to create is nestled into the center of town, next to a stone patio created for events.
“Damn, you guys don’t play around,” Jacob says and lets out a long whistle of appreciation. I’m too stunned to respond so I simply nod in awe. Tristan pushes his way to the front of the crowd, surrounded by the other council members. As soon as his eyes meet mine, I can see his relief and it warms my heart. I never imagined that I could end up meaning so much to so many, but the crowds happy yells and tears is all the reassurance I need that I’m doing something right. I’ve become their hope, and I will do anything I can to give them a world they can be proud of.
Chapter 16
“We ran into some trouble in Winter. The king was still alive somehow. He froze my knights and apparently over five hundred others before the war ended. He imprisoned me in solitary confinement for weeks. But he’s dead now, everyone is free, and the stone is ours. Winter is now healing and we’re back here to prepare for our next journey,” I summarize the events so everyone is up to date. We called an impromptu council meeting as soon as the greetings calmed down. I felt they deserved some answers after so long alone.
“He raided our village in Autumn. Somehow his men came in unnoticed and froze the entire town before we had a chance to fight back. He threw us in wagons and they took us back to Winter," Collin explains.
“Everyone, this is Collin. He’ll be our new portal keeper as we try and create a portal from here. He’s helping me find a way to travel to each of the castles once restored. He may need help with materials as he creates mirrors. You’ll need to see Tristan for that, he’ll point you in the right direction," I explain, before introducing each of my council members in turn.
“Tristan, thank you for keeping my people together. You’re an invaluable member of this council and our realm," I say, bowing to him. His cheeks tinge pink at my praise and he mumbles something and waves me off. I smile at his reaction but pull attention away from him. Making him uncomfortable is no way to praise him.
“Tegan, your guards were impressive, reacting in seconds the moment they detected us. Good work,” Emrick adds. The stoic guard captain smirks and nods at the comment, but his eyes shine with pride.
“Gareth and Adara, can you help find places for the new fae to stay and mark them down for our census like before? Even if we have to pull out the old bed rolls, we need everyone comfortable. I know it’s a huge influx, but we had little choice. Tegan, I would love you or one of your men to protect them as they do this. We don’t know everyone quite yet and they’ve had a lot of trauma," I explain, hating that it has to be this way. I’d like to trust everyone, but we also have to be cautious. It’d be stupid not to be.
“We can meet again tomorrow to plan our next journey. Emrick will assist with the planning, since it’s his homeland. For now, I want to see my home!” I say excitedly. At that Tristan stands and rubs his hands together.
“You’re going to be impressed, my queen,” he says confidently.
“Hell yes!” Jacob cheers,
pulling me up to my feet and toward our new home. Too excited to not run. Emrick grunts behind us, but for once doesn’t protest. I think he just likes that I’m happy and not hurt.
We’re practically sprinting until we get to the front door, which is uncharacteristic for us unless we’re being chased. I don’t go in right away, instead stepping back to take in the entire building, appreciating its beauty. Tristan outdid himself here.
The outside is stone, much like the castles we’ve seen so far. It has three floors and a domed attic of some kind. They put extra care in carving out gorgeous wooden window borders and a front porch. The addition of the deep wood gives it a homey feel that I’m sure is Jacob’s doing.
Too excited to linger, I’m now the one pulling Jacob along with me, yanking him through the front door. We practically fall into the house, but he manages to save us.
“You two are like small children on Christmas morning," Maddox laughs at our clumsiness.
“And you love us for it,” I shrug, not even the least bit sorry. I’ve never had a home that’s truly my own. An apartment I had alone, sure. But not a home filled with family and love like this one will be.