“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” he asked.
The love and concern in his voice broke what was left of her miserable heart. This could have been hers for a lifetime. The safety he offered her, what the orphan in her craved above all else, was lost because she made a choice.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered through her tears.
He stood and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against the world. He didn’t know what she’d done, though. That she sacrificed them for Brielle.
“I chose Brielle, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said into his neck.
He pulled back and brushed her hair from her face, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Luci held his hands to her face, willing herself to memorize the feel of them.
“I had to choose between you and her,” Luci confessed.
Surprise widened his eyes for only a moment before his face smoothed and a crooked smile poked at one dimple. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Of course you did. You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” he said.
Forgiveness just like that. No bargaining. No questioning. Simple forgiveness.
“As I said, there is no accounting for the changing of souls,” Elowen said.
Luci blinked away her tears and watched as Elowen waved a hand over all three pieces as they came apart and re-arranged till the white and green pieces tucked neatly into the navy.
Realization ripped through Luci, where a thin tendril of hope caught onto her.
“It was a test,” she said.
Elowen shrugged.
“Imelda said magic would return when humans learned selflessness and a Vencia forgives,” Elowen said.
“That’s it?” Luci asked, mouth open.
Ira leaned into her and brushed his lips against her ear. “I think we are just supposed to say thank you before she changes her mind.”
Despite everything, a shiver ran down her spine, and she had to blink several times before she could collect herself.
“It can’t be undone, Prince, the bargain is struck. Magic will return to Meridea, but it will be both of your responsibilities to protect it. Should even one in your line be found wanting, magic will disappear once more and be lost to humanity. It is up to you two on how you prepare your lineage.” Elowen said.
“What about you? What happens to you?” Ira asked.
Elowen rolled her eyes and waved a hand at him as if shooing him along.
“I suppose that depends on how worthy you are of the responsibility you’ve been given. Well, off with you both. Just because you made a bargain doesn’t mean your part in it is done. Brielle is waiting for you,” she said.
Just like that, the cottage shimmered all around them before it erupted in an explosion of blue magic. It fell on the mountain top, glinting off the sun before disappearing, leaving Ira and Lucinda and one Midnight Flower.
“You saw all of that, too, right?” Ira said.
Luci grinned at him. “Saw what?”
His smile was the butterflies in her stomach taking flight. Her matching piece. One ridiculously charming and generous prince to match her stubborn and rigid orphan.
She released his hand and went to kneel before the Midnight flower, its feathers fluttering against the wind. Gently, she dug at its home of sand, and like a mother with her newborn, Luci lifted it, careful not to damage a single root.