“Nadir said they started growing when Atlas took me from Nostraza. Coral told me they are blooming for me,” she says, her voice thick with emotion.

She picks a rose and buries her nose in its center. I see her in a flash, somewhere in a distant future. Standing with a crown on her head, wearing a long red dress, the sun gilding her dark hair with a golden halo. She looks over her people, happy and content. And I’m there with her because I will always be with her.

Cloris said one of us had to give up our role as Primary, but the choice was easy for me. This is where she belongs.

She looks over at me, catching my stare, and nods. I see the thank-you she shares in her eyes.

“Amya and I will wait here,” I say, placing my hand on her nape and pulling her closer to kiss her temple. “Just call if you need us.”

She nods and then reaches out, taking the hands of Willow and Tristan on either side.

They stand together at the threshold, looking over their family’s ruined queendom.

“Ready?” Lor asks, and Willow and Tristan nod.

She looks over her shoulder and blows me a kiss before the three siblings of Heart enter their homeland together, hand in hand, for the very first time.

CHAPTER 44

LOR

QUEENDOM OF HEART

Willow squeezes my hand so tight that my fingers are going numb. I knew this would be hard, but I’m here to guide them every step of the way.

Tristan and I share a careful look.

Things didn’t go according to plan the last time we were here. If Rion is anywhere near Heart, then we’ll probably know soon enough. Etienne and Mael scouted the area, and I don’t want to be a jerk, but the last time Etienne assured me everything was safe, it wasn’t.

Still, I have my magic and Nadir and Amya are watching over us. Plus, Tristan grows stronger with every passing day.

“It’s . . .” Willow whispers. “It must have been beautiful.”

“I said the same thing,” I reply.

We continue walking, picking over the ruined sidewalks and past the crumbling walls. When I was here with Nadir, we were so focused on finding the Crown, and I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t have the chance to really study this place.

I see the outlines of a building that might have been a shop once and another structure with a partially collapsed curved dome on top, as well as narrow buildings that might have been houses at one time. We walk through a plaza with a statue planted in the center, the top half long gone, leaving only the bottom of a woman’s dress.

“Who do you think it was?” Tristan asks, catching the direction of my gaze.