All across the starflower field, figures kneeled now in their hundreds …

Every one of them kneeling to her.

The dukes of Arden and Lune were among them. The other dukes were kneeling, too, and so was the duchess of Solenne, her spiked helmet discarded on the grass nearby and her rebellion at an end.

Only Connall still stood at the far end of the field, staring at all of those prone bodies with a lost, stunned look … but as his gaze finally rose to meet hers, he sank down to his knees beside the two sorcerers who had guarded him.

I’ve found that faith, he whispered in her head, voice full of wonder. I should have known that you’d dare anything, my wildest little sister. But oh, Cordelia, what have you sacrificed for our sakes?

“There’s no denying it now!” Rosalind raised the Raven Crown and set it firmly on Cordelia’s head. It fit there with supernatural precision. “You are the true Raven Queen for good, whether anyone else likes it or not.”

Giles nodded enthusiastically, leaning in to adjust the crown’s angle. “No one can pretend they have a better claim to the throne—so no one can change what you are from now on!”

“No,” Cordelia echoed, her voice eerily distant in her own ears. “No one ever can.” Not even me.

The crown bore down on her head with far more weight than those three sealed shards could account for on their own. The rustle of surrendered, falling wings inside her body was too faint for anyone else to hear.

Would it fade away completely, in time? Or would she hear its echo haunting her forever?

Her human feet were heavy and solid on the land, anchored by the crown she wore. Invisible green roots held her down almost as tightly as the trees of the brand-new forest in her wake. She had sealed her spirit to the land, it had grounded her and swallowed her into lifelong service as the true queen of Corvenne …

And she had promised away her own magic to seal the crown. She would never be able to change her shape again.

Far too soon, every duke and duchess on the field was striding toward the triplets ahead of a jostling crowd of followers.

“Your Majesty.” The duke of Lune swept a low bow to Cordelia as the duchess of Solenne hurried to catch up with him, the three other dukes wrestling for position behind them. “I am delighted to reunite you with your brother at last! As your loyal regents, Arden and I will of course be—”

“No.”