Lina kissed Bri’s cheek and then the shell of her ear, whispering, “As do you, my Queen.”

Chapter 45

Chapter Forty-Five

Lina’s sob cut through the silence as the pyres burned all along the cliffside. Bri held onto her tighter at the sound of her cries, circling a hand slowly around Lina’s back as she purged the pain from her soul. It was what Bri wished she could have done the day of the Queen’s funeral.

Dozens of pyres lit the evening sky and the clouds turned burnt orange as smoke filled the air. The people of the city had all come. Hundreds gathered in the clearing, thousands more along the land bridge leading toward the palace. Black pennants bobbed through the crowds like a sea of onyx waves. Burial songs erupted unprompted and prayers were shouted to the sky. Keening wails echoed from the far-off parapets of the city walls.

“How did we get to this place?” Lina whispered as she stared at Darrow’s funeral pyre. “How long will it take for the West to feel like one kingdom united again?”

“As long as it takes,” Bri murmured back, squeezing Lina’s shoulder. “Bit by bit until one day, you realize you’re no longer asking yourself that question.”

Lina hung her head.

All—ally and enemy—were burned then laid to rest. Delta had wanted to hang Tem from the castle walls, to let the vultures have him, but Lina refused. Delta and her loyal guards had stamped out the threat in Swifthill, scourging the last of Tem’s comrades from the city in a matter of hours. As soon as his companions had heard Tem was gone, they knew the jig was up. Some surrendered, some fled, others used their poison necklaces rather than face the shame of what they’d done. Lina was wise, knowing that the residents of Swifthill grieved for what had happened. How many of them had lost a loved one? Whether the dead had been protecting Lina or trying to destroy her didn’t matter to the families who mourned. Bringing the city back from this trauma was an impossible task, but if anyone could do it, Lina Thorne could.

A tear slid down Bri’s cheek as she stroked Lina’s back. Bri would hold Lina up when she was breaking, and she knew Lina would do the same for her. That is who they were to each other. Together they would always be beautifully vulnerable and equally strong, carrying the other when one was hurting. They were shining souls already, but together they chose to be incandescent, that choice more powerful than any the Fates could conjure.

Bri caught sight of someone in the crowd and whispered, “Look.”