“We’ll figure it out together,” he says, eyes bright. I place a soft kiss on his lips before he gives me another tight hug and places his chin on the top of my head. “I love you,” he whispers as he rubs soothing circles on my back. I want to say it back, want to aerstep us to a private corner of the woods and show him how much he means to me as I finally whisper the words that have been on the tip of my tongue for weeks, well before he admitted his own feelings to me. But Silene still lies unconscious before us, and we need to get her to safety. There will be time now that we’ve cut off the head of the rebels. Plenty of time for me to tell Thorne how I feel and show him he’s well and truly mine. I give him one last squeeze before releasing him.

“Let’s go,” I say loudly enough for Fionn to hear me. Thorne lifts Silene’s body gently from the ground, then nods at me. Fionn and Allyssia return to our side, and I aerstep us back to the palace.

Laurel

The witch goddess made the ultimate sacrifice to save her people and the world she and her sisters had so lovingly created. Despite the light bringer begging her not to do it, not to sacrifice herself, she had no choice but to slice their forearms. She used the blood of herself and her beloved to end the Great War before she lost herself to the brutality of her magic.

Unknown Story, Unknown Origin