But some of the power’s actions were more subtle. With the grime and filth, went the haunted house feeling. The doom and gloom which had hung over the Winter Court were chased away like shadows when the light hits them head-on.
The second major thing the power did was make the Summer Court visible—at least to me. It felt like I was seeing the Courts overlap—one on top of the other. In both realities, (or dimensions) the three of us were standing in the banquet hall. But in the Winter Court, it was just Bran and Lachlan and me. In the Summer Court, I could see all the citizens of the Summer Court as well as my grandmother, Queen Elia, staring at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“Emma!” I heard her call me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Grandmother,” I called back. “Everything is going to be all right now. Everything.”
And I meant it—I was going to make certain it was. I had the power to do what was needed for both Realms and I promised myself I wasn’t going to waste it.
The Winter Court and the Summer Court were going to be in harmony from now on. I would rule them both with both Bran and Lachlan at my side and I didn’t care what anybody thought about it.
Epilogue
“Emmers! I can’t believe you’re back!” Avery left the chicken he was roasting over the spit in the Norm Dorm’s fireplace and rushed over to give me a big hug.
“Emma is back?” Kaitlyn asked, popping her head out of the girl’s dorm. “Megan—Emma’s back!” she shouted, when she saw me standing there, grinning at her.
“Oh my God! Emma!” I heard Megan shout.
Then the three of them were hugging me at once and we were all laughing and crying and talking at the same time, as my Coven-mates asked me questions and I tried to answer.
Avery was the first one to get control.
“All right, all right,” he said, pulling back at last. “One question at a time! First of all, how are you even back here? We heard from Headmistress Nightworthy that the queen of the Summer Court had decided to keep you there.”
“She wanted to,” I said, lifting my chin. “But I told her I wanted to be with my Coven-mates—at least until I finish high school.”
Grandmother Elia hadn’t liked that one bit. But after the display of power I’d put on when I reunited the two Courts, she could hardly say “no” to me.
“Honestly, my dear, you’re too young to rule anyway,” she’d said with a sigh, when I let her know that I was going back to Nocturne Academy to finish my education. “I’ll hold the throne of the Summer Court for you until you’re ready to ascend to it. But you’ll have to appoint a regent to hold the Winter Court as well, you know,” she’d added. “I am not powerful enough to rule both—only you are, apparently.”
I hadn’t had to think very hard about that. Lachlan’s mother had agreed to hold the Winter Court throne for me until I was ready to rule. Though she was originally from the Summer Court, she had lived in the Winter Court for so long that she knew all the ins and outs of the Winter Realm. Also, I knew I could trust her. She was proud to have me as a daughter-in-law, even if she had to share that privilege with Bran’s mother.
Speaking of Bran’s family, Queen Elia had recalled them from exile and they were all in the Summer Court to greet us when we returned. Bran’s father begged his forgiveness and asked him to take back the family name and Bran graciously accepted.
I don’t know what they thought when they found out that Bran was going to be one of my consorts and that he was going to share that privilege with Lachlan, but Bran’s father simply nodded and didn’t say a word about it. Bran’s mother was much nicer. She seemed genuinely happy for us and I got the feeling that she would have liked to welcome Lachlan into their family earlier, only Bran’s father wouldn’t let her.
I explained all this to my Coven-mates, along with telling them the story of what had happened in both the Summer and the Winter Courts—which took a long time.
Avery got so interested he almost let the chicken he was roasting on the spit burn. He rescued it just in time, though, and we all sat down to Second Supper to eat and talk as I finished telling my tale.
“So you’re with both of them?” Megan asked again, as though making sure. She stared wide-eyed at the way I was snuggled between Bran and Lachlan on the couch.
“I just couldn’t pick.” I laughed at her stunned face. “So I got Blood-Bonded to them both.”
“You know there was more to it than that, little one,” Lachlan murmured affectionately.
“Considerably more,” Bran said, and I knew both of them were thinking about the terrible pain we’d all endured when we were ridding my system of the Wicked Apple’s poison.
“Do you mind me asking if either of you is jealous of the other?” Saint asked, frowning at the three of us. “It seems to me that when one has chosen a l’lorna, one would not wish to share with anyone.” For some reason, as he spoke, his black eyes strayed to Avery, who was busy carving another piece of chicken for Jalli.
“Not a bit,” Lachlan said and Bran added,
“Not even a little.”
“Bran will be my consort in the Summer Court and Lachlan will be my consort in the Winter Court,” I explained. “So we won’t really be, er, sharing the way you might be thinking. Not that we’d do that yet anyway.”
“Emma is not yet of age,” Bran said formally.
“Which means we are waiting—all three of us,” Lachlan added. “And Bran and I don’t mind sharing our lovely princess—she’s worth sharing.”
“Our friendship has always bound us together and Emma’s magic binds us even more strongly,” Bran explained. He shrugged. “The three of us belong together. It’s as simple as that.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem a bit simple to me,” Avery remarked. “I mean, two people being in love with the same person and neither one of them being jealous?”
“That is the way it is with Drakes, though,” Ari said quietly. “My Drake and I both love Kaitlyn with all our hearts and neither of us is jealous of the other.”
“Of course, one would wish to share his l’lorna with his Drake,” Saint said darkly. He frowned down at his plate and murmured, “If only it was safe to do so.”
I saw Avery shoot him an uneasy look but then he grinned at me.
“Well, if it works for you, it works for us, Emmers. Or should I call you Princess Emmers now?”
I laughed.
“Call me anything you want—I’m just happy to be home! Of course, I’ll have to visit the Fae Realm every once in a while so the people can see their new leader…”
“Their new leader!” Avery crowed, his blue eyes sparkling. “Oh my Goddess, I bet it just burns Morganna’s britches that you’re going to be her new queen! What ever happened to her, anyway?”
I frowned.
“You know, I’m not sure. I know my grandmother, er, Queen Elia, forbid her court physician from regrowing her hair but I never saw her after that.”
“She’ll probably turn up eventually,” Kaitlyn said gloomily. “She’s like a bad penny—you can’t get rid of her.”