I couldn’t believe it. I took each of them in and tried to figure out who was the one holding it.
Not Xander; he had crossed his arms and was grinning at me. Brennan looked uncomfortable and kept switching his feet back and forth.
Dorian. I zeroed in on the tall, dark-haired king and grinned. Stepping closer and closer to him, we waited for my gift to nullify theirs.
Dorian’s face scrunched up. “I can’t hold it over Meri anymore. She’s making it harder.”
“Then maybe you should’ve used one of Rhea’s charms instead,” Xander taunted. He shook his head and looked toward Dorian. “It’s okay. You can let it go.”
“Phew!” Dorian released the glamour, and a shimmer dropped from Brennan and Meri. Meri laughed, running her hands through her red hair.
One by one, either the glamour dropped, or one of my sisters pulled a charm out of their pocket and dropped them on the ground. It was Rosalie’s glamour of Xander that lasted the longest against me.
“Don’t test me, little sister,” Rosalie teased, and bopped me on the nose. My eyes welled with tears.
“Oh no,” Aura cried out, her blue eyes filling with tears. She wrapped her hands around Eden and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“What?” Eden asked, confused by Aura’s immediate empathy.
Rosalie looked at me, and my tears spilled over.
“Eden’s birth parents are . . .” I couldn’t finish.
“What? No . . .” Eden gasped, and I nodded.
Eden’s lip quivered, and she fell to her knees. Aura dropped to the floor beside her and wrapped her arms around our sister.
Meri joined in the hug, and she sang softly.
“I’m so sorry, Eden,” I said. “It was an accident. The king and my mother, and there was an explosion, but not—”
“Mother . . .” Aura’s face became distant as she read my mind.
“Not Lorelai,” Maeve gasped.
It didn’t take long for all six of my sisters to start bickering. I didn’t know how to comfort them. I didn’t know how to relate because I was always the one on the outside—looking in. I wasn’t as close to them.
Even now, I stood there helpless as they mourned.
“You could have saved them,” I spoke up. “All the magic contained in this room in the six of you, and none of you were there when she needed you . . . You were all playing at being kings, hiding behind these glamours.” The anger and betrayal poured out, and I found myself blaming them. “It’s all your fault. All of you. If you had gotten here earlier, you could’ve saved her. You could’ve . . .” I started to hiccup and gasp as I tried to process everything.
Rosalie came and put her hand on my shoulder. Her face was cold and hard as she turned her anger not toward me, but focused it on the issue at hand. “We did what she wanted us to do. You took down the wards, which allowed us to slip in, but the king suddenly denied entry to the glamoured Liam, Brennan, and Kash. I think he suspected something was up when they arrived without an honor guard or troops. Mother chose to distract the king and his army so Aura, Meri and Rhea could sneak in to help you.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true. She wouldn’t have done that for me.”
“All of this is for you, Honor. I know it’s hard to believe, but everything we’ve done up till now had been carefully planned to aid us in getting to you. For this very night.”
Aura’s eyes were glassy, her cheeks flushed from crying. “There will be more casualties before the night is over. You must hurry.”
“You’re right.” Rosalie moved before the painting and opened her palms. The image began to fade and glow, and her brow furrowed as she fought my nullifying magic. “Uh, Honor, do you mind standing over there? This may take a while. It’s been years since I’ve accessed this kind of power, and you know you . . . tend to make things harder.”
Chastised, I moved to the far end of the room. In awe, I watched Rosalie direct Maeve and Meri to either side. Meri sang, and Rosalie wove a spell strong enough to turn the painting back into a portal.
Eden was still crying while Aura held her, whispering comforting words to her. I watched as Aura pressed her finger to Eden’s temple, and soon my sister was asleep. Only Rhea moved to stand by me. Her hands buried in the pockets of her dress.
“How are all of you here?” I asked.
“Well, we weren’t going to let our husbands walk into an obvious trap, and we couldn’t get through the wards unless someone on the inside could disable them all. And there’s only one sister that can do that.” She gave me a knowing smile.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“You know that’s not how we work.” Rhea leaned over and ran her hands across Rumple’s handle. “How are you doing, old friend?”
“Where’s sissy hands?” Rumple grumbled.
“Where all of our husbands are,” Rhea answered. “They’re with their armies in their kingdoms, preparing for whatever walks through the veil.”
“How did you know about them?” I asked. “I just found out about them yesterday.”
Rhea smiled sadly and pointed to Nimm. “He worked with the house-elves, and they were able to get word to their network, and we had enough time to prepare. We knew something like this was going to happen. Ever since you warned Rosalie, we’ve been preparing for war. It only made sense that we leave the armies to the men and the magical warfare to us.”
The room wavered with power, and I felt a pull toward the painting. I clenched my teeth and tried to hold back the desire to absorb all the magic in the room.
Rhea could see my pain and struggle.
The painting shimmered, and like before, the trees moved within.
“It’s open,” Rosalie called. “Honor, get moving!”
I stared at the painting, and anxiety and doubt washed over me. This wasn’t right.
“I can’t do this,” I said, turning to Rhea. “Come with me,” I begged.
“This is not our story,” Rhea said. “You must write the conclusion.”
“How do you know that . . .?” I started, but then released a sigh. “Mother.”
Rosalie nodded. “She knows what it is you will face on the other side and has given us our orders. But know that we will be with you.” She turned to face the painting, and Rosalie gestured with her head. “We have our own battles to fight. Now, go!”
My arms pumping, I ran right through the painting, and this time I ripped through the magic veil and rolled, tumbling down the stairs and landing hard. I grumbled, got to my feet, and ran down the rest until I burst out into the woods. Without a skirt to hamper me, I was easily racing through the silver trees.
The trees weren’t any less beautiful as I ran blindly, following an almost non-existent trail. How did the princesses find their way before?
The silver branches reached for my hair, pulling strands out, but I swatted them away. When I got to the gold forest, I again didn’t slow down. As lovely as the woods were, it seemed like they were reaching out with their glittering branches, trying to stop my progress.
I hissed as a branch scratched my cheek, and warm blood dripped down my face. Another scratch followed, and a sting on my arm told me it had connected. I dreaded the last trek of woods. The diamond forest.