“It’s time to end this,” Juniper announces. She stands over Michael, whose age is almost beyond recognition now.
He lives.
The voice of the Superiors echo in my head, and I shut my eyes. Michael disappears from the room. I don’t know where he’s gone, but I know the Superiors aren’t finished with him yet. There’s more to his story. King Ambrose is a different matter, though. The Superiors predict death for him.
The magical chants filling the room grow louder and louder. I allow them to sink into everything I am as I join Juniper. I take her hand, and an explosion illuminates the room; a massive flash of light, signifying the true union taking place today. The reunification of pure magic.
King Ambrose falls to his feet, a snivelling wreck now pleading for his life.
“Was it worth it?” Juniper questions her adoptive father. “The power, and the fear you put into the people with your magic? Was it really so important for you to become King that you were willing to betray the man who’d trusted you the most?”
“Your father would never have been a good King. I did it for our people,” King Ambrose pleads.
“No, you didn’t, you did it for yourself. Everything was designed to get to this point, so you could become the most powerful creature on the Earth. But you failed, and you’ll be nothing from now on.” I watch as Juniper touches the new ruby necklace she’s wearing. “They were my parents, and they suffered because of your thirst for power. But I’ll not allow their deaths to be in vain. I’ll make sure the entire magical community knows just who you are. Your legacy will be one of selfishness and destruction. The worst King ever.”
“Followed by the best Queen,” I add.
Juniper smirks at me. “That’s going to take a bit of getting used to, but from this day forth, that’s what I’ll be. King Ambrose, I relieve you of your duties. The Superiors will decide your fate.” Juniper steps forward and rips the crown from her adoptive father’s head. She hands it to me, and I place it upon her head, crowning her.
The room falls silent.
The chanting of the magical community stops as everyone realises the shift in power.
The true hereditary magic is back in control and bound with the love of her Guardian.
I take Juniper’s hand and we both turn away from the deposed King Ambrose to make our way to the throne of the magical realm.
“Watch out,” Emmie screams from behind us, and we both spin around to face the former King.
He swirls a ball of dark magic, a stronger force than we both know and directs it towards us. We both move, but as her protector I jump in front of Juniper, spreading my wings and pushing the magical ball back into her father. His eyes widen as the dark magic captures him in its spell. The tendrils of bleakness claw into his body, dragging him down beneath the floor and into the underworld, Tartus. The place no witch wants to end up. There’s no way back. It is true death.
Juniper grabs my hand and squeezes it tight.
“What have we done?”
I pull her close to me. “He’s gone. It’s over.”
I try to make sense of what just happened
“It’s over.” Juniper looks up at me, her eyes back to normal and full of love for me. “We survived.”
I nod before lowering myself down onto one knee and bowing my head. “Better than that, we won, Queen Juniper.”
Emmie, James, Sebastian, Lucas, and Juniper’s mother all fall to their knees and bow their heads. I feel the rest of the magical community do the same.
It’s only then I feel Rose at my side. She pulls me to my feet and positions me next to Juniper before taking her own knee.
“And King Jacobi.”
The cry goes up around the magical community.
“Long live Queen Juniper and King Jacobi.”
It turns out royalty knows how to host a party.
Jacobi and I have had our official crowning ceremony. It was a dual purpose event. A King and Queen crowned, and a husband and wife tied in matrimony.
Are we young? Yes.
Do we care? No.
Were we destined? Absolutely.
I didn’t want to take my adoptive father’s name, and I didn’t want to take my long deceased parents’ name. Instead, I took my husband’s name, and we became King and Queen Ashdown.
Now it’s time to party.
I watch the many people dancing and singing, revelling in the joy and happiness surrounding us. My mind wanders to Taya. There’s something so tragic about how she’s spent her life, and the way she behaved because Ambrose had her in his clutches and under his spell. We’ve placed her in an infirmary, and I’m hoping she’ll get the help she needs and be able to reintegrate into our magical society. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to have her within my inner circle, but I do believe in second chances, especially when her first one was ruined by someone other than herself.
“Hey, do you want to dance?” My new husband, King Ashdown, offers and I smile, sliding my hand into his. “Are you happy?” Jacobi asks me, looking down at me. I tilt my head back, and he kisses me, gently at first and then deeper, sharing his love with me as though we’re the only ones in the room.
“More than happy,” I answer when we finally part lips.
I look around the room and notice my mum and Rose talking quietly. There’s a shroud of sadness over my mother, but I don’t think it’s because she loved Ambrose, I think it’s because she believes she failed me.
“What did you say to your parents?” I ask Jacobi as he spins me around the room like I don’t have two left feet.
“I told them to move away,” he replies as though it means nothing to him.
“What? Why?” I ask, pulling us both to a stop. People notice but say nothing. I guess it’s the privilege of royalty to stand perfectly still in the middle of a dance floor.
“Because she chose him, even after all my father had done, my mother chose him.” He shakes his head and lifts me off the ground like I weigh no more than a feather, and we dance again…well, I fly. “I offered to let her stay in my life as the mother of the King, but I told her she’d have to do that without him.” He shrugs. “She still wanted to be with him, even at the expense of losing me. So they’re gone, for good.” We glide over to the side of the hall and Jacobi sits in his throne, seating me in his lap. Tonight, it seems, we’re forgoing all formalities. “They’re not bad people, but my father doesn’t like to face his failures, and my mum feels guilty, so they’ll never come back here.” Cobi peppers kisses along my neck and behind my ear.
“There’s still a lot to sort out,” I tell him.
He nods as Lucas approaches and bows. “Your Majesties,” he murmurs softly.
“Oh, God. Please don’t do that,” I plead.
“He has to when in company,” Jacobi tells me. “But when we’re with our inner circle, they’ll use our names, and no one will address us as anything other than friend.”
Lucas rises, locking his gaze with both of us in turn, and then smirks.
“I wanted to ask what you want done with the followers.” His words cause a sharp stab of pain to slice through my chest.
“I don’t want anything done with them until we know who was placed under a spell and who wasn’t,” I answer.