The first thing Silas did after being sworn in as king was to banish Hallie Asher from ever stepping foot on Esaria soil again. The decision was a mercy, considering her power-hungry turn deserved more altitudes of death. To avoid acting falling into similar habits as his father, Silas made a clean decision to let her go with her life.

It wasn't an easy verdict to come to. The two spent much of their life protecting each other and believing their future revolved around nothing other than what they planned to do as king and queen of Esaria. No one fought Silas's order. With a crown on his head and an orb-tipped staff in his hand, his boots planted firmly on the dais that holds his throne, he makes the rules now.

After everything they went through, even what she did to ruin his life as well as the future of the king's, adding in Ducoria's residents, Silas couldn't bring himself to kill her. He avoided saying a word to her once we captured the rest of the king's forces and stored them in the dungeons. But Silas wouldn't allow himself to trip into the murderous cracks this kingdom built itself on thousands of years ago.

The only requirement for the alliance with Idokren was that Hallie's father had to allow her to keep her life, as well. Her father, still angered, believed Silas's decision to be an outrageous act. She committed treason. Silas had chosen to let Hallie keep her life long before the golden spiked crown rested comfortably on his head.

No harm is to come to Hallie once she returns home. A hand will not be lifted in her direction and if Silas hears word of that rule being broken, the alliance is off and he'll personally see to it that Idokren's reputation is squandered. She is to receive a private residence outside of their palace with guards to protect her from the angered citizens or that of the family that abandoned her all those years ago.

Hallie received something from Silas that none of us would have offered in a million years. She's not deserving of reward, and what he chose to give her seems close enough to that. A life of safety, comfort. But Hallie must live with her decisions. I have gone beyond caring whether she views siding with Silas's father as a mistake, yet I hope she drowns in that despair of losing everything she could have had.

This is the last thing Silas can offer her after so many years of them protecting each other form the horrors of the castle. Though he wouldn't meet her eye, and the same went for the other way around, Hallie appreciated the effort. She left without another word, as well as her father after the crowning ceremony of both Silas and Renit.

Silas received the honor and leadership of a king, and Renit received a newfound likeness for being a prince in Esaria's new day. Nothing that was imparted by his father, and the honor of Silas placing the crown on his head as he kneeled before the dais brought tears to my eyes. There is no higher righteousness.

Their positions aren't the only events declared at the celebration in a castle full of dirt-covered, blood-stained witches. Arego is to become an official city in Esaria. A diverse group of individuals will call it home. Those seeking safety from other kingdoms, as well as training grounds for warriors and wizards wishing to join the king's personal army. Silas's army. With a different goal in mind other than control.

The part of the castle ruined, that of the king's personal chambers, didn't fault anyone other than the witch dead at the hands of his son's blade. Silas began ordering repairs as soon as he could and provided Avalie with chambers of her own. It came as no surprise that she rejected the offer.

I don't know what she went through in the underground portion of the castle. All I know is that the bruises and cuts along her body are answer enough. They'll fade away within a matter of days underneath the influence of the titanium band since she doesn't yet trust her power. Neither did the king or Hallie when they demanded information from her. But she never gave it up, not a word.

She hasn't spoken much, and instead of explaining everything that happened, she has remained at Silas's side through it all. Her eyes are hauntingly empty but I can't expect much else. That makes two of us; a former light once in our eyes is now missing. But a spark of it returned with the king's body turned to ash.

Along with the rest of those lost in the fight, Alaric included after he sacrificed himself for Bren at the hands of a fellow witch of flame. I hadn't realized it until the fight was over, but his death was swift. Bren left shortly after to take his body back to Arego's cliffsides for proper burial. Next to Celestine's grave.

There are too many graves to dig after this ordeal. Everyone has returned to their respective homes and life is resuming as normal in both the castle and the capital, but nothing will ever be the same. We lost too many of our friends, our family, and those we never got the chance to appreciate. The kitchens are quieter without Mills there. Dalis has gone back to preparing meals for the people alongside Tesha and Citlali—both with gold rings on their fingers that belonged to Renit and Silas's mother.

A hole will remain in my heart until the end of days, and it's not because of Celestine and my parents. Not that alone, anyway. That hole is the empty space belonging to everyone lost over the king's cruel reign. People we couldn't save. Too many years believing power was all he could have; not even love from his two sons or his wife was enough. Silas vows to change the ways of his father's ruling. To start that, his second order as king was to throw a banquet for capital residents.

Ordinary people from all walks of life. Witches of all strengths and power flock to the castle for a celebration in their finest gowns and suits. A night that never would've seen the light if it wasn't for Silas taking the throne. And he looks like a king. Talks like one, too.

After I gathered all the belongings from Celestine's chambers and returned them to mine across the hall from Renit's, I changed into a gown stuffed in the back corner of the armoire.

I don't remember the last time I wore something of such substantial value. Possibly the engagement ceremony. Before everything went to hell.

This heart needs you. I need you.

How long ago that seems. The pink gown flows to my ankles and the smooth silk brushes against my legs when I walk across the room to gather my dagger earrings from the nightstand. I don't have anyone to style my hair, not yet, and in that lack of companionship, Mani's face flashes into my mind. His soft voice and jokes about my lack of maintenance in regards to my fingernails and knotted hair.

I can't offer much to the lingering souls in this castle. I can't give them their lives back and I can't make myself happier to somehow lighten their existence. All I can do is celebrate a night meant for laughter, joy, and a new beginning. To honor them, I'll celebrate.

A knock comes from the door and Renit peeks his head in, eyes immediately falling to me across the room, in front of the standing mirror and sticking the points of earrings through my ears. I offer him the most reassuring smile I can as he walks across the room, black shoes shuffling along the dust-ridden rug. No one cleaned the rooms since we left; their father ordered them off-limits to the rest of the castle residents. That included the servants.

Renit loops his arm around my waist and places his chin in the crook of my shoulder, watching my face through the wiped mirror. His warmth takes a moment to register within me as everything, down to the sheets on the bed and the emptiness in the bathing room, seems cold.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks after a short moment of silence, his tone gentle.

I clip back a strand of my hair away from my face. "I'm thinking that...this feels like a dream and there's no way this is our new reality," I respond equally as quiet.

He smiles at that, the corner of his mouth turning up in the slightest display of affection. "Will that lead you to be wary around every turn tonight? Or will you actually enjoy yourself?"

"Considering the last time I enjoyed myself is lost to my memory, I think I'll need your help with that."

He laughs and turns his head, pressing a kiss to my neck, then my shoulder. His velvet frock coat pulled from the depths of the armoire hugs his frame tightly and underneath it, I catch the slightest hint of...blue.

Gaping, I whirl and move aside the lapels of his coat to find a blue doublet staring back at me. He grins foolishly at my face and says in a mocking tone, "Since you seem to think I don't own anything that isn't a shade of sorrow."

The swirls of blue remind me of snowflakes on a winter night, the moon cascading across a grey-clouded sky. They mix in neatly with the specks of white and sparks of silver on the buttons to match one of my favorite colors. I run my fingers down the center to gather a feel for the bumps and ridges of the doublet's design.

"We made it out alive," I whisper. "We're still here."

Renit takes my face in his hands and lifts my gaze to his, the calluses on his palms scraping against my skin. For a moment, he doesn't say a word and his breath seems to stall as he memorizes every inch of my face, down to the smallest speck of amber in my eyes. The world slows in his presence and his lips part to speak. "After what my father did, I wouldn't allow anything else to happen to you. I kept my distance enough...but I was prepared to—"

Shaking my head, I place my palm against his chest. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear that you were ready to sacrifice everything for me."

Renit leans forward and presses his forehead against mine. "Then I won't say it." He breathes in my scent with a slow, steady inhale, and says, "But I'm glad that you're still here today."

"I can say the same for you, foolish prince." Smiling I pull him against me and wrap my arms around his shoulders. His chin cradles into my neck and he hugs me tighter than I've ever been held.

For the first time in a long time, something feels right. I hadn't found myself able to grasp such a concept over recent weeks and the months extending beyond that, but I think I have figured it out. It'll take time to pick up the remainder of the pieces and discover what it takes to live a normal life—or even what that is—but we'll get there. As a group, we have an endless number of days to find the happiness ripped away from us in these last months.