Burning a hole in the wall was as simple a task as I had claimed it to be. Dante hovered near as I focused on directing the light in my blood to a single point at the tip of my finger. It took a little more concentration than I would ever admit to anyone out loud, but it had been so long since I'd been allowed to actually touch my power. It had been just one of the many rules that governed my life in the palace, and with time, the control I'd spent my entire life building disappeared. I became nothing more than a pretty, glittering ornament in the Edreshian court.

But no more. The light I carried did more than just shine, and as it finally poured out of my body, igniting the thorns in silver flames, I stepped back and smiled. Dante gasped as the fire ate through the thorns, offering the first glimpse of our home. It was almost as if he hadn't believed I could do it.

"Don't let the fire grow too bright," Yoko whispered, pulling the horses around us to shield the glow from anyone who might be looking. We had chosen the spot Hyllie told us about–the one behind a small thicket of trees. However, in the dead of night, it wouldn't be difficult to glimpse the flickering of silver light through the gaps between the trees.

I bit back a sharp remark. Yoko didn't mean to sound bossy or condescending. She might have been a simple soldier in the royal army, but she had been born to be a general. Yet even generals bowed before queens. It was another thing we would have to address on the other side of this wall. One more obstacle in the way of our life together.

"There," I said, drawing the light back into myself with a wince. A hole just big enough to lead a horse through gaped before us, its edges all charred and softly glowing embers. "It'll be a tight fit."

"Good girl," Dante practically purred, earning a hiss from Yoko and a glare from me, even as something strange and golden unfurled inside me in response to the velvet caress of his praise against my ears.

"Dante..."

"Apologies, my queen." He ducked his head. "Old habits."

Yoko slapped his reins into his hands. "Old habits that best die quickly."

"Aye, aye." He saluted.

"I'll go first," Yoko said, elbowing between Dante and me before I could protest. Her slender frame fit through the gap in the wall easily, but the horse whinnied and snorted as thorns pricked its flesh.

"She's quite fierce, your woman."

His tone was casual as we waited for the all clear from Yoko, but his green eyes were anything but when they flicked over to me. I ignored the question there. Even if I had been thinking about the practicality and politics of marrying him earlier, now was not the time for us to have that conversation.

"She–"

"Dante, please. I'm trying to listen for Yoko's signal."

He gave a brief grunt in response, and I settled my weight into the back of my heels, wishing I could risk enough light to see what was happening on the other side. Just when I was about to call out for her, there was a decidedly un-Yoko like shriek through the thorns, and I rocked forward, my heart racing.

"Astreia, wait!" Dante demanded, grabbing me around the waist as I plunged into the brambles.

"Let me go."

The man had iron in his arms. I was certain of it because they did not budge as I bucked in his grip or hit him. Thorns scraped my cheeks as he tugged me back onto Yorkton's side. Blood trickled from the cuts, nearly scalding in the chill of the night, and against my back, I felt a thudding beat that matched mine.

"Listen," he commanded. His steady breathing did not betray his unsteady heart, and as I calmed, so did he. Body curling around mine, he rested his chin on my shoulder, eyes trained on the hole ahead.

"If she dies, I will pray that your soul is consumed by the judgment fires."

"That's rather nasty of you," he whispered. Tingles spread through me as he made small circles on my wrists with his fingers.

"Dante, I'm not kidding. Let me go. Yoko!"

I nearly fell over when he released me. Yoko steadied me. Dirt and some other dark substance that it scared me to ask about streaked her beautiful face, but I went willingly into her arms, kissing her hard. She sank into the kiss with a sigh, and only after a swipe of her tongue across mine drew a moan from me did she pull away with reluctance.

"What happened?" I asked, locking my hands around her neck to hold her in place. I wanted so much more from her than this, but right now I would settle for merely touching her.

"Tar pits."

"Tar pits?" Dante and I echoed one another.

"They line the wall like another line of defense. Almost lost the horse. If she hadn't spooked and jumped at the end of the path, we both would've gone right in. It took me so long to get back over because I built a bridge across it."

"When has there ever been a tar pit in Estrellum?" Dante muttered.

Yoko pulled my hand off her neck, kissed my knuckles, and dropped my hand with a dark promise glimmering in her sea glass eyes. From the way her lips parted and her breathing quickened, she saw a similar promise in my eyes, and I didn't care if Dante watched, I fully intended to take her to my bed tonight. Beneath the stars in my homeland.

Suddenly more eager than before, I grabbed the reins of my horse and motioned for Yoko to lead the way. Dante followed in the rear. The uncomfortable journey through the thorns probably took less than five minutes, but each second felt like an eternity.

Then it was over, and for the first time in over ten years, I stood on the soil of my birthplace. I was home.

And it smelled like death.

"What is that?" Dante asked, gagging.

"I'd say it is a mix of tar and whatever wasn't lucky enough to get out of it," Yoko answered with her usual pragmatism. She stuck a stick into one pit and lit the black pitch at its end when she pulled it out. The quivering firelight cast a soft glow around our small group.

"We can camp here until sunrise if you would really like to be sure."

"Let's not." I put a boot in the stirrup and hoisted myself over the horse. "Though we shouldn't go far in the darkness. We don't want to risk injuring a horse, and we could use the sleep. From what I remember, it'll take us about four sun cycles to reach the palace."

"I'm afraid you'll not find much as you remember."

Yoko jumped in front of my horse and drew her sword. Dante assumed an offensive stance that suggested he was more than a pretty face. The ripple of magic between his hands did more than suggest.

However, the newcomer stepping out of the shadows into the small ring of light created by the torch did not seem impressed at all by the display, and within a few seconds, I understood why. More than a dozen elves stood behind her.

"Let us pass. We mean no harm."

My tone was firm and authoritative. Queenly. Mother would have been proud.

"Now I'm not sure that I believe that," she said, tilting her head to the side and peering at me with the yellow cat eyes. One of the Napali then. Cunning cat shifters from the West Mountains. "Seeing as how the only people on the other side of that wall are our enemies."

A decision stretched before me. I had hoped to keep my identity a secret a while longer. Word traveled quickly, especially such joyous news, and it would take longer to reach the palace if those wishing to pay their respects constantly stopped us. Still, the people of Estrellum had waited long enough, and these people needed assurance that the enemy had not returned.

Dropping my hood and pulling back the arms of my cloak, I released my hold on my light. It broke through my skin the familiar starlight pattern and warmed me through. Muttering broke out among the elves on the ground, and a few took a timid step forward, as if to get a better look. Dante had turned to look as well, and his expression was one of reverence.

"That's a neat trick." The Napali woman clapped slowly.

"You will watch your tone when you speak to your queen," Dante commanded. Yoko nodded stiffly.

"Oh no. We have no queen here."

Resisting the urge to cry, I gave her a soft smile. "You did not, but I have returned. To restore our country to its former glory."

"About that. We stopped having a queen the moment she locked us in the godsforsaken place. The fields couldn't grow crops, and the rivers dried up. We couldn't escape, but we persevered. Rose from the ashes she left us, and the people you see here...why they're just a few of the folks who appointed me as their leader."

Uneasy whispers spread through her followers. She ignored them, her eyes flashing as she bared her teeth at me. All the softness in my expression evaporated, and I used my knees to drive my horse forward. To position me, so I towered over her as I spoke.

"Your service is appreciated, but it is no longer needed now that I am home. I relieve you of your duties."

"No." She inched backward into the crowd, blending into the darkness until only her glowing eyes were visible. "Seize her."

"Wait. No. Stop!" I shouted as they rushed toward us with such speed and force that Yoko and Dante were driven to the ground.

Dozens of hands pulled me off the horse and forced me to my knees. I thrashed against their hold.

"Use your light!" Yoko screamed.

I didn't want to. These were my people. No matter what they might believe right now, I was on their side, and attacking them would only increase their hatred and displeasure. Yet none of it would matter if I was dead.

A stinging pain erupted in my neck, turning into an agonizing burn as venom coursed through my veins. The Napali crouched before me and tapped her tongue on her sharp teeth.

"Estrellum needs no queen," she hissed just before everything went dark.