Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 43 of 70

Four weeks passed in the golden castle. Willowyn woke to sunlight across the bed and to Kai beside her. He kissed her lips. "It's been four weeks," he said. "I am so happy you found me." Willowyn stretched and pulled the tiger cub against her chest. The cub had grown. Its striped fur brushed her chin. She had a place here now, a household, a man who loved her. But her arc goal pressed at her all the same. She had crossed an ocean to bind kingdoms, not to rest in one. She rose and dressed in her silver gown. The cub trotted after her down the hall. She found King Aurelius in the great room, bent over a wide map. His purple robe pooled around the chair. He had welcomed her as a friend, given her his ear, and she meant to use it. "Willowyn," the king said. He did not look up from the map. "Come. You will want to see this." She leaned over his shoulder. He traced a line to the east with one thick finger. "A messenger rode in at dawn," he said. "Two kingdoms past the pine forests quarrel over a road. Words now. Swords soon." He met her eyes. "They have heard of the elven princess who stopped a war with water. They ask for you." Her heart lifted, then tightened. This was the door she wanted. But it opened away from Kai, away from the warmth she had just won. "They ask for me by name?" she said. "By name." The king folded the map and pressed it into her hands. "I will not send you alone. My house stands behind you. But the choice is yours, friend." Kai had followed her in. He stood in the doorway, the cub winding at his boots. He had heard. His jaw was set. "You'll go," Kai said. It was not a question. Willowyn looked at the map, then at him. "I came for this," she said. "I can't stay warm and let them fight." Kai crossed the room. He did not argue. He took her hand and closed her fingers over the map's edge. "Then I go with you," he said. "No more coasts. No more oceans between us." Relief broke through her. "You mean it?" "I have a sword you gave me," Kai said. "It's time it left the wall." King Aurelius rose. "Then it is settled. You ride east in two days." He set a hand on his son's shoulder and one on Willowyn's. "Bring them peace. Bring them home." Willowyn held the map tight. The easy weeks were over. She had won this family, and now she would leave the safe walls behind. Not alone this time. Kai stood beside her, and a road east waited. Her dream had a direction again.