Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 56 of 70

The babies slept in a quiet room off the great hall. Willowyn sat close, still amazed by the two small faces. Kai had understood without being told. He had taken the tiger cub and the minx and slipped away to the courtyard, leaving her alone with her mother. "Go," he had said. "This is yours to have." Now only Willowyn and Queen Elara remained, with the twins and a tray between them. Elara set the tray on a low table. Warm milk steamed in two cups. A cloth covered a plate of muffins, still soft from the oven. "Eat," the Queen said. She peeled back the cloth. "You have not sat still in four months. I can see it in your face." Willowyn took a muffin and broke it open. The smell pulled her back to a childhood she had spent trying to escape. She drank the milk and let the warmth settle her. "I want to tell you everything," she said. So she did. She told her mother about the river she held back, the sons she woke under the moon, the dragon that now waited in the courtyard. Elara listened. She did not interrupt or correct. She only nodded, her green eyes bright, her braid slipping over her shoulder. "You have become the peace bringer I dreamed of," Elara said softly. "But not the way I planned. Better." She reached out and took Willowyn's hand. The boy stirred in his blanket. Elara lifted him with care. "Your brother," she said. "I named him Elladon, after your father." Willowyn's breath caught. She had not heard her father's name spoken in years. She touched the baby's small fist and felt it curl around her finger. Then Elara nodded toward the girl. "And your sister I call Eris." A faint color rose in the Queen's cheeks. "After Eros. He gave me this. I would not hide his name from her." Willowyn looked at the sleeping girl, then at her mother. She understood the gift her mother was offering. This was trust. This was a family that had chosen her back. "They will know me," Willowyn said. "I will not vanish for four months again. I will write. I will come home." She meant it. Elara smiled and set Elladon in Willowyn's arms. "Then hold your brother. Learn his weight. He should know his sister's arms." Willowyn held him. For the first time since she had left the keep, she was not choosing between duty and love. She held both at once. The war-worn princess and the daughter and the sister were one person now, in one warm room. When the twins slept again, Elara set down her cup. "Rest tonight," she said.