Violet Amethyst's Arc

Chapter 9 of 9

Violet opened the crystal door. The prince stood on the little porch, wrapped in his black cloak, his hood pulled low. April and Kai had slipped into the back room to give her the space she'd asked for. Only the fire lit the cottage now. The prince did not step inside. He looked past her, into the warm room, and stayed still. "You came," Violet said. She kept her voice soft. "Come sit by the fire." He stayed on the porch. "I shouldn't have." His voice was low, almost gone. "I keep telling myself I'll ruin you. I watched a fairy fade in this cold. I won't do it again." He drew the cloak tighter. "I came to say I can't come back." Her chest tightened. If he turned now, he would vanish into his curse for good, and every night at the cottage would be spent waiting for a knock she already knew wouldn't come. She thought of Kai's warning. The pull would be stronger with the prince. She still didn't know if her anchor would hold. But she had to show him, not tell him. She took the vial from her pocket. The purple dust glowed against her palm. "You think loving you drains a fairy dry," she said. "Watch." She held her own light tight behind her ribs, the way she'd practiced on Kai. Then she drew a thread of dust into the air. The pull hit her at once, far worse than before. It reached for everything she had. Her wings flickered. Her knees loosened. She heard April gasp from the doorway. But she held her light, hard, and let only the dust go. The purple thread crossed the porch and settled on the prince's shoulder. Her wings glowed steady. She stood, whole. "See?" she said, breathless. "I gave you a piece of me. I'm still here. I don't empty myself for you. I keep myself and love you both." The prince looked at the dust on his shoulder. His hand rose, slow, and touched it. For a long moment he didn't move. Then he reached up and pushed his hood back. His face was pale and sharp, younger than she'd guessed, his eyes wet. He stepped over the threshold. "No one has ever proven it," he said. "They only promised." He sat down by the fire, the first time he'd sat anywhere but a shadowed corner. "Tell me your name. Your real one." "Violet." "Violet," he repeated, like he was learning it. April let out a shaky laugh from the back room. Kai stood in the doorway behind her, arms crossed, watching the prince's uncovered face with a hard, careful stare. He had seen it too. The prince had lowered his guard. And now Kai knew exactly who was sitting by Violet's fire.