I wrapped my fingers around his.
“I promise you,” he said quietly, “I will do everything in my power to help you. Best friends 5eva. Okay?”
/> I took in a shuddering breath.
He let me go.
My King broke decorum and hugged me tightly against his massive chest. The crowd murmured behind us, but we ignored them. His chin rested atop my head as I sagged against him.
“I know your heart is breaking,” he whispered to me. “But you have my word that I will help you pick up the pieces and put it back together. It may not fit together as it once did, but it will hold. This is my promise to you as your King.”
He pulled away only to cup my face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before stepping back.
Which left only the last.
There, upon a raised slab of stone, lay the body of the greatest wizard the world had ever known.
Morgan of Shadows.
His eyes were closed, and his hands were clasped on his chest.
His robes were bright and blue.
On his feet were pink shoes whose ends curled up.
His beard had been brushed and cleaned, little flowers braided into it.
He looked as if he were sleeping, and if it weren’t for his pale skin, I thought I could have convinced myself of exactly that.
But I knew better.
I stood next to the stone slab, my back to the people of Verania.
Vadoma’s vision had been wrong this whole time.
I’d always thought it’d be Ryan Foxheart lying before me, sword clasped to his chest.
As I stood above my mentor, I tried to remember if she’d ever explicitly said my cornerstone would be the one who died.
I didn’t even know if the visions she’d given me had been her own or if Ruv had played a part in them.
I didn’t know that it mattered.
Not now.
I bent over Morgan, pressing a kiss against his forehead. I ignored the single tear that fell from my eye and splashed on his cheek.
And for a moment, I thought of the bird.
It would be so easy.
I could have done it.
It whispered in my head.
Somehow, I pushed it away.
I whispered, “I’m sorry.”