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That reason is in my arms. Love is the one thing that can defeat sorrow, boredom, and the utter predictability of enduring a life that never ends. Love is proof of healing, proof of wonder, and proof that greeting every dawn is a gift, not a curse.

When we reach the dim subterranean room, I’m disturbed by the thought of my kind’s most sacred space existing in such an unworthy setting. But, if I wish, after we no longer require the pool, I can resolidify the gems and reclaim this temporary honor from the true source of my Lady’s pain.

“My Queen,” Remy says, bowing to our sovereign, as all the knights stand at attention.

Archie doesn’t bow and his ferocity clearly makes Remy nervous, with the frail-looking queen so close. I haven’t seen her in many years, not since she first arrived, and unsurprisingly, her years in our realm have not been kind. She’s worn now, her blue-grey eyes weary and yet her intense, unrelenting focus on Bianca is powerful enough that my body tenses and my coals burn brighter.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demands, wearing a gold dressing gown, having rushed down here when she heard the news.

Bianca moans in my arms. “They’re still hurting Nico… he’s fighting them. He knows about me, that we’re linked.”

I turn to Archie. “Take her.” He complies immediately and I begin to disrobe. “If you don’t wish to see me in a state of undress, avert your delicate gaze,” I state to anyone and everyone.

The queen, her eyes now wild, stares at Bianca, fixating on the blood still flowing from her abdomen. “This isn’t possible.”

Through clenched teeth, Bianca says, “Just because a thing has never happened doesn’t mean a thingcan’thappen. Don’t you have freak accidents here? Crazy bomb cyclones? Lottery winners? Extinct animals that just randomly show up and wave? What the heck?”

As soon as I remove my clothes, I move down the steps into the empty pool, save for a pathetically small pile of gems. “This may not be enough.”

The queen’s voice is soft, her concern—possibly regret—evident. “I’ve sought to acquire more, but every time I do, I need them. This realm didn’t change without deals, payments, bribery. I don’t keep our enemies at bay with my excellent conversational skills. Will it be enough to help her?”

Before I find a way to answer that will conceal the truth of my doubts, Bianca whimpers. “It hurts, Archie. What must it be like for Nico?”

Archie’s fierce tone reeks of panic. “You’ll be okay and so will Nico. We’ll get him back.”

“Don’t lie to her,” the queen slams.

“He’s not lying…youare.” Bianca’s eyes close briefly, but then she pins the queen with her unsurrendering spark. “Will you let me die because you refuse to save me? I’m my father’s daughter. Would you really force him to suffer what you did, just to maintain your cruel rules?”

“Heal her,” the queen barks, while my inner fire flares.

“Shield your eyes.” Archie turns his back, protecting Bianca, while my fire flashes in the room. I take one blue gem and raise it to my forehead, touching it to my ridge and whispering words long forgotten by anyone currently breathing the air in this realm.

While everyone around the empty pool is still and silent, I listen for the gem’s answer, grateful when it acknowledges me and grants its willing compliance. I didn’t doubt that it would agree, but the process won’t work without its consent. Then I hold the gem to my heart, directly over the hottest coal in my body. The gem is already liquifying when I move my hand away and observe what I haven’t witnessed in decades and never with an audience. Its volume of liquid is impressive, but unease still grips me that it won’t be enough.

I grab a red gem and repeat the process. Ten stones—just ten. I used more than a hundred in my pool. When I reach the end, the liquid is only a foot deep, barely shimmering. It doesn’t have nearly enough combined energy to heal such a dangerous wound, a wound powerful enough to defy the realm’s barriers.

I know what I must do. I was willing to save Bianca’s father and take the road that Nico ultimately walked, but now I know why I had to remain. Taking a deep breath, I draw from myself this time, the gems that became life, becameme, and at any moment that I will it—any moment when my coals stop burning—can become a seemingly lifeless gem once again.

All of this realm wonders where my kind have vanished to while no one was looking. But here they are. The gems in a pile now become liquid. The gems in my sanctuary and others hidden throughout the world. They are traded around as payment, indestructible, immortal in a way incomprehensible to those who are born of their mothers, instead of willing themselves into existence through the sheer force of our own might.

“Pennie, don’t hurt yourself for me,” Bianca pleads, her voice more ragged, her shudders unending now.

The queen appears to be appalled. “What is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?” Bianca presses weakly.

The queen glances from Bianca to me and back again, more furious. “You just met this monster and you’re telling him not to use whatever resources he has to heal you. Why?”

Bianca’s confusion and disgust collide. “Because he matters. They all matter. What’s wrong withyou? Are you really anti-monster while running a monster realm? That doesn’t seem like a great fit.” Bianca looks at me, her kindness and love balms like no other I’ve ever known. “Don’thurt yourself for me. I need you too.”

I simply smile at her and continue, sending more of my life force into the pool and feeling the power growing in the now-shining liquid.

“Remy,” the queen snaps, “get my husband’s crown and all his gems. Bring them here.”

Remy hurries away with several knights trailing him.

Hope twinkles in Bianca’s paling eyes. “Thank you.”