Page 102

It showed how far my father’s greed went that he would give her an ultimatum. She would either hand it over, or he would force her to marry him, believing he could gain the advantage of her power through my birth. It also showed how much she was willing to sacrifice to ensure it did not fall into his hands.

She instead sacrificed herself just to keep the peace. But the most precious thing salvaged of all was our daughter’s ashes; the bear somehow miraculously survived, so we still have that piece of her, which is now placed in the nursery we have set up, which was my old nursery as a baby. But we’ll forever be grateful for the second chance we now have and the second chance granted to our people and those we thought we lost but weren’t. Abbie had Gannon and Tyson; I have Kyson and this place. For once, we could all breathe and be happy and free. Finally, Abbie and I have freedom, yet death isn’t the freedom we seek anymore;our freedom now has new meaning. It’s living and the futures we know we have with our mates by our sides.

Now, we would finally find peace when we have known none. So, as I look up at the massive iron gates of what was once the Landeena Kingdom, I know we are finally home. A fresh start. But the first thing to go will be the Landeena crest; it will be replaced with the Valkyrie one.

Home used to be some made-up sentiment embedded in us for so long that we forgot the meaning of it. Growing up for Abbie and me, home meant pain, slavery, and then death. We truly believed that death was the only home we would know, the only way we would get freedom and have peace.

But I’ve since learned home was never a place or a thing, but within all of us all along. Home is finding ourselves, our own meaning. Home is with those we love. So I know we will eventually find happiness here, in this place that has been desolate for so long. Forgotten and haunted by the ghosts of a past I never knew was mine.

Yet, in front of me is a future I am indeed excited to live. One beside my King and my family.

Arms wrap around my waist as his hands slide up and over my stomach, a growing bump that holds our future and the future of our people.

“What’s wrong?” Kyson asks as his hands gently trace my growing belly.

“Nothing. I just can’t believe we are here of all places,” I tell him as I watch the Landeena guards race around and secure the perimeter, almost as if it is muscle memory and they had never left.

“And where is that, my Queen?”

“Home. With you, with us,” I whisper, glancing over my shoulder at him. He brushes his nose against mine.

“Home is wherever you are,” he murmurs, brushing his lips gently against mine briefly before the cars start pulling into the circular pebble driveway. This place reminds me of Marrissa. I had hardly any memories of this place, but for some reason, it felt like she walked through those gates beside me. As if I can feel her, hear her in whispers traveling with the wind.

So many sacrificed for the Landeena name and the Azure name. For so long, the only woman I remember as my mother was villainized for her betrayal, yet everyone betrayed her, including her mate. She raised me, loved me, and paid the ultimate sacrifice of her life to ensure that one day, I could come back here and take the throne again.

To some, she would always be remembered as the villain, but to me, she would always be my mother. Always be the reason I am standing here and righting the wrongs of my father, righting the wrongs that were bestowed on our people. The Landeenas are dead. The Azure’s dead, too.

I may share their blood, but I no longer share their name. I am not my parents. I will do better and restore the Royal names, yet I will never take theirs again. Those names instilled fear, ruined honor, and forged a path of destruction. Praised for the wrong reasons, loyalty given to them blindly, not earned. Those two names were blessed and cursed and are no longer part of the future I now chose or want.

Staring up at the place we shall now call home, Abbie moves toward me, bumping her shoulder against mine. I smile, looking over at her. Tyson is on her hip.

“Ready?” she asks. I nod, and Kyson unravels his arms around my waist and takes my hand, leading me toward the huge stone staircase. Everyone bustles around to get the place ready as what is left of our people move in. Reaching the top, Cedric is waiting by the door with Trey, the blessed sword that belonged to my father in his hand. I can’t imagine what it mustbe like for them to be back here, yet they look almost relieved. Like this place, it never stopped being home for them.

Cedric bows his head, and Trey offers me his hand. I place mine in his, only for him to turn me around to face the courtyard, to see hundreds of faces of what’s left of mine and Kyson’s people. What's left of the fallen Kingdoms staring back at us. In unison, they all speak.

“We pledge our allegiance to Kyson Keller Valkyrie, Emperor of Lycania and Valkyrie, and to Azalea Ivy-Rose Valkyrie, Empress of Lycania and Valkyrie. As the true heirs and sovereigns of these realms, we commit our hearts and blades. We bleed for Valkyrie, we fight for Valkyrie, and if need be, we die for Valkyrie. We are the Valkyrie Guard—Our Empress and Emperor have risen. And so has the Valkyrie Guard.”

They bow their heads and fall to one knee in unison.

“As this Kingdom rises, we shall rise with it. And if this Kingdom falls, we too shall fall,” they finish.

I am in awe of their display and how quickly they would accept this new place as home. I turn to Cedric and retrieve my sword, my fingers wrapping around the hilt. The talisman is cool beneath my palm, and I pledge to my people, feeling it warm in my grip.

“I pledge my heart and my life to Lycania and to every soul that calls it home. I will bleed for them, stand in battle for them, and if fate demands, I will lay down my life for them. From this moment forward, I am Azalea Ivy-Rose Valkyrie, the true Empress of Lycania. This land, these people—they are my kingdom, and they are more than my life.”

I grasp the blade, its weight familiar and grounding. I slide my hand along its edge, the metal kissing my skin, a symbolic severance from the past and a fierce embrace of the future that lies before us.

Yet, as my blood washes over the steel, it transforms. Gone are the crests and symbols of Landeena. In its place, etched in blue and red carved into the replenished steel, lay the makings of a new one. A mixture of all the Kingdoms that rose and fell, the Kingdoms of Lycania. The steel glows and heats, branding and forging. And I can feel the power that lies within its steel, feel the rightfulness of it in my hand when hands move down my arms from behind, and the familiar sparks I love rush over me.

Cedric takes my sword, and Kyson lifts my bleeding hand to his lips from behind me, the warmth of his chest seeping into me as he traces the slice with his tongue, healing the wounds left. And the scar it leaves matches the new crest now emblazoned in the steel.

"More than my life, always more," Kyson whispers, his breath warm against my ear and I turn in his arms, my bump carrying our son brushing against him. My hands cup each side of his face.

“Forever yours, forever more than my life and beyond every forever,” I whisper.

The End.