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She looked up at him, wincing a little. “I’ve been asked to join the WMC. By every single mage. Would you mind if I accept?”

Kazik laughed aloud. “Mind? I think you’ll be awesome at it! You’ve never let anyone see how strong you are, and I don’t mean just your magic. Have you ever had it tested?”

She shook her head. “To be honest, it has always frightened me.”

“That’s probably a good thing, I mean, respecting your power and responsibility.” He nodded decisively. “We should eat something before that kitchen magic runs out. Is Bogumil here?”

Euzebia’s brows drew slightly together. “Yes, he is here but hiding.”

“I’m not hiding!” A hooded figure stepped into view from the vine-covered wall.

“I was eavesdropping, a very different thing. And the food magic will last as long as it’s needed.

” He gave Kazik a hangdog look. “Glad you’re free again.

I seriously botched things here, but you and Princess Helena fixed it.

You’re a lucky dog. She’s a whole lot prettier than you are. ”

“Thanks for that.” Kazik couldn’t help laughing.

“Oh, by the way, I sensed the fox in the guardhouse here, so I brought along his whole pack. If foxes do packs . . .” He pondered. “Whatever. They won’t be pleased by whatever the WMC does with them.”

“You turned them all into foxes?” Euzebia looked thunderstruck.

“I did. They still yammer and fight a lot but it’s easier to ignore now.” Bogumil suddenly threw back his hood to reveal a beaming smile. “Guess who was asked to lead the meeting tonight! I’m officially on the council now!”

“Good job,” Kazik said, and meant it. “You worked hard at your assignment, and in the end it all worked out. Congratulations!”

Euzebia rose from the bench, stepped forward, gripped Bogumil’s face, kissed him on both cheeks, then patted one. “You truly did save the day. Excellent work.”

He straightened, squaring his shoulders, and his pale face turned scarlet. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“We’re just heading inside to eat. Would you like to join us?” Euzebia asked him with a smile.

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked dazzled.

“Mama, would you mind if I?—”

“Oh! Helena! Certainly, you must go and find her,” Euzebia interrupted. “I’ll dine this evening with my fellow Council Mage.” She claimed Bogumil’s arm. “You must know your way around this castle far better than I do.”

Bogumil stopped short. “Um . . . I just this moment returned the rest of Princess Helena’s memories. I, uh, hope you two are very happy together.”

Then the blushing, starry-eyed mage led Kazik’s mother back into the castle, and Kazik went in search of his intended bride.

He found her in the throne room with her head on her father’s shoulder, their hands clasped, a heart-warming scene. “May I interrupt?” he asked, tapping the doorframe.

Helena leaped up and ran into his arms. “You’re no interruption. I was just going to hunt you down.”

He held her close, and any worries that may have shown up during her absence vanished. “Your Majesty!” He approached the settee and dropped to one knee. “Your servant.”

King Ryszard quickly took his hand and embraced him. “Thank you, my boy, for all you’ve done for my Helena. None of us could possibly have expected events to unfold as they did, but all is turning out well. Although with some heartache.” The king’s eyes held genuine sympathy.

Kazik nodded. “My father brought this upon himself and his family. My mother did her best to influence him for good, but he made his own choices. I must thank you again for your patience with me as your student all those years. You taught me far more than academic lessons.”

The king smiled. “I hear you made good use of the bathhouse and the chapel while the rest of us slept. Helena also tells me you’ve been learning to play the pipe organ. I expect a concert soon.”

“Then I do hope your expectations are very low, sir. And I apologize for breaking into the bathhouse while I searched for Helena. I didn’t know its history.”

King Ryszard shook his head. “I should have reopened it long ago. A man can easily lose himself in regret and self-pity, which helps no one. My long nap seems to have opened my eyes to what is truly important in life.”

He paused, glanced at his daughter, who wore a bright smile while she waited—her gaze fixed on the young man—then gave Kazik a knowing look. “Perhaps my long nap has also given me a distaste for formalities and waiting. So, my son, do you, by any chance, have a pertinent request to ask of me?”

Kazik gulped, looked into the king’s twinkling eyes, and said, “Your Majesty, I dearly love your daughter. My life at present is disrupted, but I gratefully accept this opportunity to request Princess Helena’s hand in marriage.”

“Having known you through most of your childhood, Prince Kazimierz, I believe I shall be quite safe in honoring your request to marry my daughter. You have my blessing, and may you both be even happier than your hearts can imagine.”

T hat evening, for the first time in centuries, the World Magic Council convened.

Madame Euzebia expressly requested Kazik, Helena, and King Ryszard to attend as witnesses, along with Geoffroi and Solara.

Unlike ordinary trials, the process moved quickly.

Everyone involved in the five-year Wroc?aw curse gave witness to events, and any lie was quickly exposed.

Well past midnight, the Council unanimously agreed on a verdict.

The wizened archduke repeatedly claimed to be above such a foul fray, but Bogumil’s magic prevented him from lying about his intentions and deeds.

He was compelled to confess his many crimes and his plans to rule the entire land area known as Wroc?aw.

The same was true of his son, the Grand Duke Warin Lisiewicz.

Unable to lie, they condemned themselves.

Several of the archduke’s many daughters and granddaughters also gave unrepentant testimony that revealed new layers to the corrupt intentions of Wroc?aw’s leaders.

All adults involved in the plot were convicted of treason and abuse of power, and several much worse crimes, leaving only the sentences to be set. The younger children had already been distributed to Council-approved family members abroad.

“I intend to visit them,” Kazik whispered in Helena’s ear. “They’ll need love and encouragement like we had to help us make wise choices.”

“Please bring me with you! I would love to meet your little cousins.”

It was Geoffroi who suggested a sentence that suited the crime: “Why not release them into the pocket world where the grand duke imprisoned me? Nearly endless grassland and forest, and there’s easily enough small prey to support them all.

Probably too good of a life for these villains, but maybe someday, if their hearts change, they will return to their human forms.” He paused, then snorted.

“Grace is real, and one never knows about humans or fay.”

Helena nodded. “Offering opportunity for hearts to change is both just and gracious. The choice is always theirs.”

And so, the sentence was set. The pocket world of blue skies, forest, and grassy hills would remain in the custody of the World Magic Council at their headquarters, the location of which was a mystery to all but council members.

Kazik silently watched as the angry foxes were set loose in the pocket world he’d frequently played in with Geoffroi. Maybe some of his cousins would someday regret their choices and be willing to humble themselves. He hoped they might.

Helena moved closer and squeezed his hand. “None of this is your fault or your mother’s. They all knew the risks and made their own choices. I’m so very thankful for you, Prince Kazimierz.”

Early the next morning, while Helena walked with Papa Hrabik in the formal gardens, he gazed up at Castle Valga’s towers, his eyes wistful. “So, this was your childhood home. My girl is a true princess. But I always knew that.”

“Papa!” Helena tugged his sleeve until he looked into her eyes. “With you and Mama Hrabikova, I never felt unloved or unwanted. I’m overjoyed to have my dear ojciec back, but you are and will always be my papa . You are both heroes to me.”

“You have a young hero as well,” Papa said with a warm smile. “I believe he will be a devoted husband to you, my Lenka.”

Helena couldn’t help smiling. “All those years, he was in my dreams. I could never remember the dreams in the mornings, but they were stored here”—she patted her chest—“in my heart. Now, as I remember more of my childhood, I love him even more.”

“He is a good man who honors and respects you. I see his shame and frustration in being part of such a family. But he is not responsible for their choices, only his own, which from all I hear are mainly noble. My ancestry includes a good many rogues, I fear.”

He dropped his voice to a near-whisper. “In my youth, I poached plums from His Majesty’s orchard—King Gustik’s father was king then.

” Papa laid his forefinger over his lips, and his twitch of a brow made her laugh.

“My papa found me out and tanned my hide. I’ve never had a taste for stealing since. Or plums, come to think on it.”

Moments later, Kazik approached on an intersecting path, closely followed by Geoffroi, who appeared glum. “She’ll warm to me. You’ll see.”

Kazik caught Helena’s eye and winked. “Never take a girl for granted,” he advised the horse, who snorted. “It would do you good to settle down with a fine mare like her and start a family, but Iga’s standards are sky high. She’s no ordinary horse.”

Geoffroi approached Helena. “You’re a girl. Why doesn’t she like me? Does she think I’m too old? Maybe I’ve lost my edge.” Geoffroi heaved a deep hay-scented sigh in her ear.

“Be a good friend,” Helena said, “as in, treat her with respect, and maybe she’ll warm up to you, but she has a mind and will of her own. Maybe she prefers the clean-cut look to all that flowing hair . . . or maybe she wants a stallion who doesn’t expect every filly to adore him.”

Geoffroi seemed to freeze. The very concept of not being irresistible apparently blew his mind.

Chuckling, Helena left the golden horse to process her words while she ran into Kazik’s open arms. His lips tickled her ear as he murmured, “I dreamed of you too.”

“You heard me talking with Papa?”

He nodded. “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but that part of your conversation reached me. Was it your magic? Or mine? I sometimes can’t tell anymore.”

She nodded back, holding his warm gaze. “I can’t tell either. And I believe we’ve often shared our dreams.”

Kazik then turned to Papa, extending his right hand. “ Pan Hrabik, I must thank you for taking care of Helena. All those years, I somehow knew that wherever she was, she was safe.”

Papa gripped his hand. “Mama Hrabik and I believed she came to us as both a gift from above and a commission to fulfill.”

Kazik nodded. “Then, well done.”

“Well, well,” Papa huffed a bit, smiling. “Now, you two go ahead and talk your sweet nonsense.”

As their chaperone, Papa always gave them plenty of space to speak privately while they caught up on the five years they’d lost. “I think you’re a more powerful mage than you know,” Helena insisted.

“Geoffroi told me your mother is a sahira . She is always so pretty and quiet and kind and . . . well, nothing like I would imagine a great enchantress to look or behave.”

“She’s a beautiful person. And yet, my father .

. .” He sighed. “Mama and I never spoke of his flaws. We simply worked around them . . . around him . Which, Mama now admits, was a cowardly way to deal with a serious matter. Even as a child I felt estranged from him and his relatives. They never felt like my relatives.” He gave her a sneaky glance.

“Except when it came to draughts. On the checkerboard, I’m a ruthless military dictator. ”

“As long as you keep it on the checkerboard, we’re good,” Helena quipped.

He laughed, but again, thinking of his family sobered him quickly. “Now that you know, are you sure you want to marry a man from such a background?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She rose on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, claiming his hand. “I see no resemblance between you and your father other than your handsome appearance. Your lovely mother raised you to be kind, honest, courageous, and considerate, and I can see your solid choices and priorities.”

“Thank you for that,” he said.

“And, Kazik, none of us come from perfect families. My father is a good man who loves me, but he was a stressed and often grouchy father who made little time to spend with his only child. I barely remember my mother. Her old niania raised me, and you must remember how proud and self-centered I was. And so fearful. And then, five years ago, I was transplanted into a completely different life, language, and culture. In other words, I’m a mess too!

Are you sure you want to marry a woman with so many flaws? ”

“Yes, absolutely,” he answered with a grin, then pulled her into his arms for a kiss.

Until Papa Hrabik turned a chuckle into a cough. “Well, well, would you look at the sun! Must be about time for breakfast . . .”