Page 46 of Stolen Magic (All That Glitters #2)
Fiancé . Jealousy surged to hear her refer to the man I cared for so intimately.
Though the title was rightfully hers to claim, all the time Callan and I had spent together that allowed me to cherish him in ways she never had the chance to made it feel as if it belonged to me alone—I had known him longer and more deeply, even if he’d never known me for who I was.
But none of that mattered in the face of the treaty between their two kingdoms, and certainly not beside the quiet goodness they both carried that made them far more suited for one another—a perfect match that my crimes and selfishness could never hope to live up to.
Yet even though deep down I knew this, for a fleeting, possessive moment I wanted to undo the spell to take back the memories I’d only just returned.
She crumpled to her knees, clutching her head as the memories returned in a torrent of recollection. I knelt beside her, steadying her with trembling hands. “Breathe,” I murmured. “It’s alright. You’re safe.”
Tears filled her eyes as she looked up. “Lysa?” Her voice cracked with grief and confusion. “What’s going on? What happened to me?”
Recognition slowly returned as her lost gaze desperately searched my face, until she was no longer a goose girl but a princess awakening.
“Wait, I remember now. Did you—” The full recollection of my betrayal returned alongside her true identity. “You made me forget who I was and usurped me to marry into the Eldorian throne.”
Shame encompassed me. I ached to deny it, but penance demanded I take responsibility for all I’d done. “Yes,” I managed. “I betrayed you—the first friend who showed me kindness—and took what was never mine…and now I’m giving it back. I’m so sorry, Gwen.”
I unclasped the pendant I still wore that Callan had given her when they first met, the symbol of a life I had borrowed and broken.
I left the fleur-de-lis tucked under my bodice, not noble enough to surrender the token he had carved for me…
or at least it felt like it had been for me, even if he thought I was someone else.
I extended the jeweled pendant towards her, the heart-shaped token gleaming between us, symbolic of relinquishing his heart to someone far more deserving.
Silence settled between us as she stared at it, before her eyes slowly met mine. She studied me for a long moment, but to my surprise, she didn’t recoil or rage; she simply looked…sad. “Why did you impersonate me?”
“Because I thought it was the only way to reclaim what was stolen from me and from our kingdom,” I said, my voice raw. “But I was wrong. Taking someone else’s place doesn’t heal the wounds of the past—especially not at the cost of those I’ve come to care about most.”
Her face gentled. “Callan.”
I nodded, the ache sharp. “And you. I don’t expect forgiveness; I only want to do all in my power to make things right, to restore everything I took.
” Everything but the pieces of Callan’s heart that had become mine to cherish for the rest of my days, however few remained thanks to my crimes against the crown.
Approaching footsteps sounded, a stride I’d become as intimately familiar with as my own. My heart leapt in recognition of the one who possessed them before twisting painfully at the reminder of what I was about to lose.
Gwen heard them too and rose unsteadily, turning just as Callan stepped into the field, her eyes meeting the fiancé that truly belonged to her with recognition now fully restored.
Callan strode into the meadow, his eyes scanning the misty clearing until they found mine. The tension in his shoulders eased at once, and something soft bloomed in his expression, as though I was still someone worth seeking.
“Gwen.” He stepped closer, his gaze briefly flicking towards the real princess without recognition, before returning to me with his familiar warm smile. “I’ve been looking for you. I was hoping we could spend some time together.”
The real Gwen’s trembling fingers tightened around the pendant I had returned as she looked back and forth between us. “What happened between you two?”
The question struck deeper than I expected. My throat burned with all the things I couldn’t say. What had happened between us?
A bouquet of violets. A carved pendant. Arms enfolded around me after a nightmare. His fingers twining through mine. Sharing a cloak beneath the rain. A kiss that almost was. A courtship stitched together with lies and longing, but none of it belonged to me.
“I—” My voice broke. “It doesn’t matter now.” I couldn’t say more, not with him standing so near with that same tenderness in his eyes I had once dared to believe might last.…a look I was about to erase forever.
I turned away. It would be far easier to do what I knew must be done without his gentle gaze. For all my heart’s aching pleas, I knew what had to be done. I couldn’t falter…even though it would cost me everything.
This was the last act of my penance.
I reached deep inside for the final thread of magic I had once vowed to reclaim. My heart pounded in protest like a funeral drum as I stepped towards the prince I had come to love. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
His brows drew together in confusion. “For what?”
“For all of it.” I drew a quavering breath, reaching for my second spell.
Gwen took a step towards me, as though concerned what magic I was about to cast on her fiancé. “Lysa?”
Callan turned to me, puzzled. “Lysa?”
I swallowed, momentarily unable to speak as I stared into his dear face, wishing more than anything to keep what had formed between us.
“Yes,” I finally whispered. “My name is Lysa.” Though he wouldn’t remember it anymore than he remembered me, I was grateful to share this piece of my true identity with him at last.
“Lysa,” Callan said again, still not comprehending, but clearly sensing my distress as he drew close.
My heart ached to hear him finally say my real name, pain that only grew when he slowly reached out to brush his fingers against my cheek, a gesture so gentle it nearly undid me completely.
With a wavering breath, I whispered the incantation.
Magic flared—not with spectacle, but with quiet finality.
A soft golden shimmer, like the last light before dusk, spiraled towards him.
Callan stiffened as the spell took hold.
His eyes glazed, unfocused, as the memory of all we’d built began to unravel—every look, every word, every step towards something real, slipping from his mind like a dream forgotten at dawn.
I watched through my tears as the warmth in his gaze dimmed. The recognition faded first, then the softness as confusion slowly took its place. He blinked, and when his eyes refocused, he looked at me like a stranger.
I bit back a sob. This was what I had chosen—to erase myself from his story so my friend could take her rightful place, so he would no longer be forced to carry the weight of my lies, so that I could become someone better than the girl who had once believed vengeance was the only path.
I had come seeking magic. Instead, I had spent it all on something as fleeting as love… yet it was enough.
I turned to Gwen, who watched me with a mixture of confusion and sympathy mingling in her expression. “Take back your place,” I said hoarsely. “He won’t remember our courtship. Not anymore.”
She nodded slowly and stepped forward, tentative hope in her gaze as she studied his face, waiting in anticipation for the recognition that belonged to her alone.
At first there was only confusion as Callan stared at the princess, but gradually a soft smile caressed his lips. “Gwen.”
I hadn’t prepared myself for the pain that wrenched my heart upon hearing him speak the name I had borrowed, to see him look at her the way he had once looked at me, to watch him offer the smile that had once been mine.
I looked past them, eyes lifting towards the sun setting against the horizon, symbolic of my own ending; the sinking sun burned pale gold beyond the meadow, its light blurring through mist and tears.
I didn’t know what came next, only that I needed to become someone who no longer allowed grief and bitterness to morph me into someone unrecognizable, who could fight for magic without stealing it, and who would choose to help rather than hurt others.
The ache in my chest threatened to break me as I turned away, stripped of disguise, of power, of love…
but perhaps for the first time on the path to finally becoming whole.
Though I knew I had done the right thing, it still hurt.
But maybe that was part of the cost of all the hurt I’d caused—the penance for every lie, every selfish choice, every heart I’d broken.
After all, villains didn’t deserve happily ever afters…but maybe they could still earn a second chance.