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Evelina

Five years later

Days bled into years. Evelina gently combed her daughter’s hair, which was so long that it brushed her waist. The sun streamed through the window and warmed her skin. It was times like these that reminded her to thank Eurydice for the precious daughters she had been given. Even in all her anguish and years of grieving, she still had them.

They were the thing that kept her afloat, a lifeline to which she desperately clung.

More than grief, Evelina also had regrets. She often thought about Lawrence. All she could hope was that he had found happiness over the border in Crea.

There were so many mistakes she had made in her life that it was hard to keep track. But being Leda and Lunaria’s mother was something she was certain she had done right.

She tried to trust in simply moving forward. But fear still prickled at the edges of her smiles. She had grown accustomed to losing the things she loved most. Fate had a pattern of giving her happiness, only to snatch it away. Deep down, she always felt as if her good days were numbered .

“Mommy?” Evelina felt a tug on her sleeve. “Are you playing pretend without me?”

Evelina laughed. “No, my love. I was thinking.”

The little girl twisted around fully and looked up at her. Long lashes brushed her cheeks as they fanned out over big hazel eyes. She reached up and took her mother’s face in her palms. Her tiny brows bunched together. With a voice far older than a five-year-old’s should sound, she said, “Stop thinking so much.”

“What do you propose I do instead?” Evelina laughed and pulled her in close.

Lunaria was different from her sister, wanting to explore everything. Evelina couldn’t keep her out of any room in the palace or any garden nearby.

“Let’s play in the glade!”

Leda snorted behind them from where she sat beneath the window. She skimmed through a book, a knowing smirk on her face.

Evelina smiled down at her younger daughter—wild and filled with life. The sadness that stayed bound around her heart lessened.

“How about you go with Leda today?” she whispered gently. “Annora and I are visiting Viridian this afternoon.”

Her daughter’s wide eyes swung to her sister. “Will you?” she squealed as she scrambled off Evelina’s lap and over to Leda’s side. She wrapped her tiny hands around Leda’s leg, pleading.

Leda grumbled, but there was a small twitch of her lips turning up at the corners. “Only until sundown,” she muttered.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth did her little sister squeal once more and take her hand in hers. Lunaria’s head barely reached Leda’s hip as she smiled a lopsided, toothy grin, pulling her toward the door, eager to go play in the grove.

Evelina smiled as she watched Leda begrudgingly move. Leda had a hard exterior, but there was a reserved softness she had only for her younger sister .

“Come on, Leda!” Lunaria stretched out her name to make it sound like it had five extra syllables.

Leda laughed, letting her sister drag her out of the room.

Evelina’s eyes crinkled at the corners from the smile that stretched across her face.

“We’ll be back this evening,” Leda tossed over her shoulder. They’d reached the doors.

The sadness that plagued Evelina’s chest thawed for several beats as she watched them, hand in hand. “I’ll see you girls tonight.”

But Lunaria paused, releasing Leda’s hand. Her mouth quirked to the side and she flew across the room toward Evelina. She launched herself into her mother’s lap, wrapping her small arms around her neck. “Love you, Momma,” she whispered.

Evelina’s chest warmed further as she squeezed her daughter back. She reached up and adjusted the medallion on her necklace, smiling at how it always seemed to get turned around or tangled in her hair.

“I love you always, Lunaria,” Evelina replied. “Now go play before you lose daylight.”

Lunaria squeezed her one last time before bounding over to Leda.

If this could be her life forever, it would have all been worth it. If she could just keep these two safe, that was all that mattered. Even as she watched Lunaria tuck her hand into Leda’s and they walked out, she knew her kingdom was safe now.

In life, she had faced so much darkness—but in truth, it had only ever strengthened her light. She saw that in Leda and Lunaria. Where Leda saved her broken soul after the wedding and the losses during the split of the empire, Lunaria was her lifeline in the years following the pain of being without Daimon. She even saw a new strength in herself after all that she had lost. There was hope that still blossomed within her, a ray of light that broke through her deepest pain.

Still, not a day passed that she didn’t think of Daimon. She would be eternally grateful that, no matter what pain lingered inside of her now, she would always feel lucky to have loved him. Especially to be loved by him. She and Daimon had found their soulbonded, had experienced a love that felt like basking in the light of Eurydice. A love she could never forget.

Even if Evelina couldn’t dream of her happy ending now, maybe she would someday. And it would all have been worth it—because one day, she would dream again.