far lower than it had been the last time I'd been awake. Instead, it now reached almost to my collarbone. I tried to recall something—anything that might have led to the dress or the hair change—but I could hardly remember anything at all aside from the last image I'd seen right before I'd passed out. Tyr's cold, dead eyes staring me in the face. A brilliant white light. The Lanuaet exploding over my body.
What in the name of Coreliath had happened?
More footsteps sounded outside of the chamber and I groaned again, not ready to face another contingent of confused, screamy maids. "Please, just—" I stopped as I turned towards the doorway. It wasn't a maid. It was Nellie.
She looked … different. Her face was smoother, her hair pulled up into an elegant chignon that made her appear older. Her shabby peasant girl dresses that she normally wore were replaced with a fabric that was such a deep burgundy that it resembled expensive wine.
"Cress?" Her voice shook as she entered the room. "It's really … I mean, you're really awake. You're here. You're alive."
"Yeah?" I arched a brow even as I wavered on my feet. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Y-you've been asleep for weeks," she confessed. Tears formed in her eyes. "I didn't know if you'd ever wake up again. None of us did."
"I was?" I blinked at her for a moment before scanning the room. "Where are the guys?" I asked.
"They're being informed," she replied. "I just needed..." She sniffed as the tears came crashing down and suddenly she was in front of me. Nellie's arms wrapped around me and she clutched onto me as she sobbed. "Oh, Cress, I thought we'd lost you."
I didn't know what to say, but when your best friend held you like she was afraid you'd disappear, crying her eyes out, there was only one thing to do—you hugged her back.
"I'm okay," I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her slightly shorter frame. "I'm alive. I'm here."
"You stupid," she sniffed. "Arrogant. Dumb. Selfish." Nellie pulled back and punched me in the arm. "Don't ever do something that stupid!" she screamed.
"Ow!" I rubbed the place she had hit. "What'd I do?"
"You almost got yourself killed!" she yelled. "Just because I was trapped inside that ice thingy doesn't mean I wasn't aware of what was going on! I saw what you did. You almost—" She broke off and for a brief moment, I was honestly worried that I'd survived Tyr's murder attempt only to be killed by my very own best friend. She looked ready to strangle me. "You almost died, Cress. You scared the Gods damned shit out of me."
My eyes widened. "You don't curse," I blurted.
She shot me a glare. "I do when my best friend is being stupid," she snapped back.
"Hey," I replied, "be nice to me, I saved your butt."
There was a brief moment of silence and then she sniffed again. "You did, Cress. You really did."
"So, that's it then?" I asked. "Tyr's dead. The King's dead. The war is over?"
"The war is over," she agreed with a nod.
I remembered what the maid had said just before bolting out of the chamber. "And you're the Queen now?" I asked.
A light flush touched her cheeks. "Not yet," she confessed. "They call me that—it was … there was a lot that happened after your men woke up—the dark one, Orion, had to be healed, and they helped me explain things and convince the rest of Amnestia's army and nobles. I wanted to wait, though, to be crowned until … well, until you woke up."
I sagged back onto the bed, my butt hitting the mattress and sinking down. "It's over." I said the words more for my own ears than hers. I just couldn't believe it. Exactly what we wanted. The war was over. Nellie was now the Queen—or would be very soon. It had worked. It was finally…
Tears pricked at my eyes and I lifted my gaze to Nellie's. Before I could say a word, however, there was a loud bang at the doorway and three men crashed into the room. Their eyes wild. Their bodies tense. And then they saw me.
Alive. Awake. And crying my eyes out like a blubbering baby. Nel smiled at me. "I'll give you some time," she said. "But now that you're awake, I hope you'll come to my ceremony. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. None of us would."