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stuck my free hand into the ground. Just like the last time, soil that started off hard and ungiving soon grew soft and warm. My hand sank into the earth, and I was welcomed, as though someone were clasping my hand in return. Warmth filled my body, a comforting warmth very different from the crown's searing heat. I closed my eyes, striving to stay with that connection, to show I was worthy. Part of me was already given over to the Thorn Land. I had to fight to claim this land as well.

Then, I felt it.... I felt the land accept me. And as it did, the ground began to shake. At first, I thought it was just some aftereffect of the magic, but then I remembered what had happened when the Thorn Land had bound itself to me. The land took on the form that spoke to my soul, that was natural and right to me. Aeson's former kingdom had shaped itself into the Sonora Desert, the land of my birth. The Rowan Land was trying to do the same thing.

No, no! Not again. A semi-tropical kingdom transforming into a desert had wreaked havoc on its residents. We'd faced starvation, drought, poverty.... It was only recently that the kingdom had gotten on its feet again, becoming prosperous and self-sustaining. I wouldn't go through that again. Frantically, I tried to think of some other form. But what? I hardly ever left the southwestern United States. A quick image of the Catalina mountains flashed into my mind, the slopes snowy and pine-covered like the day Kiyo and I had fought the demon. I could feel the land start to grip that picture, and I yanked it away. This kingdom had some small mountains, but that was a tiny percentage of its terrain. I couldn't turn this place into Switzerland or Nepal.

Stay the same, stay the same, I begged the land. For the sake of its occupants, I needed the landscape to remain unchanged. It was difficult, though. The land wanted to bond to me, to what was ingrained within my soul. Thinking back to the journey here, I tried to picture the rows and rows of cherry trees along the road. I remembered the sun shining through other deciduous trees and flowers growing in clusters. I thought about the stretch of rowan trees. Stay the same, stay the same.

Gradually, the earth around me began to slow its shaking and finally stop - except for one spot. Not far from where I rested my hand, the ground cracked open and leaves and branches burst through. I scurried back, watching in as much awe as I had the first time a magical tree burst forth, growing and unfurling its leaves to full-size in seconds. I held my breath, wondering what it would be, this tree that dictated my new kingdom's nature.

It was ... a rowan tree.

I wasn't the only one who thought this was weird. "Didn't you claim it?" asked Jasmine, puzzled. I rose to my feet beside her, brushing dust off of my jeans.

"I ..." Had I? That was a rowan tree, making this - by all Otherworldly reasoning - the Rowan Land. Which is what it had been already. Maybe it hadn't worked. Maybe the crown hadn't done what I expected it to. Maybe Katrice had won it back somehow.

But, no. There it was. I felt it. The land. The earth. The rocks. Every leaf and flower. The scents, the colors ... they were all sharper and more intense. If I opened myself up, I could feel every single piece of this land. It hummed. It buzzed. The energy was dizzying, and I forced myself to shut it out for a moment.

"No," I told Jasmine, wonderingly. "It's mine." I stared at the rowan tree, more perfect than any real one could be, its orange-colored berries bright against green leaves swaying in the breeze. I reached out and stroked one of the leaves, vaguely aware of Katrice still sobbing. A tingle of power ran through me. "It's still the Rowan Land ... except, it's my Rowan Land."

Things were a little awkward after that.

The soldiers were no longer trying to imprison me, but they also weren't ready to jump at my every order. My companions were of little use. Imanuelle, per her nature, was content to sit back and watch the mess I'd stumbled into. Kiyo wore a disapproving look on his face, and I feared I'd have a lecture coming later. Jasmine