her face after Isabelle’s death, and the tiny, subtle ways she’d tried to help, in her own, infuriating way. Aurora did not have to listen to her, not all the time. But she did need help. She needed someone who knew how to be queen. “All right,” she said. “Yes. Thank you.”
“I will begin preparations for the coronation,” Iris said. “It should be as soon as possible.”
There were words Aurora had heard before. Her stomach twisted. She could already feel the weight of the crown on her head, the responsibility, the restriction pushing her in.
She would not be afraid. She would do what needed to be done.
Aurora found Finnegan pacing the palace gardens. The flowers were in bloom now, an explosion of yellows and reds, and blossom had fallen from the trees, leaving a carpet of pink on the path.
“Your Majesty,” Finnegan said, when he saw her approach. “I suppose that is the proper way to address you now.”
“I’m not queen yet,” she said. “Not officially.”
“But you will be. Soon.”
“Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, I will be.” She sank onto a bench. The garden was quiet, no one there but Finnegan and her, but she could still feel the presence of her dragon, swooping over the city, its heartbeat next to her own.
Finnegan sat beside her. Aurora seized her necklace, almost on instinct, and looked up at the castle walls. The last time she had sat here, it had been with Rodric, her storybook open between them. She had told him she didn’t love him, the one thing she was never supposed to say. And now she was here again, in her castle, with a different prince, her emotions exposed and raw. With no idea what to do.
Finnegan shifted on the bench beside her, his shoulders tense. “So, are you going to marry Rodric now? Be with your true love?”
She laughed. It was inappropriate, she knew, but so ridiculous, that the all-knowing Finnegan was out of touch with her thoughts. “He is not my true love,” she said. “And no. No. I will be queen, I don’t have a choice in that, but if you think I’m marrying a boy because a prophecy told me so, you are very much mistaken. I’m rather tired of fate. Aren’t you?”
Finnegan grasped her hand. When he spoke, he almost sounded tentative. “There’s another choice, you know,” he said. “This isn’t what you want, Aurora. You don’t want to play princess. You don’t want to be queen. Come with me. Run, and leave all of this behind you. You did it before.”
“I can’t,” she said.
“You can. You can do anything you want.”
“And I want to be here.” She looked at him, only inches away, all uncertainty gone. If she had wishes, she would change all this, wash it all away so that she could kiss Finnegan and run and never look back. But she couldn’t. She had to fix her mistakes, to save the people around her. And she couldn’t do that from afar. “After,” she said, and she trailed off, uncertain of the words. “After this is all dealt with, then maybe . . .”
“After,” he said. “Right.” He looked away, staring at the few blossoms clinging to the nearby tree. “Is this the part where you ask me to leave, tell me you can’t be associated with me anymore?”
“What?” She tightened her hold on his hand. “No. Why would I say that?”
“Well, you have queenly duties to consider now. And as my mother has mentioned, I would make a terrible king.”
An insecure Finnegan. She almost laughed again. “You’re not going to be king of Alyssinia, Finnegan. That doesn’t mean I want you to leave. Who would I have to irritate me if you weren’t around?”
“I’m sure that Iris is up to the task.”
“Finnegan.” She pulled on his hand. “I thought you were smarter than that. I gave Celestine her powers back in order to save your life. Why would I send you away now?”
“Well,” he said. “It would be insane for you to do so. But it has been said about you.” He relaxed beside her. “It does make things more complicated, you realize, when you become queen. Especially considering your promise to my mother. I can’t go back to Vanhelm.”
She tightened her grip on his hand. “Why not?”
“My mother made it quite clear. I come back with that dragon heart, or I don’t come back at all.”
“But you’re heir to the throne.”
“I’m an heir. And my mother doesn’t exactly think I’m capable