at him in fulminous realization. He glanced at me and I shrugged. I’d warned him not to make cavalier promises to a wizard. “You can’t make me forgive you,” he shouted, swinging back on Ambrose.
The wizard held up his palms, sorrow in his face. “We don’t ask forgiveness. Only your forbearance.” He looked to me, nodding in confirmation that they’d asked the same of me.
“What will you do now?” I asked.
Ambrose and Merle exchanged a long look, the raven cawing softly. Ambrose nodded. “Our erstwhile colleagues are fled, but not destroyed. We have much to do.” The air folded around him, and he manifested in a green robe, looking young, his staff topped by the emerald. Merle flew to it. “We’ll see you again someday, Euthalia, Conrí.”
“Don’t count on it,” Con grumbled. I lifted a hand, able to see the threads of their transmutation to another reality … until they were cut off, and Merle and Ambrose were gone.
Con turned down the steps, kicking and picking through the treasure, looking for something. I knew what it was—perhaps they all guessed, for everyone waited patiently. At last he bent down and retrieved a crown, glittering with fat rubies.
“The crown of Oriel,” I said on a sigh.
He nodded, grief and satisfaction giving him an almost relaxed mien. “Let’s find yours.”
I shook my head, indicating the crown I wore. “I have one. I don’t need more than this.”
“We’ll catalog everything,” Agatha said, surveying the immensity of the job with some dismay. “As Your Highness restores the other bloodlines to their lands, they’ll be wanting their crowns—and no doubt funding to rebuild.”
“Good thinking,” I told her. “We’ll stay in communication?”
“Of course.” Agatha studied the pile. “I suppose mine is there too, somewhere.”
“Do you want help looking?” Sondra offered.
“No.” Agatha gave us a sad smile. “I think I need some time alone, to … equilibrate.”
Nodding in understanding, I inclined my head. “Best of luck. Call on Me for anything at all. I still owe You a boon.”
She spread her hands at the ruined throne room. “This is more than enough, Your Highness. You’ve given Me something I never thought to have again.” Emotion threaded through her voice.
Having known the agony of separation from Calanthe, I understood. “This was Your due. And You won’t have an easy road ahead. You’ll think of something You need. When You do, ask.”
“Thank You, Euthalia.”
I smiled at the sound of my name from her. My peer and companion. Con cocked his head at the exit. “Ready to leave this place?”
Yes. Yes, I was.
25
The Emperor’s Pet had set sail as soon as Sondra and Agatha had bolted for the citadel to rescue us—at least Kara and Brenda followed Lia’s orders—so we went to the Last Resort. The citadel and harbor were in utter chaos, and Percy sailed us out of the harbor with little trouble and all speed. Vesno and Sondra stood with Percy at the wheel, leaving Lia and me to recline on the couch under the awning. Already the smoke was clearing from the sky, the vurgsten on the walls petering out into wisps without the wizards to sustain the blaze.
For a while we just held each other—and I wondered if she was as surprised as I to be with me, in the flesh. “You’re really here,” I finally said.
“Apparently so,” she replied in a dry tone.
“And what exactly aren’t you wearing?” I asked, tracing her warm, velvety skin between two cool, diamond-studded chains.
“I needed to put on a show, just in case I didn’t have access to magic when I arrived,” she answered. “I wasn’t at all sure how it would go, as I’d never tried that before.”
“Then you didn’t have a plan.” I made sure to look shocked and horrified. “Tell me it’s not so!”
“I was improvising,” she confided, then laughed. “Can you believe it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t even know what you did. How are you here—and with Calanthe’s magic?”
“The orchid ring,” she replied, eyes dancing. “It allows Me to connect to Calanthe—to preserve My roots there—no matter where I might go. I didn’t know how to do it before, but I do now.”
“Then you can survive anywhere?” I said, realization dawning.
She followed my thinking easily. “For short times, anyway. I can’t live on My own, but I bring Calanthe with Me. Con … I know what you’re thinking, but I’ll still have to spend most of My time on Calanthe. Besides, it’s My sacred—”
“Duty,” I finished for her.
“Love and responsibility,” she corrected. “I