The Last Princess

Chapter 90

A primal yell distracted us. I turned to see Branch, staring with something beyond horror or shock at the body of his son. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes narrowed, like his brain was still catching up with the course of events.

Finally his eyes lifted from Forreston to me. He glared, and I could see the fire in revenge burning behind those eyes, like the only thing he was living for. Of course he felt like that. His son and love had died because of me.

I took a step back inadvertently, and he snarled, "This is all your fault." He ran at me. Though my swords were in my hands, my arms felt like lead, and I couldn't move them. I didn't need to. He was a foot from me when Aiden put his body between him and me, catching the strike on one dagger, his other scattered on the floor nearby.

I saw a bead of sweat trickling down Aiden's face as he gritted his teeth, holding Branch off. My feet move before I could realize it, and I was sprinting across the room, ignoring the pain in my side. I grabbed his dagger.

"Aiden!" I shouted, catching his attention. He glanced at me for a brief second, and everything happened at once. I threw the dagger. It hurtled toward him as if in slow motion as his hand reached for it. Branch whirled around, ready to deliver his next blow. The dagger fell into his outstretched palm, he caught Branch's strike with one dagger, and with the one I had just thrown at him, he slashed his throat open.

Branch choked and fell to the floor.

It had all been that quick.

For a moment, we were all silent. I stared at the corpses of father and son, lying on the floor. Forreston I couldn't blame. He'd been made what he was by his parents, using him as a tool for revenge. But Branch? Branch had loved Ivy. That much I couldn't deny. But he hadn't loved her in the way you should love someone. He'd driven her further to the edge of insanity, encouraged her in her quest for revenge. He hadn't ever tried to calm her down reason with her or tell her where she was going wrong. He'd used her without meaning to, finally getting revenge on Rowan for stealing Ivy from him.

Finally the silence broke. "Elvina, are you okay?" Aiden breathed. I looked at him and saw his gaze on the wound on my side. Blood had seeped through the fabric of my dress, spreading out and making it look worse than it really was. "It's alright, I'm fine." I said, though it was throbbing badly. He didn't look too well himself. Well, we all looked the worse for wear.

"The rebels!" Maple said suddenly. I realized what she was talking about. Outside, the rebels were still fighting. They hadn't broken in yet, given how the palace was relatively quiet. I met Aiden's eyes. "Let's go." He said.

We snatched up our weapons, and Arden opened the doors- to two elves. Their faces registered shock, especially when they saw the corpses behind us. "Princess Elvina!" The taller one said breathlessly. They both curtseyed.

Maple and I stared in shock at Begonia and Celosia Waratah. It was dark, because of the eclipse, but it was definitely them. "Begonia? Celosia?" Maple asked. They glanced at each other. "You know us?" Celosia asked. "We were Tulip and Calla Wisteria." I said. They still looked shocked. "What are you doing here?" Maple asked. "Are you...rebels?" Aiden asked. Begonia nodded. I looked at Maple. Their manner was completely different, too, now. I had never thought of them as rebels.

"You're the rebels?" Maple echoed. Celosia tilted her head from side to side. "Well, yes. Our backstory is true as well. And we're both incredible actors, and so they sent us." "The King? And the Queen Mother and Sir Branch?" Begonia asked, clearly wanting to stay on track.

"The King and Sir Branch are dead." Arden said. They all looked at me. I realized I hadn't told them anything about my last vision. "Ivy is...gone." I said. It didn't feel right to use the word. She wasn't really dead, and she wasn't gone. I knew her spirit remained with the Forest, like the rest of my family's.

"Then let's go outside! Come on!" Celosia cried. We raced for the doors. "Wait." I said. They looked at me, and I nodded. I took them up the stairs, to a different pathway, one I knew well.

I opened the doors, and we stood on the platform where, so long ago, Ivy had announced Forreston was to be crowned King. The cherry blossom trees were familiar, but the throne was gone. Though we had used it that day for a relatively small gathering, the place faced the doors, and beyond that I could see fighting.

"Everyone, STOP!" Begonia yelled. Her voice came out unnaturally loud, like it was coming from every tree. The fighting topped abruptly, and I could see faces looking up at us. Begonia turned to me. "I used the Forest to amplify my voice. You can do the same." 

I nodded at her, my stomach squeezing, though not from my wound. I stepped ahead, and imagined my voice coming from all the trees. "Fellow elves." I started, my voice indeed reaching the soldiers and rebels alike.

I didn't look back at the others. This was my task. I was technically now Queen, and it was my duty to stop the fighting and bring about peace in our Forest. So I continued.

"I am Princess Elvina. Your Princess, Princess of the Forest. And I am here to tell you that the King- and the Queen Mother- are dead." Even from here I could hear them muttering, gasping, exclaiming- but they quieted down, and I continued. "I am now the rightful Queen of this Forest. And I order all my soldiers to lay down arms. And as for the rebels, I have been with you. I will look out for your interests as well."

"I know that all of you have faced many injustices under the previous rule. But I'm here to turn over a new leaf, bring our Forest back to a reign of peace. And I am here to listen to your grievances and solve them to the best of my capability. I know it will be hard, to forge peace after so many years of fighting. But the fighting has to stop. And I know, with your trust, we can sail into a forever of glorious harmony, for we are the elves of our Forest and we cannot be stopped!"

I paused. Silence hung like a shroud over the Forest. I didn't dare look anywhere but at the elves below me. And suddenly they all broke into resounding cheers, and just then, the Sun broke free of the Moon.

Aiden tackled me, pulling me onto the ground, forcing my eyes closed. The cherry blossom petal rained softly down upon us, and I felt red light burning on my closed eyelids, the promise of peace settling lightly over our Forest, hope searing through all of us.

And I knew the eclipse was over.