We had so little choice in our lives, beginning when we were born, where and to whom. We didn't get to choose the joy and tragedies, the pain and the love. The only choice we had now, in this moment, was to take the path we wanted for ourselves and make it our own.
I smiled at the woman who stared back at me from the mirror. She was a far cry from the girl who refused to be the king's bride and fell in love with the cursed prince. She became the woman who braved the forest and mountains and made it across the river, who blazed against the curse and darkness and evil, who saw beyond what the eyes could see.
She was the Queen, yet she was still me.
But beneath the layers of strength and armour, beneath the cosmetics and pretty dresses, when peeled away, I knew I'd find my old self—the one who cried and panicked and loved so fiercely that even the night sky shook in admiration. For now, she had to remain inside, locked away, until the day came that she could hold onto it again.
For Amaris. For Draco. For Veluinia. For myself.
Music rose up to the balcony of my chambers from the courtyard where the Yulemas ball resumed. Everyone in Veluinia was invited, regardless of their stature, to celebrate the day of the gods.
The midnight wind bit my cheeks. I pulled my cloak around me tighter. The balcony provided an unobstructed view of the night sky. I found him among the trove of blinking diamonds, a promise immortalised in the stars. The night I lost him, a new cluster of stars appeared in the night sky. I connected the dots, forming a dragon, and every night since then, I found myself looking up, searching for that new constellation. I was the moon anticipating the return of the starlight the way he disappeared at sunrise. He was the whisper of possibility in the midst of disaster.
And she was the positivity that rose from the horizon to bring into this world. Since that morning, I looked to the distant edge of the firmament, awaiting the light that drove the night. Summer sprung from her smiles and even in the autumnal throes of winter, my world was never cold in the daylight.
All I had to do was look up to remind myself that I was never alone, that they accompanied me every step of the way as I led Veluinia and lived my life.
As I turned away from the balcony, the rustle of the curtains called me back. The world had gone silent. The ancient, ageless drum in my chest began beating. Louder. Faster. In time with the beating of the heart of the man who stood before me.
"You're back." My voice was barely audible.
He closed the distance between us in two large strides. Sapphires of the bluest shade met my emeralds.
"I told you." His voice was just as I remembered it—like velvet, with a rough edge. "The heavens will only break us apart for so long until I find my way back to you. Even just for tonight."
The fire in my heart leapt in joy. "Even just for tonight," I echoed.