“No!” I jumped up.
Minaut was restrained immediately.
“Order,” Sentinel Howard said.
“They are innocent!” I yelled at her.
“Marick,” my father said.
“They didn’t know—we didn’t know,” I begged, tears in my eyes.
“As Sentinels, we need to be just and fair, Prince Marick.”
“Then take me. Punish me. Not my kids. Not my wife.”
“Marick!” my mom yelled.
“I can’t and won’t live without them. Kill me.” I walked to the front and fell on my knees begging them. I could hear my family’s sobs.
“No, Dad.” Eva sobbed.
“Marick, please,” Danielle begged.
My dad sobbed too. He knew there was no way to talk me out of this.
“Please, Howard Sentinel, I beg you,” my father said. She focused her attention on me.
“You would die, the prince of the witches?” another Sentinel asked. “For all of them?”
“In a heartbeat,” I said.
Sentinel Howard laughed balefully. She was pure evil. “No, I’m not going to kill the prince of the witches. You’re not on trial here, Marick.”
The wind behind her began to blow as she spoke to me.
“I don’t care. Take me. I’m giving my life for their mistakes!” I yelled back. “I’ll take their punishment!”
The wind blew stronger.
“You did nothing wrong. This is ludicrous. Sit down. My answer is no.”
An electric spark hit the ceiling and everyone shrieked. Sentinel Howard glared at me before she looked around the room. She thinks I’m doing this.
“You’re not going to kill my family!” I screamed at her. “Take me!” I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
The doors creaked opened. Everything fell quiet at once, then everyone gasped. An old woman entered. Who the hell is that? I thought.
I glanced back at the Sentinels. They stared at her in horror before they gasped and bowed their heads. Everyone else bowed.
It can’t be her. She’s a myth.
She sauntered up to me and bent down to look me in the eyes. Her eyes were filled with storms, hurricanes, a tinge of the vanes of trees, and fire.
My breath caught in my throat. No, it can’t be.
“Marick Young, your love and your heart have brought me here today,” she said. “Your sacrifice has awoken a magic I can’t control.”
She smiled as her hands danced in the air forming a small ball of light. Each witch and warlock gaped at the glowing orb. The light grew and grew.
What is she doing?
“Minaut,” the old woman said as if she knew our wisp. Minaut broke free from her guards and bounded over to her. She rubbed her body against the old woman as if she was made of pure catnip. The old woman laughed. I could only watch.
“Would you do me the honor?” she said, and Minaut pushed her nose into the bright light which grew bigger and bigger in front of me.
When the light finally disappeared, another wisp was standing in front of Minaut. She pounced on him and licked him as if they were the oldest of friends. Danny was laughing through her tears.
I didn’t understand any of it.
The woman laughed and ruffled the fur of each wisp’s head.
“The wisp is returned to their family as they were not properly executed. Were you really going to execute a mind reader and a Dream Weaver, not to mention the wisp? I’m disappointed in you all. Your hearts are clouded, and I will have a meeting with my father.”
“I’m sorry, Mother Nature.”
Everyone gasped, including me.
“What’s done is done. No execution will take place. My verdict is final. I know the hearts of this family are pure and they are innocent. My verdict will be lighter. Danielle, when you are ready, the new Sentinels will need your help from time to time. It’s all I ask.” She smiled. “Assist them in matters when needed. Your gift is rare and precious, a lot like mine. Eva, Dream Weavers are a rare gift. I would like you to learn how to use it to the fullest when you come of age with the Sentinels. Then it’s done. Welcome home,” she said. When she disappeared, the Sentinels disappeared too.
I was still on my knees, shocked out of my mind.
Jarring me out of shock, Joshua’s and Emile’s bodies connected hard with mine. I held them tight as we just cried. I kissed them so many times.
Eva squirmed into the group hug.
Sebastian came over. He laughed. “Mother freaking Nature!” he yelled. “You did it, Marick.”
I held my kids tighter, crying tears of pure joy and relief.
“I’m so sorry.”
I heard Danielle, and I pulled her in to kiss her. I didn’t care if she was going to pull away. She was alive. I was alive. The kids were alive.
Danielle broke the kiss. “You know what you did here tonight?” she asked.
“Saved your lives. I don’t care about the rest, Danielle. I never did.”
She hugged me tight.
“You brought back Minaut’s brother, Marick.”
“What?”
“That is our family wisp, Philip,” she said.
I looked over my shoulder at the second wisp standing next to Minaut. She was still licking him. She saw me looking at her and pounced on top of us.
Danny held her sides from laughing so hard as Minaut lick my face. “She said thank you,” Danny managed to say through her laughter.
“Okay, you giant cat, get off us.” I gently pushed her off.
She jumped off and then took Philip over to Danielle. Danielle bowed her head. Philip bowed back before Minaut took him to Liz.
“I need to go translate,” Danielle said and got up. She headed over to her mother and made the introduction. I got to my feet and followed.
“He’s mine?” Liz asked.
“He belongs with our bloodline, Mom. Take care of him please. His name is Philip.”
Danielle bowed again, and Philip responded with a bow.
My father came over and hugged me tight. “I’m so proud of you son.”
“They are my family, Dad. I can’t—”
“You surprised me, Marick. I hope Morganna will return the same as you did.”
I huffed. “I almost feel sorry for her.”
“I’m thinking of making her punishment two years.”
I shook my head. “I don’t care. You do what you need to. My family is alive and well, Dad.”
“They are, and Mother Nature welcomed them home, which means you never married a human, Marick. Her bloodline is of a witch, and I’m sure if they did rule, you would’ve ended up anyway with her down the line.”
I frown. “What are you saying?”
“I’m old and tired, Marick. The throne is yours.”
I lost my balance.
“Long live the king,” my father said, and everyone gasped. My father smiled at me.
I was going to become the king.
Chapter 19
DANIELLE
* * *
The next few weeks were crazy.
The throne was reinstated back to Marick. His coronation was coming up.
The palace was buzzing with people who held meetings with him and Eli daily. Witches from everywhere were going to come. It was a big deal.
And my ability was still nowhere to be found. I could only hear Minaut’s voice.
Eric left with his family to live in their new home, but we saw Sebastian every day.
The kids stayed home from school for a month because of what we went through as a family. Plus, Joshua was going to become the crown prince again. He was almost just as busy as Eli and Marick getting everything in order.
As busy as Marick was, every night, he would come over to persuade me not to go too deep into the darkness. It seemed tedious, but it worked. I always fell asleep faster than the previous night, and I woke up in my bed the next morning next to Minaut.
Marick would die for u
s, and to be honest, the trial was the moment I went head over heels for him.
I don’t know why I believed that he loved Shania more than he loved me. I thought he would never speak to me again, but his dad revealed so many things during the trial, like how hard and bad it was for Marick the past ten years without me.
I just wish I could remember him from before.
That night, a knock came at my door, and my stomach fluttered. Marick let himself in.
He was so busy that we hardly saw him, and I seriously counted down to the time when he normally knocked on my door.
He smiled. “Since I’m going to be king—”
“—Something you deserve,” I said.
“—The council has decided that the queen can’t be without her memories.”
I gasped. “You serious?” I jumped from the bed.
“They are busy making the potion as we speak, Danny. It will take a year, but you will get your memories back.”
I jumped into his arms. “Thank you, Marick.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Wait.” I pushed him away. “I’m really going to be the queen?”
Marick laughed. “Well you are still married to me, so yes, you automatically will become the queen.”
“I’m not ready for this, Marick.” I couldn’t hide the shock from my voice.
“Calm down. My mom will teach you, Danny. Your coronation will only happen when you are ready.” He kissed my lips again. We were doing that often now, but I still struggle to just lose myself with him.
“I can’t wait,” I said, breaking the kiss.
“I can’t wait either. We will know everything Danny, everything that happened to you.” He paused and wiggled his eyebrows. “You ready for my gift? Some deep, dark-less, sleep?”
I laughed the way he said it. He looked around.
“What are you looking for?”
“Minaut. I know she usually comments on my cheesy lines.”
I laughed. “No, she’s not here, but I definitely heard her comeback in my head.”
“She with Philip?”
I nodded. “I owe her that. She hasn’t seen him in an awfully long time. You know, she isn’t done thanking you yet.”
“Please tell her to stop. Philip was really just the bonus.”
I gave him another kiss, a little bit deeper this time. I want to take it further with him and decided to just not think tonight. The kissing became wilder. He tangled his hands into my hair. Lifting me up, he carried me bridal style over to the bed and laid me on top of it gently.
I instinctively spread apart my legs, surprising when I did.
He pushed him against me softly, and I moaned a few times until the images of him turn into a vision of Brolin. Stop it Danielle! That didn’t happen to you. This is Marick, I told myself, trying to push the images out of my mind, but I couldn’t and ended up in tears.
Marick stopped. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, I am.” I sat back up.
“Danielle, it’s okay,” he said and pulled me in for a hug.
“It’s not okay, Marick.” I sniffled. “I want to do this so badly but every single time, even though I tell myself it didn’t happen, I see that monster. Persuade me.”
“I’m not going to do that. I love you too much.”
“What if it’s never going to be okay?”
“A year isn’t that long, Danielle.”
“It’s fucking long, Marick,” I scolded him.
“You’re going to put five dollars in the swearing jar.”
I laughed through my tears. Marick laughed too, kissing me again.
“I love you, Danny. I can wait a year. It’s not the end of my world.”
“I hate this fucking potion. And I don’t care about the five dollars.”
“Well, it’s ten now.”
I laughed again.
“You ready for my gift now?”
I nodded, and he looked into my eyes and started the intonation. I went into a trance, and then I felt sleepy. Finally, everything shut down.
The day of the coronation finally came. It was being held at some sort of a cathedral. It was stunning and the seats were all packed. Everyone who was a witch was here.
There were people sitting in rows stack against the walls on all sides to the ceiling roof, looking down on this event. There were an aisle and seating on each side of the isle from the front to back.
The most beautiful flowers arrangements were everywhere, some bigger than me. A tree was right in the front of the building—it wasn’t there yesterday.
The place was packed, and the kids sat with me and the rest of the family in the first row.
“There are so many people here,” Eva said sounding scared.
“Eva, you can do this,” I said to her. “We practiced a lot with Grandma and Grandpa.”
My mother brought Philip. Minaut and Philip both sat on royal pillows as Philip was still a royal wisp.
“Why do they sit so straight?” Eva grumbled.
“It’s who they are, sweetheart. Filled with pride. It’s an honorable day for them.”
“Danielle—sorry, Mom.”
I held up a hand to stop her. “You can call me Danielle as long as you want.”
She smiled and hugged me tight. “It’s not that I don’t want to call you that. It’s just weird.”
“I know it is, sweetheart,” I said and kissed her on top of her head. Just eleven more months, and then all of this will be sorted.
I found a brut of a man on the upper level staring blatantly at me.
He smiled and bowed his head as he saw me.
I smiled back and reached over to Mila who sat closest to me.
“Who is that in the upper row?”
Her eyes darted up and she smiled. She bowed her head to him, and he bowed back.
“That’s Heicko, the Alpha of the wolves.”
“The werewolves?”
Two werewolves in the upper row chuckled to each other.
“Careful, Danielle. They have exceptional hearing.”
I slightly blushed. They had heard me from this distance.
Marick told me that the witches had a strong alliance with the werewolves.
“You will meet them afterward. They are usually the life of the party.”
I laughed this time.
I didn’t want to ask more questions, but I knew there was more to this than Mila was telling me. The way he was looking at me—it sort of made me uncomfortable.
The music began and one of the Elders entered. He was so old and friendly.
He bowed to our row, and we bowed our heads back.
Following the Elder, I led Eva to the front and sat back down. The Elder conducted the ceremony, and then she was coronated as a princess.
The tree started to sparkle. Eva had to prick her finger and add her blood to the Tree of Life.
It was an amazing sight to see.
Her coronation ceremony ended with her placing her hand on a magic book and vowing to be the best princess she could be, to always listen to her subjects, and to be fair in all her decisions. She likely wasn’t really going to get these sort of duties, but it was possible she would need to fill in for her brother or whoever was going to be king—just like her, I was learning from Marick’s mom who was busy teaching me my potential duties.
Then it was Marick’s coronation. His was much longer—more of oaths had to be sworn to, and there were plenty of tears that went around.
A soft whisper clouded my mind—just my name. It was as if the wind was calling me.
I looked around. There were so many people here, and no one looking at me.
Then Eric became restless, and Francine had to take him out. She gave me an apologetic look, and I shook my head and smiled.
A headache was forming, and I couldn’t shake the feeling away that someone whispered my name. Was it Mother Nature calling me?
Ever since I met her and saw what she could do, I was waiting fo
r her call. But I wasn’t ready yet. I hoped she knew that.
When the ceremony was finally over, Marick walked out first as the new king. I was so proud as were the kids. It was off to the celebration.
We were seated at a long table facing all the other tables on the floor.
“You look dashing,” I said, and Marick smiled.
“You look stunning yourself,” he whispered.
My eyes found Heicko’s. Mila didn’t joke when she said the wolves were the life of the party.
I chuckled. “You want to tell me what the history is between us and the Alpha wolf.”
Marick laughed. “What did Heicko do, Danielle?”
“Nothing! It’s the way he looked at me today at the coronation.”
He laughed softly. “He thinks he can be a better mate for you than I can.”
“Oh, my word.” I blushed. “Mate?”
“It’s the term they use. He used to always tease me by flirting like crazy with you.”
Leaders from some of the big covens came by then to wish Marick the best with his reign.
“Danielle,” they said by way of greeting. Each of them smiled at me. “It’s so good to see you again,” one leader said.
I just bowed as I had no idea who he was or who any of them were.
“Do all of them know me?”
“Most of them. We were quite the couple back then.”
“Forbidden couple you mean.”
“Bound to spread, Danielle.”
I smiled trying to suppress my laughter.
Then the brut of a man got up. He was handsome too.
“My King.” Heicko bowed. “The throne suits you.”
He and Marick laughed together.
“I still think I’ll make a better mate for you wife though.”
I blushed scarlet as Marick roared with laughter again.
“Danielle.” He kissed my hand and looked up at me. He had dark green eyes, real come-to-bed-with-me eyes. “Being a witch suits you.”
“Pity. I have no idea who you are, Heicko.”
Marick chortles as if it was a low blow to Heicko.
“Oh no. The Forgotten potion will cloud your memory from me. Give me ten minutes, and you will remember me,” he said, and all of us laughed. “You know I’m just teasing you, Marick. I would never want to be on the opposite side of you.”
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