“She has already relived her memories once, now she has to start all over and what is more, now there are new horrible memories. What if you had to recall every single detail about your life? The bad stuff, the stuff you don’t want to talk about, the things that cut you the most? What if she doesn’t want to wake up?”
“She wants to.”
“Then why doesn’t she?”
It’s okay. I’m here.
Her mouth and eyes didn’t want to work yet. But her mind was waking up. It was giving names to the voices. And faces. And pasts. The exact shade of Will’s eyes and the bad haircut he got when he was eight. The color Eloryn’s cheeks turned at regular intervals. The corner of Roen’s mouth that twitched up when he was doing something charming. Erec’s sandy complexion that was so much like his brother, Peirs’s. Peirs, who died to save her. Clara, who died to save her sister, and had lived to flirt with every soldier in the palace.
“If I had to live the worst again, I might never get out of bed,” she heard Erec say, and she knew he was thinking about Clara. It had only become clear after Clara was gone, the love he’d been harboring for her. Only clear to Memory now, now she remembered everything again.
Will spoke, his voice low and hoarse. “There used to be a story about a prince who kisses the sleeping princess and brings her back to life. Just a fairy tale, but I wish I had that magic, some way to help her.”
“Maybe I’ve been waiting for you to give it a try?” Memory croaked, her voice rough from sleep. She peeled dry eyes open and looked up at Will and her friends, standing around her bed. Daylight streamed through the window, making dust motes spark like pixies in the air.
“Memory?”
“Yes. It’s me. All of me.”
Will fell on top of her on the bed, scooping her up. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest, then more arms wrapped them, and she heard the small, squeaking sobs of her sister and Roen’s relieved laughter.
She took a moment to know them, really know them, to recall exactly who they were. Some of her memories were awful. She had done things and suffered things she almost couldn’t live with, but there were so many good moments too, memories of these people, her family.
“I love my cuddle fests,” she sighed, nuzzling against her friends. Then she pushed them away. “But I smell food. Get me to the food, I’m starving! How long have I been sleeping here, a hundred years?”
“Felt like it to me,” Will said.
“It was barely two days,” Roen scoffed. “How you ever waited those sixteen years I’ll never know. This fellow is the most impatient person I’ve ever known.”
“I’m so happy you’re home,” Eloryn said. She helped Memory out of bed, holding her hand and supporting her by the elbow on the other side. Memory noticed she was wearing her old broken heart t-shirt, and what seemed to be brand new sweat pants. She quirked an eyebrow, wondering where they came from, but was happy to be in their fleecy embrace regardless.
In Memory’s living room, every surface was filled with bouquets and garlands of flowers, and mountains of cakes and pastries. Rainbow colored roses from Loredanna’s rose garden filled the room with a sweet scent, and… was that a cake shaped like a hamburger? No way.
The thought of Clara, missing this, being gone from their lives, drilled a deep hole of pain in Memory’s heart. Alward, Thayl, Waylan, Peirs, Edele, Shonae, Clara. She remembered them all. She would never forget them again.
Memory swiped the first delicacy that was within reach and bit through the flakey crust to the custard cream inside.
Maeve entered the room, wearing a palace maid’s uniform and balancing another tray of food. Her wild mass of brown hair was bundled neatly atop her head and she looked stronger and healthier than ever. She stopped abruptly when she saw Memory awake and eating.
“It is you!” she yelled, dropping the tray onto a table, and running in.
Memory was enveloped in a huge and almost smothering hug and she laughed, “Yes, it is me. Sorry I was gone for so long. How are the kids?”
“They are amazing, thanks to you and your friends. Some of them still have nightmares though, and might for a while yet.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask about them sooner.”
“How could you have?” Maeve said. She held up a fist, and Memory punched it three times then they both mimed an explosion.
Memory laughed. “You were totally just testing if I really remembered, weren’t you?”
“Maybe,” Maeve grinned. With Clara gone, Maeve had fought other servants off almost physically to be the one to take over her position as Memory’s only assistant. Maeve had known, even when Memory couldn’t, that it was what she would have wanted. Memory pulled the feisty girl back into a hug again as a silent thank you for that.
They all sat down together, relaxing on the floor and chairs. Not talking, just eating in silence, knowing they were all together again and that that was enough. The friends that were missing weren’t completely gone. Memory closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the weight of them, their loss, their lives, in her chest. Holding onto every precious memory.
She still felt fragile, brittle like fairy gold, from the return of her old memories. But she also felt stronger from the return of her newer ones. She no longer burned inside with all the excess magic she had felt her whole life. All that was left was just the normal, small Spark of Connection. No missing soul, no missing past, no longing for a family she didn’t know. She had everything she always wanted. She finally felt whole and complete.
The rest of the day was spent much the same, just enjoying each other’s company within the small space of Memory’s chambers. After a while Erec and Maeve left together, and then Roen and Eloryn as well.
Will hugged Memory close, and she leaned up to kiss him. His lips were warm and soft and she let herself melt into him. Memory closed her eyes, a smile blooming on her face. Finally, she was home.
The End
The Memory’s Wake trilogy has ended, but Selina Fenech has plans for more books for this world and other tales to tell. Sign up for Selina's newsletter to be notified when her next book is available - Subscribe Here.
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Table of Contents
The Memory’s Wake Trilogy Omnibus
Copyright Information
MEMORY’S WAKE
Copyright Information
About This Story
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
HOPE’S REIGN
Copyright Information
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
PROVIDENCE UNVEILED
Copyright Information
About This Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue
A Personal Thank You from Selina
Table of Contents
Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series Page 79