Skye coughed, loudly.
“A fifth wing, then.” Whisper chuckled, kissing his cheek. Sighing, a touch of sadness polluted her smile. She raised a pinky. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll be back soon.” I hoped . Linking my finger with hers, I exhaled. Her forehead met mine, and I whispered, “Even now, we will never be apart.” Not in spirit. Not ever.
She smiled, but her voice wobbled with emotion. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”
When we finally pulled apart, Bay asked, “May I fly you to the shore?”
Nodding, I hugged Whisper goodbye and set out with Bay across the sky, toward The Vale’s borders; they seemed so much closer now.
“Are you sure you don’t want the Fountain water for your mom now?” I asked when we had gone a little ways. “I trust you with it.”
“I know. Thank you.” He lifted his bandaged wrist and pressed his lips together. “But I still feel like I need to fix things. Tiger Lily was okay in the end, but that doesn’t change what I did, the chance I took. I’m going to make sure Skyla’s rebuild has at least a dent in it while you’re gone. I’m going to make sure Tiger Lily is taken care of, and her daughter knows I’m sorry. Then, when you’re back, and I feel I can stand before my mom as a son she can be proud of, I’ll wake her with you.”
My chest swelled, and I reached for his hand. “Have I told you that I’ve forgiven you yet? Everything was okay in the end, and you came through in the moments when it mattered the most.”
He squeezed my fingers. “You forgive too easily, Wind Song, just like my mom. I’m not going to put my sins behind me as easily as my dad did. I want to be better than him for you.”
Airwoman, I loved him. I stopped in the sky and pulled him closer to me, wrapping my wings around his body. Skye zipped out of the cocoon the second before I kissed Bay. “I’m glad you fell out of the sky for me, Star Boy,” I murmured against his lips.
He circled his arms around me, not hiding his injury like his father always had a habit of doing. They both knew where they had lost their hands. One deserved the burden of shame and guilt; the other didn’t have that weight to bear. He whispered, “Come back to me safely, Wind Song.”
We parted ways after that, my heart full and beating soundly with a mix of anxiety and faith. I could handle anything that stood in my way if I knew it stood between me and getting back to Bay and Whisper, Skye and Tiger Lily, Skyla and Neverland.
I perhaps wasn’t prepared for the group of people I saw on The Vale’s beach shortly after I left the air above Skyla. They were all around my age, and—worse—magic clung to them so strongly I could feel it like a magnet, tugging me their way.
One of the girls, a dark-haired woman with striking blue eyes, pointed at me, waving me down. I tucked my wings and landed a short distance from them.
Neither of us needed to ask who the other was even though none of us looked particularly alike. A ring of gold circled all of our irises. My breath held, and I didn’t know where to begin. All I knew was that this was the beginning……of the end.
A note from the author
The Kingdom of Fairytales authors hope you enjoyed this new way of reading. We don’t think that a series has ever been set with one chapter a day thought a whole year before and we hope we did it justice.
With this in mind, please leave a review, but when you do, remember that these books were always meant to be short breaks in your day and the blurb reflects that.
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After the Happily Ever After…
There is more to these stories. You want to know what happens next right? Fast forward eighteen years…
Pick up book one now
SLEEPING BEAUTY
LITTLE MERMAID
RED RIDING HOOD
