Page 79 of To Ride the Wind

“Why did he give them Queen Celandine as their queen?” Gwen asked, struggling to completely let go of her bitterness.

“Who said he did?” the godmother asked sharply.

Gwen looked at her with a frown. What was that supposed to mean? How could the High King have made her their princess and yet have had no hand in her mother being queen?

“I can think of one person who might have something to say about who you are and your value,” the godmother said with a sudden chuckle. “I think a certain young man is on his way here, bitterly regretting his hasty words.” She nodded in the direction Gwen had come, and Gwen caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Easton was hurrying toward her, his expression intent.

She turned back to question the godmother on what she had meant about her mother, but the rock beside her was empty. She blinked at it for a moment, but the woman was definitely gone.

Climbing slowly to her feet, she considered what her godmother had said as she waited for Easton. Could she believe she had been chosen? Could she believe she was worthy even after all the mistakes she’d made?

A wave of something that felt more like peace than guilt washed over her, settling deep into her bones. The godmother had said it was up to her to choose whose words she would believe about herself. That meant she could choose this peace. And she could choose to let go of the mountain queen’s poison. She could break the walls that closed her in and refuse to ever build them back into place.

“Gwen!” Easton reached her, seizing both her hands and looking into her eyes with frantic worry. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right.” Gwen felt a smile stretch across her face. “Everything you said was true, at least in part. I did run away, but I haven’t abandoned them. I realized that while I was sitting out here. I’m going back to free them all. I have to.”

She tipped her face up to him, her smile growing. “You’re right about the ocean. It’s helpful for thinking—and breaking down restraints.”

Easton sucked in a breath, his eyes still intent on her face. “You shouldn’t forgive me so easily,” he whispered. “It only makes me feel worse. I know what you went through in your childhood, but I can only imagine how alone you must have been in the last ten years. I’ve been living a free life, but you’ve been under her thumb every moment, trapped in her enchantment, her castle, and her control. And yet, you managed to free yourself! You held onto who you are through it all. You’re brave and resilient and incredible, and yet the first thing I did was berate you! You should tell me you never want to see me again. I deserve it.”

Gwen’s eyes had grown misty as he spoke, but her smile returned at the end of his speech.

“Should I?” she asked playfully.

He looked down at her, his gaze changing as his eyes darkened with an entirely new emotion.

“No,” he said thickly. “You shouldn’t. You should let me do this.”

He pressed his lips down on hers, pulling her into his arms and kissing her as thoroughly as she had always dreamed he one day would.

“I don’t think I can steer this time.” Charlotte gazed uncertainly at the halter resting in Gwen’s palm. “I know I did it last time, but that was a simple matter of getting us back to land. I don’t know the way to the mountain kingdom.”

Gwen glanced at Easton, a question in her eyes. He just smiled back at her, the warmth in his gaze making her flush while his trust in her ability buoyed her up.

She was the one who had fled the mountain palace. She was their princess. It was her job to lead them back.

“I wish we could take more than three of us,” she said mournfully, remembering Easton’s talk of allies. “But we could never get an army across the mountains. This will have to be done through stealth, not force of arms. It will be dangerous.”

Charlotte propped her hands on her hips. “You should know by now that you’re not talking either of us out of it. And while I can’t speak for Easton—who looks like he’d follow you wherever you go—I’m not going to the mountain kingdom for you, remember.”

Gwen nodded, her flush deepening at her friend’s mention of Easton’s devotion. He didn’t follow her around, but he had waited for her, and that was more than enough.

“It’s time to go home,” he said softly, capturing her eyes.

She nodded back. It was time.

“But do we really have to jump off this bluff?” he asked, eyeing the fall to the sea below.

Charlotte snorted. “Think of it as an opportunity to impress your lady love with your courage.”

Easton grinned at her. “What if I don’t have any?”

Gwen rolled her eyes, grasped both of their arms and pulled them all off the cliff.

Easton gasped and Charlotte screamed, but it seemed to be a scream of delight more than fear. The halter in Gwen’s hand grew, the reins appearing in her curled fingers.

She looked back over her shoulder to see the other two lined up behind her. She noticed with smug pleasure that the object had placed Easton behind her. His arms immediately wrapped around her waist, securing them both in position.