Chapter 155

MILA

Felix was doing a great job. The crowd may have been hostile and unfriendly, but he was holding his ground in a really impressive manner. I was so proud of him.

I had, of course, used my magic to do a bit of silencing of the mob, just to help him out. After all, he could not bring peace to the kingdom if no one was listening to him.

A murmur swept through the crowd as Felix considered the question from the man in the front.

“Of course not,” my husband announced, his voice booming over the crowd. “And let it be known that we never have. We put your safety first.”

The man nodded, although the crowd still looked suspicious.

“I have worked every day to put the kingdom above all else,” Felix continued. “In fact, many royal advisors have explicitly told me not to reveal the dragons to the people. But I believe that the only way forward into a brighter future is to be honest with the people.”

There was a great earnestness in his voice, and I could tell that it was starting to affect the crowd. People were looking up at him with hope and affection in their eyes. He was their beloved King, and for the first time, they were finally starting to realize how much he cared for them, too.

“It is my hope that someday we will have a greater and better future in Fresonia,” Felix continued. “Together, we can create a better future.”

The crowd was starting to nod and smile, his words starting to absorb. All of the sudden, a woman in the front of the crowd looked down at her cell phone. Eyes bulging, she shouted out, “Wisteria has dragons, too!”

Felix and I exchanged a confused look. Why was Wisteria announcing that they had dragons? We had not heard anything about civil unrest in the neighboring kingdom.

“Felix! Mila!” A familiar voice called out from behind us. “I must tell you something!”

We turned around to see Joseph racing towards us from the courtyard, taking stairs two at a time to make his way to us faster.

“Joseph!” Felix exclaimed, relief washing over his face.

Joseph rushed over to us, his eyes bright and his voice breathless. “The other kingdoms have announced their dragons to their people. Six out of the seven magical kingdoms have chosen to reveal the truth about magic to their citizens today.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

Joseph nodded, smiling. He had not looked this joyful in the entire time I had known him. There was suddenly a charge in the air, as if something had fundamentally shifted.

Magic was starting to be freed. And once it was free, it could be saved.

“Did they all coordinate an announcement without me?” Felix asked, his brow furrowing. I realized that he likely felt hurt and excluded by the other rulers. Or maybe they had reached out to him, and he had been far too distracted with the hunt for me.

Joseph shook his head. “Not really. Charles reached out to the other kingdoms and told them what you were thinking. They decided that the best path forward was to come clean to their people. You inspired this, Felix.”

I squeezed my husband’s arm. “You did this, Felix.”

“It wasn’t all me, though,” Felix confessed. “Charles is the one who set this all up. He is the one who went to the other kingdoms.”

“We haven’t heard anything from Abernathy yet,” Joseph said quickly. “But we received word that Lady Isabella returned from her undercover mission to the South Smythe Islands this morning. She will give us the full report from Abernathy as soon as we’re ready to travel to her.”

“Lady Isabella was in Abernathy?!” I exclaimed. If the crown had been willing to call in traitors to help them heal the kingdom, then things really had gotten desperate while I was away.

“She was undercover, yes,” Joseph said. “She also sent us some vital information from the United States about your adoption that helped us fill in the pieces of the puzzle we were missing.”

Ironically, information about my adoption was the only information I did not now know. This was the only hole in my knowledge, the only thing I was now missing.

“I would like to hear more about that,” I admitted. Joseph nodded in understanding, his eyes softening.

“I can arrange a meeting between you and Lady Isabella,” Joseph offered. “We can travel to the South Smyth Islands as soon as you feel up to it.”

“Maybe we should discuss temporarily lifting her banishment so that we may meet with her here,” I suggested softly.

The hard work and the dedication of the noble lady was not lost on me, despite our troubled past. She was a difficult person, I knew that better than anyone, but she still cared for the kingdom–the very kingdom she was banished from.

The fact that she had been willing to go against my cruel family and then go undercover in the most dangerous and enigmatic of the magical kingdoms only proved how much she was trying to atone for her mistakes.

Nothing would ever truly make up for her betrayal and the death and destruction that followed, but I was willing to loosen her restrictions and allow her to see her homeland one last time.

“That’s up to you, sir,” Joseph said, turning his head to Felix. “And you as well, Mila. I know that things are complicated with Isabella and Charles, but they have proved their loyalty to the kingdom over these last few days. We could not have done this without them.”

“Would it make sense to bring her to the castle and under heavy guard?” I asked Felix.

This was another big decision to make together–another opportunity to be partners and equals. We were once again at a crossroads. It would be easy for Felix to make a large, sweeping statement and shut me out from the decision making process, but that was not what we had discussed.

Felix looked me in the eyes for a moment. He blinked at me, obviously questioning. I smiled slightly.

We’re a team, I said silently in my mind. It’s you and me against the world, not you and me against each other. Whatever we decide, we need to come to this conclusion together. I love you.

I had no idea if he could hear me, but he blinked in understanding.

Felix mulled it over for a moment before saying, “I believe that would be wise. As long as she was placed under a similar hold to Charles. Mila can make the ultimate decision about how closely guarded Isabella should be.”

There was a roar from below us. The once-angry crowd was now erupting–but this time, not with anger. There was hope and joy, two emotions I had feared the people of Fresonia would never feel again.

“There is news pouring in from Prazole!” Someone in the crowd shouted. “They are announcing dragons and magic to their people!”

“And in the South Smythe Islands!” Someone else yelled. “They are talking about shapeshifters!”

I brought a trembling hand to cover my mouth. The kingdoms were coming clean–all of them. This was how we were going to make a better world. We all needed to be united.

“Summon Charles to the throne room,” Felix said, authority creeping back into his voice. “I want to thank him personally for his work on all this.”

Felix’s face was full of emotion. I knew it had to be hard for him–to announce his family’s biggest secret to the world and to watch Charles put in good work to solve the kingdom’s problems.

In another life, perhaps Charles would have made a good king. I could see where his instincts were good and true, even if their execution was tragic. He was smart and capable. Unfortunately, his ambition would always be his prominent trait, dooming him to failure when it came to leadership.

In this life, though, there was only one option. Felix was the only one who could truly lead the kingdom.

As excitement flooded through the crowd, I stood next to my husband, smiling at our people.

It was a new dawn in Fresonia.