Page 58 of Bonded Ever After

“Hello, children,” she greets. “It’s been a very long time.”

We stare at her, unsure.

“We’ve missed you.”

I find my voice, hoping I’m not making a mistake. “Actually, your highnesses, we’ve never been here before.”

She tilts her head, an amused smile on her lips. “Perhaps you’d like to hear the story. It’s one I’ve become used to telling.” Without hesitation, she says, “Once, a very long time ago, a group of mischievous young fae children decided that they wanted to explore beyond the safety of our realm. Unfortunately, those children stumbled far and wide, searching for their way back home, with no luck. Instead, they eventually found the Earth Realm, and a group of lost humans who would never survive the winter. They used their ability to step between worlds and collect our gold to build a world in which the humans could survive. But they were never forgotten by the fae people. For many generations, the fae waited for their lost children to return home. And now, they have.”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. “You’re saying… we’re thesefaechildren?” I ask, confused.

Her smile widens. “You are the descendants of our lost children. With each generation, the gold in your veins has been diluted by the human blood you’ve mixed it with. But the two of you have the purest blood of any of those children. With you in the human realm, none of the other fae children would be able to pass through to Neverwood. Now, however, they will be able to.”

I don’t know what to say. “So, we’re your… lost descendants?”

“Precisely,” she says. “And you two, in particular, come from two separate royal families. The loss of your lines was a great and terrible thing, as is the loss of any child.”

“All of this is hard to accept,” Callum says slowly.

She smiles over our heads. “Maybe they’ll be better at explaining it.”

We turn, and I stop short. Our fathers are standing together in matching golden outfits. Their skin is tan, and their hair has less gray than there was before. They look like themselves, only younger and happy.

My dad… he’s alive.

Without thinking, I run to him. He catches me and pulls me into his arms, and before I know it, I’m sobbing, clinging to him like I did when I was a child, murmuring things that make no sense, while he reassures me.

“It’s okay, honey, I’m here now. Everything is okay. All of your traveling, all of your sacrifices, they’re done. You’re home. You’re safe.”

I pull back to him, tears rolling down my face, then see Callum, standing still. Staring at his father.

Giving my dad an apologetic look, I go to Callum and wrap myself around him, not sure what to say. I know he loves his dad. I also know his dad doesn’t deserve any of that love, not with the way he’s treated him all his life.

“Son…” Archer begins, looking to my dad like he’s lost.

“Just be honest with him. Say what’s in your heart,” my dad tells him.

Archer clears his throat, running a hand through his long white hair. “I was never a good dad to you. I was never there for you the way you needed. I was cruel with my words. I was awful. There are no excuses for that, but I want to try to explain. You know I wasn’t happy. I hated going to Neverwood. I hated being in Paradise Falls. But more than that,” he hesitates and looks at my dad again, “I was in love with someone I could never be with, and it killed me each and every day.”

My dad nods at him.

I stare, not quite comprehending.What is he saying?

Archer continues. “I’m sorry for everything, and I know you won’t forgive me now. I don’t expect you to. But we’re going to have a whole life together in this beautiful place, so I hope one day you’ll find a way to at least understand me.”

I look at Callum, then squeeze his hand.

Callum shifts awkwardly. “Maybe.” Then he looks back at me. “But we have a lot more pressing things to figure out.”

After an awkward moment, I say, “I don’t understand what she’s talking about. She said there are lost fae and we’re them?”

My dad nods. “See, the fae are magical human-like beings who can go between realms, but they never do. It’s one of their hard and fast rules, so when they had teens disappear, they didn’t go after them. Those teens ended up in Paradise Falls and met the humans who had wandered into the valley between the mountains. The fae, didn’t have paths in the other realms then. They made a life on earth. Only their kids, and their kids’ descendants, were able to make it back through to Neverwood. We actually learned that there are more than two families that can make it through, but their blood was so diluted that by some weird trick the ones with less fae blood in their veins couldn’t come through while we were on earth.”

“So we’refae?” I ask.

My father nods.

“And there may be more people in Paradise Falls who can go into Neverwood?”

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