Thinking of the blight, I questioned that. Of course, Volusian couldn’t have earned the “Slayer of Souls” title without doing some pretty awful things.

Magia’s eyes grew thoughtful. “It’s almost certain the Yew Land would have been completely destroyed, but Onya and Ganene were finally able to trap and capture Volusian. They decided simple execution wasn’t a great enough punishment for what he had done, and so he was killed and cursed into the state you found him. Without his assistance, the Yew Land’s enemies backed off and made peace.”

“Well,” I said, still a bit stunned, “that certainly explains why he hated the Yew Land and Varia so much. I can’t say I approve of his actions, but it is a little sad that in the end, Onya’s line defeated him after all.”

“I don’t know about that. Varia met her end,” Dorian pointed out. “Surely that will give him some peace in the Underworld.” Dorian sighed. “That really was an inelegant way to kill her. That’s what happens when you act in the heat of passion.”

It may have been inelegant, but it had most certainly saved my life. I didn’t know how long it would have taken him and the others to subdue Varia through other means, and the odds were good that she might have really made our heads explode. I was happy to be alive and have Dorian err on the side of crudeness in accomplishing the task.

In some ways, the journey home felt longer than the initial one. The conditions were much better—and actually made for faster travel—but we were all anxious and impatient to see how our kingdoms had recovered. Traveling through the blighted lands we’d passed before was actually pretty inspiring. Most had returned to their initial temperatures, facilitating the melting of snow. Of course, that offered another set of problems. Mud and floods became commonplace, and the food situation couldn’t be remedied overnight. When we passed through the Palm Land, I looked at the giant trees with regret. The blight’s end wouldn’t bring them back to life.

“Those won’t grow back anytime soon,” I murmured regretfully.

“But they’ll grow back faster than you think,” said Kiyo. “Remember where you’re at.”

Around the eighth day of travel, the road shifted and brought us into the Rowan Land. The land sang to me, its energy radiating out to me in a palpable wave that brought me to a halt. I gasped, overwhelmed by that force and life pouring into me. I jumped off the horse and ran off the road, falling to my knees on the muddy ground. I sank my fingers into it, closing my eyes in ecstasy as I felt the land’s welcome.

I breathed in the air around me, which was back to its typically mild temperature. There was an overwhelming scent of water and dirt, but as a light breeze ruffled my hair, I sensed something else ... the promise of growth and new life. Opening my eyes, I saw little but a dark, muddy landscape, but I could tell the plants and trees were on the verge of making their comeback. Kiyo had been right. I had to remember which world I was in.

I got to my feet and found the rest of my companions watching me indulgently. Dorian even had a wistful look on his face, no doubt yearning for his own land. “It’s recovering,” I said. “Slowly but surely.”

“What do you want to do?” asked Rurik. “Cut across country or follow the road?”

I understood what he was asking. In the Otherworld’s bizarre layout, it would take us longer to turn off into the Rowan Land and reach my castle. The road would be shorter but would crisscross through other kingdoms. I admit, I just wanted to lose myself in this land but opted for practicality instead.

“We’ll stick to the road,” I said. “I want to see the Thorn Land if I can.”

It was early evening, and we’d have to camp soon, even though all of us were eager to push forward. We traveled as long as the light allowed and finally made camp just over the border of the Oak Land, much to Dorian’s delight. As was the case with me, this wasn’t an ideal spot from which to go to his castle, so he was content to stay overnight with us.

Honestly, I think it was enough for him just to be home again. I’d never seen him so entranced by something. Usually he was always watching the people around him, always on top of whatever plots were developing. Now, he had eyes only for the land. He paced around, examining the dirt and touching the trees. Whenever he walked away, I saw shoots and buds on the trees. He and I had taken to having bedtime talks near the fire, but I left him alone tonight.

Kiyo sat beside me as I unfolded my bedroll. “I’ll likely be leaving tomorrow,” he told me. “We should reach the Willow Land.”

“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t tried to kill me, now that we’ve ended the blight,” I remarked lightly.

He sighed. “You’re not the problem anymore, Eugenie. You know that.”

“Neither are my children.”

The end of the blight had allowed me to hope I might be seeing Isaac and Ivy soon. Nearly a month had passed, which was huge for infants their age. So much could change, and I yearned to hurry back before I missed much more. After the way Kiyo and I had worked together in the Yew Land, I’d kind of hoped things might improve between us. I hadn’t forgiven him, but it had seemed like we had the potential to establish some sort of civility now. Apparently not.

“Is there anything at all that would change your mind?” Kiyo asked. “Anything at all to convince you of the danger he represents?”

“Is there anything that would convince you that your son is a real person with the right to live and not some pawn of destiny?” I returned.

He frowned and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We won’t stop looking for them, you know.”

“You’ll be looking forever,” I said.

Kiyo said no more and left me. Thinking back to when he’d been ensnared by dryads, I couldn’t help but again see Jasmine and Keeli’s reasoning about letting him die. It really would’ve made things simpler. He was Maiwenn’s main contact in the human world. Her search wouldn’t get far without him.

The next day, he departed from our group, his fox form scurrying off across the muddy landscape of the Willow Land. All the recovering kingdoms had a similar appearance right now, but I knew they’d show their true natures soon.

Dorian and I split shortly thereafter in the Thorn Land. Even though the land’s song burned within me, I was reluctant to leave him. I suspected he felt the same way, though it was hard to tell with his poker face and gallantries.

“Well, here we are,” he declared. Alistir and Pagiel were by his side. “It’s time for me to go get my subjects out of trouble, I suppose. Thank you as always for a lovely time. You always arrange the best soirees.”

I smiled. “I try.”

“And I’ll try to come see you as soon as I can.”

That was unexpected. “I figured you wouldn’t want to leave your land for a while.”

“Oh, I don’t, but you and I still have a lot to discuss. Seeing as you’ll have twice as much work on your hands, it’ll be easier for me to come to you.” I caught his eye and wondered what exactly he wanted to discuss. Maiwenn and the twins were the obvious topic, but I got a sense there might be more.

Pagiel and Jasmine were equally formal in their parting, but I saw them watch each other longingly. Ah, young love. So much simpler than grown-up love.

Although, when I saw Shaya and Rurik’s reunion, I had to admit that was a pretty touching example of grown-up love. It had total movie-quality epicness, including them racing into each other’s arms. I tried not to watch, but it was kind of hard not to. I even felt a little misty-eyed, and this time, I couldn’t blame it on hormones since I was well over those.

Thinking of hormones again brought Isaac and Ivy to mind. I still wanted to go to them, but one look at the state of my kingdoms told me I’d be here for a while. At the very least, I wanted to let Roland know everything had worked out ... but I had no means to, short of traveling to Tucson myself. I certainly didn’t miss Volusian’s biting personality or constant threats to kill me, but he’d had his uses in my service. After his story, I even felt slightly sympathetic. But only slightly. Ganene and Onya had wronged him, but he’d taken out his revenge on innocents. Why, I wondered, did this seem to be such a recurring theme among those I encountered?

One of the first things I did upon my return to my lands was start arranging those delegations to Varia’s freed kingdoms. We needed food badly, and our copper supply gave us an unharmed currency other blighted kingdoms weren’t lucky enough to have. After meeting the new monarchs, I knew there’d be no more price gouging either. Shaya excelled at organizing this sort of thing. She actually would’ve been a great choice to lead the groups, but I couldn’t bring myself to part her and Rurik so soon. I trusted her judgment to find others who were capable.

Along with the food shortage, we simply had to deal with the aftermath of the blight’s devastation. People were sick. Homes and other structures were damaged. And despite how much we could repair, nothing could make up for the loss of life. Both kingdoms’ populations had suffered, meaning we had less help to rebuild. It was disheartening some days.

Along with the lands’ natural magic, I also discovered I could speed along the healing and regrowth. Just as I’d seen Dorian healing his oaks, I was able to coax the plants and trees of my kingdoms to grow again. Most of my efforts were focused on the Rowan Land, which contained more food-bearing plant life. In particular, I worked on the cherry trees since they were so plentiful. I sped them through their leaf and flowering phases, and after a few weeks, we began to see the first signs of fruit. Cherries weren’t exactly the most filling food, but they were welcome to everyone after what we’d endured.

Even though the Thorn Land wasn’t a priority for food production, I still worked to restore some of the plants and trees there. It brought hope to the land’s residents, who had gotten used to their desert kingdom. Each flower that bloomed on a cactus was a sign that we were on our way to recovery, and the land radiated its gratitude to me.