It’s strange to only have Crispin in my bed. Usually, there’s at least three Guardians sleeping with me, or four, if none of them has to do guard duties overnight. Tonight, Crispin is the only one touching me, his arms around my waist, his chest pressed against my shoulder. He’s sleeping deeply, his breath slow and regular.

I’m exhausted, but sleep isn’t coming. I wonder where the others are now. Have they reached the Gate yet?

I look at my watch. Four hours since they left. They should be on Earth by now. Another few hours and they’ll reach Castle Tioram. Hopefully they’ll be able to step through the Gate there without having to fight. Although that’s a feeble hope; I’m sure there’s demons guarding the entrance to their Realm.

For a moment, I remember Chesca. Without her, we wouldn’t know that the Morrigan has taken over the Demon Realm. She died at the hands of one of our guards, and I still feel bad for that. I couldn’t have prevented it; for them, she was just another demon. I can’t really blame them. They were doing their job, protecting our borders. At least she managed to get her message across before she died. As much as I despise demons, I can’t help but feel like they don’t deserve being ruled by the Morrigan. There must be good ones among them, like Chesca, like some of the demons she and Aodh rehabilitated. If she was still alive, she might have been able to infiltrate the Demon Realm and spy for us. But it’s too late now. She’s dead, buried close to the Gate where she was killed.

When I arrived here a few weeks ago, I never could have imagined I’d be fighting in a war soon after. Or that my mother would be lying in her bed, completely without magic, without her usual strength. Or that my mum would be dead.

When did life become so crazy?

Suddenly, light flashes in front of my eyes and I’m thrown into Frost’s head. I know immediately that it’s him; it feels like him.

He’s standing in front of a ruined castle. The morning light is only just beginning to shine through the trees surrounding the loch the castle island is surrounded by. It’s an imposing structure, even though it’s got no roof and some of the walls have crumbled significantly.

A thin causeway spreads out before my men, leading towards the castle. They must have timed their arrival well because the tide is out, allowing them easy access to the little island.

How are they here already? It should have taken them longer… but I remember now, time flows slightly different on Earth than it does here. They may have already been in Scotland for hours.

As quickly as I was thrown into Frost’s head, I’m out again and back in my bed. What was the point of that? Well, I guess I know now that they got there okay, but Arc was going to let his contact know anyway. Hopefully, this isn’t the last time I get to see through Frost’s eyes.

Wait… when this happened before, he was in my head while I was in his. Does that mean he felt Crispin pressed against him? I smile. Poor Frost. But then a darker thought grips my mind. If he’s in my mind, is he defenceless in his own body? Gods, I hope not.

I don’t know why these weird mind swaps are happening, and how to control them. They can’t happen in battle, I won’t let them. Somehow. Maybe if I strengthen my mental barriers that will prevent them from happening? As much as I want to see what Frost and the others are up to, it’s not worth risking Frost’s life.

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I didn’t get enough of it. I rub my eyes, yawning loudly.

“You’re cute when you’re tired,” Crispin chuckles. If I wasn’t so exhausted, I’d throw a pillow at him. Instead, I just snuggle against his warm body and pretend to be still asleep. I’m ignoring the fact that Tamara is in the room, and that she just woke me.

“Your Guardians have reached Castle Tioram,” she tells us, and I groan. Her voice is too loud. I want to sleep.

Mornings are evil.

“I know,” I mutter into my pillow.

“How?” Crispin asks in confusion.

“Bond.”

“You can talk through your bond to the others now?” he asks and I realise I haven’t told him yet what happened between me and Frost.

“No.”

“Are you only going to answer with one word from now on?”

“Yes.”

Tamara laughs softly. “I’ll leave you two to it. Council meeting is in half an hour.”

I groan again, cursing life and sleep and tiredness and everything.

What did I do to deserve this?

Oh yes, I was born to a Goddess and a Guardian. Stupid genes.

Crispin gently kisses me on the forehead, running his hands over my shaved scalp.

“Lips,” I grumble and he laughs, his chest vibrating against mine.

He does as I ask and the morning begins to look up a little.

It’s strange not to have Magnus in attendance. In his place there’s a blond-haired Guardian with stubble covering his chin and puffy cheeks, looking excited. Oh my, I hope he’s up to the job. We can’t afford having to train a replacement for our Treasurer now. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to dismiss Magnus after all – but no, he was a liability. Some fresh thinking will help the Council.

“My name is Anthony, Your Highness,” he introduces himself enthusiastically. “It’s a pleasure to have the chance to serve you and the Realm.”

Gwain is rolling his eyes at the young man’s enthusiasm, but luckily, Anthony doesn’t seem to notice.

“Welcome to the Council, Anthony. It’s good to have you join us. Have you been able to catch up on Magnus’s tasks.”

“Yes, my Lady, I mean, Your Highness. I was already doing a lot of those tasks anyway, so it’s not much of a change.”

To be honest, I’m not surprised that Magnus had his assistant do his own job. The Treasurer always had the air of someone lazy and self-entitled.

“Good. Let me know if you need any help or assistance. Now that you’re the acting Treasurer, you should probably have your own assistant. Do you have someone in mind?”

He nods enthusiastically. “My husband would be perfect for the job. He’s had the same training I’ve had.”

“Perfect. I’m sure Tamara will arrange his salary and contract.”

The Mistress of the Household nods in approval and I turn to her, away from the new Treasurer.

“Tamara, how many Gods pledged their allegiance yesterday?”

She looks at her list. “Twenty-three, plus several other previous allies have confirmed that they’ll be fighting on our side again. I’m waiting for more information from most of them, but if I take a rough guess, I’d say that we can now match Angus’s numbers, if not beat them. We’re still outnumbered if we add the Morrigan’s demon army, but they’re not as well trained and equipped as our Guardians. An Epona soldier, for example, can easily take ten demons.”

“I’m feeling a lot more hopeful,” Gwain admits. “This gives us the manpower to not only defend the Realms, but also to be on the offensive. We could attack Angus if you so command.”

That sets me aback slightly. The whole time, we’ve been talking about defending the Realm, and now suddenly, there’s a chance of us throwing the first metaphorical stone?

I’m not sure how I feel about that. Defending makes sense, there’s no choice. If the people of this Realm are to survive, we have to take up arms and defend ourselves. But actively going into Angus’s Realm and fighting him on his own lands… isn’t that what he’s doing to us?

“No, it isn’t,” Crispin whispers, so quietly that I’m the only one able to understand. He’s taken Storm’s seat in the Guardian’s absence. “Think of what they did to us. What the Morrigan did to you. It’s still defending, just not in our Realm.”

“Are you reading my mind again?”

He shrugs. “Can’t help it. It now seems to happen occasionally even when I don’t touch you.”

An issue for another time. As handy as it is to have him hear my thoughts in times of trouble, I really don’t want him to be able to read my mind at all times. I don’t have secrets from them, but my mind is mine and mine alone.

“Should we prepare our troops for a possible assault on the Summer Realm?” Gwain asks and the room falls completely silent. Everybody is staring at me.

My mother should be sitting in my place. It should be her making the decision.

So many lives could be lost.

Lives will be lost, no question about that. People I know and love could die.

Is it worth it?

A flash of light tears through my vision and I’m in Frost’s head again. There’s noise, so much noise, and smoke, and the smell of blood. He’s lying on the ground, his legs twisted and hurting. Pain is fogging his thoughts, but he’s clinging onto consciousness.

“Frost!” I shout, not sure if he’ll be able to hear me. Maybe he’s seeing the Council staring at him… me, rather than the dark stone corridor I see at the moment.

A shadowy figure bends down to me.

“I’m going to enjoy playing with you, sweetie.”

That voice is familiar. So sweet and so poisonous at the same time. The Morrigan.

She’s got Frost.

Suddenly, she’s thrown to one side by a massive gust of wind. Storm! He’s still fighting. That’s good. I can’t see Arc but hopefully, he’s there as well.

“Can you stand?” Storm asks his brother but I shake my head. My legs hurt too much. They’re broken, I’m sure of it. I need a healer… no, Frost does.

“Arc!” Storm shouts. “You carry the father, I carry Frost!”

The father. My father? My dad? They’ve got him?

“Not so fast,” the Morrigan cackles, and it’s the last thing I hear before I’m flung back into my own body, back in the Palace.

“Wyn?”

Someone is shaking me by the shoulders. “Wyn? Are you alright?”

My legs are tingling with Frost’s pain. I need to help them.

“We need a distraction,” I say into the quiet room. “Gwain, ready the troops. We’re going to attack Angus. Tamara, Zephyr, let our allies know. Crispin, take twenty of our best fighters and travel to the Gate at Castle Tioram. They need a healer.”

“How do you know…?” Gwain asks, bafflement clear in his voice.

“No time to explain. We need to act quickly, while the Morrigan is distracted. She isn’t expecting an attack on Angus. If we manage to strike them both at the same time, they’ll not be able to assist each other.”

“Princess, it will take hours to get our army to the nearest Gate, let alone to the Summer Realm. We need to plan, we need time. Preparing an attack like that takes days.”

I sigh. “Right now, in this very moment, three of my Guardians are fighting the Morrigan. They don’t have a chance against her, but it’s a distraction. They…”

What did I just say?

The truth.

She’s a Goddess. They’re three Guardians and one of them is wounded.

They’re as good as dead.

They were never supposed to fight her. It was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission, with the hope that they might be able to free my dad.

They might be dead already.

Something shatters within me. My heart, maybe?

No, it’s my magic. She’s screaming, and I join her, screaming together as the heart cave around us crumbles, stalactites falling from the ceiling, stones crashing into the ground.

Blinding light is everywhere but I can’t close my eyes. I stare as the cave that I thought was protection for my magic slowly collapses.

No, it wasn’t protection. It was a prison.

The light increases, pouring into my magic. She’s growing, from the size of a large house cat to that of a lion. Her screams become deeper as her voice changes. Her claws extend, each as sharp as diamonds. Her eyes are glowing brightly, watching in glee as the stone that was once her cave crumbles into dust.

She’s free, and so am I.

I was never meant to be just a Demigoddess.

My magic takes a step towards me and I do the same, meeting her in the middle. I hug her tight.

We’re no longer separate, our powers are merging, becoming what we were destined for.

We are one.

We are a Goddess.