"It has been a while, Phoenix." She hugged him before he could respond.
The air around them shifted into something nobody acknowledged and everybody felt.
Vangelis cleared his throat slightly.
"The royal section has been prepared. Let us go and sit."
"I brought someone with me," Phoenix said. "We will stay out here for now."
He turned and opened the carriage door.
Hazel stepped down.
Her white gown caught the light as she descended, the long translucent veil covering her face to her chest, her pregnancy visible and unhurried beneath the fabric. She moved with a quiet dignity that drew eyes without demanding them.
Nobody knew who was behind the veil.
But the park noticed her the moment she appeared.
On the stage Roxanne stepped up to the platform and looked out across the gathered crowd, white robes and balloons and the soft sound of the park surrounding everything.
"Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply honoured as your Royal Duchess to welcome you to this gathering." Her voice carried clearly across the space. "My hope is that every expectant parent here today finds a moment of peace and connection. That those who are further along in their journey can share with those just beginning. That harmony is felt in every corner of this park today." She paused. "Please enjoy every moment of it."
She stepped down from the stage.
The person she came face to face with was Phoenix.
His eyes moved over her immediately, something flickering behind them, sharp and searching. Then it settled. He could not feel his power anywhere on her and whatever he had sensed he dismissed it.
"Alpha," Roxanne said smoothly. "Are you looking for something?"
"No," he said. "You simply remind me of someone." He looked at her a moment longer. "You are the Royal Duchess."
"I am," she replied.
"Enjoy the gathering." He paused. "Actually, I have a request. I brought someone with me and she is not comfortable in large crowds. Is there a quieter area?"
"Please follow me," Roxanne said.
She led them beneath a tree set well away from the main gathering, the noise of the crowd softening to something distant and manageable.
"This should be comfortable," Roxanne said.
Then her eyes moved to the veiled figure beside Phoenix and stayed there.
"Is there something you need?" Phoenix asked, noticing.
"Is she blind?" Roxanne asked.
"Yes," Phoenix said.
"I can have a guide stick brought for her immediately."
"She does not need one," Korran said, stepping forward before Phoenix could respond. "I will stay with her."
Phoenix looked at him.
Korran looked back.
Roxanne guided Hazel to a corner of the park where the crowd thinned to nothing, the noise of the gathering becoming a distant murmur behind them.
Then she reached up and lifted the veil.
She looked at the face beneath it.
"Hazel." Her voice came out smaller than she intended. "Is it really you?"
"Yes," Hazel said. "Though I cannot see you anymore."
Hazel told her everything. From the beginning to where she stood now, no detail spared.
Roxanne listened without interrupting.
"You are carrying his child," she said when Hazel finished.
"Yes," Hazel said simply.
"And your powers?"
"Gone. All of them." She paused. "The reason we could not end Fiona was the children she carried. Curses cannot die until they are revoked. The power of her babies fought back against ours. We never stood a chance."
Roxanne was quiet for a moment.
"I hold a position inside this palace now," she said. "And I have found a way into the library." She hesitated. "There is something else. The day Phoenix took you, he froze something inside me. I need a specific book to undo it." Her voice dropped slightly. "If I do not find it soon I do not have much time."
Hazel turned her face toward her.
"Then we cannot waste another moment standing here," she said. "Someone will notice. We need to go back."
Roxanne replaced the veil carefully over Hazel's face.
"Before we part," Roxanne said, her voice dropping low, "do not abandon what we started. Our revenge. Our freedom. Everything Fiona put us through."
Hazel was quiet for a moment.
"I will be honest with you," she said. "I do not know what is waiting for me anymore. I am blind. I have no power. If I survive the birth there is every chance I will be executed after." She paused. "But I will never give up your names. Never. You are the reason I am standing outside at all."
"If you are not with us then you are against us," Roxanne said.
"I am not against you," Hazel said firmly. "But I will not be inside your group either. My revenge on Fiona belongs to me. I will take it my own way and in my own time."
Roxanne looked at her for a long moment.
Then she replaced the veil carefully over Hazel's face and they walked back.
Phoenix turned to face Fiona, stepping slightly away from the crowd around them.
"I came the moment you mind linked me," he said. "How have you been these past few days?"
" You call it few days. " Fiona said, holding on tighter. "It has felt like ages to me."
Phoenix did not pull away immediately.
"Why did you simply leave the way you did?" Her voice was muffled against him. "Do you understand what it cost me? How was I supposed to survive that?" She drew back enough to look at him. "And now I hear you are searching for a Luna. And you brought Hazel here of all people." Her eyes sharpened. "I could have walked straight to Vangelis and told him exactly who was behind that veil. The woman who tried to end my life."
"You need to calm down," Phoenix said quietly. "This is not good for you or the child."
"Do you even love me?" The question came out raw and unguarded. "I know I made the first move. But you kept coming back. You kept showing up and giving me something to hold onto." Her voice broke slightly at the edges. "And now I feel like I have been desperate for something you were never truly offering."
Phoenix looked at her.
Then he cupped her face and kissed her. Soft and unhurried, pulling the tension out of her slowly until her shoulders dropped and the words stopped coming.
He pulled back just enough to speak.
"You are not a convenience to me," he said quietly. "You are the lady in my life. I want to give you all."