Driscoll waggled his eyebrows. “Those are some magic lips.”
Jillian rolled her eyes. “Technically the kiss didn’t save Liliath. It’s what broke the dark magic, allowed all of our magic to return.” She looked at me. “You got a bad case of food poisoning from that apple, and it took time for you to heal.”
Driscoll made a disgusted face. “I still can’t believe you took a bite of that thing. It was covered in sludge, Liliath. Sludge.”
I looked between them like they’d both grown two heads. “How did our kiss break the dark magic?”
Jillian bit her lip. “We’re still working on that. Well, Brains is.”
“Brains, from the Academy of Thieves?” I asked.
Jillian nodded. “She’s been working with other scholars in Elwen, scouring the library for any information, but so far our best guess is, uh, something called true love’s kiss.”
I blinked a few times.
Driscoll cleared his throat. “True love. When two people are meant to be together, that love between them is more powerful than any kind of dark magic. Basically, the pureness of your love broke the dark magic.”
Fight the dark with light.That’s what my father had said. Is that what he’d meant? But how would he even know about something like that? I sat there in shock, hardly able to believe what my two best friends were telling me.
“Lilypad,” a voice said. I whipped around, and there stood Penn, looking straight at me.
Chapter Sixty
Driscoll and Jillian scrambled to their feet. “Well, we should probably...” Driscoll scratched the back of his head.
“We have laundry to do,” Jillian said quickly.
“Laundry?” I quirked a brow.
Her face flushed. Driscoll grabbed her and led her to the horse. “So much laundry. We need to get started on it.”
“Did our laundress quit?” I asked, crossing my arms as they hopped up on the horses.
“Need to find a new one, it turns out,” Driscoll said as he turned his horse around. “So, in the meantime, Jillian and I have taken up that mantle. We’ll see you later!”
They galloped away, and I glared after them. Traitors. My gaze turned to Penn, who took a few tentative steps toward me. I got to my feet.
He looked wonderful in those brown pants and beige tunic that hugged all his muscles, those wisps of blond hair falling over his face. I wanted to reach up and brush that hair away.
“I’m sorry,” Penn said. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry that I acted like an idiot.” He took another step forward whileI stayed frozen to my spot. “I’m sorry that I left you. I’m sorry about your father.”
“Why did you run away?” I asked, voice shaking. “Why did you leave like that?”
“Because that’s what I’ve always done.” Penn swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Instead of staying and leading my people, I let a council run Mosswood Forest while I spent all my time going on missions, looking for revenge. It was easier to run than stay and face reality. It was easier to run than to depend on others. It was easier to throw myself into these missions and let them consume me so I didn’t have to feel anything else.”
I swallowed, tears welling.
“And then I met you.” He took another step forward. “A princess who was born to be a queen. Someone who made me want to stop running.”
Another step.
I could barely breathe, just standing there, staring, unable to look away from him.
“I watched you throw yourself into something so foreign, so hard, and put your all into it. I watched you fight and fight and fight to get back to your people, and I knew you were the kind of leader I wanted to be, the kind I didn’t think I could ever be. But more than that, I wanted to know you. I wanted to hear your ideas, to learn of your past, to know what you wanted for your future. I wanted everything from you, and I wanted to give you everything in return.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about my father and the mirror?” I asked.
“At first, I never planned to because I was afraid you’d stop me, would ruin my chance at avenging my parents’ deaths. Then I started falling for you, and I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid.”
