As soon as the explosion cleared and Nenvari was nowhere to be seen, and I found myself teleported back inside the empty boss room. Minutes passed, and I waited for anything to happen. Would the blocks start collapsing? Would I just appear back home now? And the biggest question, where was Nenvari?

As time crawled by I had the horrible feeling that this wasn’t the end. That he’d lied. That I’d have to defeat an even more powerful version of the prince. If that was the case, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.

Then he blinked into existence, his hands and knees on the floor. No longer did he wear the spiky armor. Instead, he had on simple white robes. He shuddered, in clear pain but he made no noise. Then I realized he must have done that Fae thing of going invisible but the agony and probably the confusion of waking up from a concussion-like thrall must have been so overwhelming that he couldn’t stop himself from reappearing.

I floated down and rested a hand on his shoulder. For several minutes we didn’t say anything, and then his muscles relaxed. I sat down, so did he.

“You know, I thought for sure that the queen would find some way to go back on her word. But judging by how you look, it’s easy to see that you’re no longer under her influence.”

“And you, Miss Knight, should know better than to approach an enemy who is pretending to be disabled.”

I smirked. “Pretending, huh?”

“Not that you would have a chance at damaging me, even while I was incapacitated.”

“So… Do I get my brother back now?”

He stared at me, his piercing blue eyes sharpened and he stood up. “Right now, my country is being invaded by Light Fae. I have to go protect it first. I also have to deal with my father’s treacherous wife.”

Sweat ran down his brow. I wanted to tell him to continue resting but, I knew well that there were some things worth pushing oneself past the breaking point for.

“What about the children from my world?”

He grimaced. “Because of the invasion, they’re locked into shielded accommodations. The children will have their memories wiped before we send them back to their world.” A distant look crossed his face. “Except there are several who didn’t enter the shelters and are still in the garden. Your brother is one of them.”

I shot to my feet. “But your country is being invaded. He could get killed!”

He held out his hand to me. “Help me, and I’ll take you to your brother right now.”

I grabbed his hand without thinking.