Note: The part of the song where I imagine Gwyn's moment starts right at minute 2:00, where you can feel the tension and the power of the lyrics. I hope you like it :)
THEY’LL BE CALLING ME ROYALTY
Cause I'm taking the world, you'll see
The first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, spilling pale gold light across the camped land. But in Azriel’s tent, there was only warmth. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her palm, his arm wrapped around her waist, anchoring her to him even in sleep.
Gwyn lay there, memorizing every detail. The feel of his body curled around hers, the scent of cedar and night-chilled wind, the quiet hum of his shadows draped across them both.
She traced him with her eyes… the strong line of his jaw, those dark lashes resting against his eyes and his mouth, usually pressed into a hard line, was soft now in sleep.
Mother, how beautiful he is.
Not just the sharp cut of his features or the way his muscles tensed even in rest. But the male beneath it all… who had saved her, trained her, believed in her when she hadn’t believed in herself. The male whose scarred hands had held her like she was made of starlight.
How could someone look like this? she wondered, her heart fracturing. How could someone be this beautiful and not even acknowledge it?
And she was about to leave him.
A tremor ran through her, but she smothered it. There was no room for fear now. She had made her decision.
Slowly, carefully, she untangled herself from his grasp, her breath hitching when he shifted, brow furrowing like he could already sense the loss. She reached for his face but stopped herself.
If you touch him again, you won’t leave.
Instead, she turned to the dark wisps of shadow coiling at the edges of the tent, watching her. They knew her now, had come to listen to her, even sought her out when Azriel wasn’t paying attention. And now, they stirred, sensing something was wrong.
“Not tonight,” she whispered. “Please.”
They curled tighter, hesitant.
“Let him sleep,” she pleaded. “Just this once.”
Then, they sank into the darkness, disappearing into silence.
Gwyn exhaled, shoulders shaking, and turned away.
She moved through the darkness, the wind whispering through the trees, the distant hum of battle drums rolling like a storm on the horizon. Her body was steady, but inside… inside, she was unraveling.
Because it wasn’t just the ones she loved she was walking away from.
It was her chosen family.
Nesta and Emerie, the sisters she had found in pain and in healing.
Rhys and Cassian, the brothers who had given her a place in their world.
Feyre, who welcomed her with open arms, who trusted her with Nyx every time she visited the River House, as if she belonged.
Mor, who made her feel fierce and beautiful in ways Gwyn never thought she could be.
Lucien, who watched her spar with knowing eyes, offering quiet support without expectation.
Elain, who, even after everything, still offered her friendship in quiet moments of tea, never resenting her for what had never truly been hers.
And Az… her savior, her trainer, her friend. Her lover. Her mate.
Gwyn closed her eyes, pressing a fist to her chest.
As she approached the edges of the camp, her path crossed with Rhysand’s. His violet eyes met hers in the dim pre-dawn light, and for a heartbeat, he didn’t say anything.
Small. Simple. But it held everything.
Trust. Respect. Gratitude.
I believe in you, it seemed to say.
Gwyn swallowed hard, nodded back, and kept moving, reaching the battlefield just as the sun threatened to break the horizon. Koschei’s forces loomed ahead, an endless tide of darkness waiting to crush them.
The Night Court’s army was behind her…wounded, weary, but standing. Their faces were drawn, their breaths ragged, but they watched her with something fierce in their eyes.
She stepped forward, placing herself at the center, her heart pounding like a war drum.
The wind howled around her, ruffling her copper hair, carrying the distant cries of the wounded, the dying.
A quiet breath, and then she whispered into the stillness of her mind.
His voice came instantly, tight with something that sounded like grief.
Tell him… She swallowed hard. Tell him I wasn’t afraid.
She didn’t wait for his answer.
She slammed her mental shields up, building a wall so thick, so impenetrable, that no one could reach her now.
Her heart clenched, but she forced herself forward.
And then Gwyn began to sing.
The first words of a strange, ancient tongue left her lips, soft as a whisper, sharp as a blade.
“…‘Til the battle’s won, ‘til kingdom come,
Ohh, ohh, ohh, I’ll never run…”
Her voice grew stronger with every word, the magic swelling, pulling, unraveling the light around her… too bright, too fierce, a wildfire she couldn’t contain.
“Best to give me your loyalty.”
Her eyes snapped open, going stark white, and the world shook.
The battlefield trembled beneath her feet, the sky itself seeming to shudder as a wave of light erupted from her, sweeping over the enemy lines.
Koschei’s soldiers froze, their bodies rigid, weapons slipping from trembling hands.
Then, one by one, they turned.
Turned on the dark masters they had once obeyed.
The exact moment when the balance shifted.
Their army didn’t hesitate.
Good, they took the chance... now she just have to hang in there a little longer.
“‘Cause I’m taking the world, you’ll see…”
The power surged through her, sinking its claws into her bones. She felt… felt how wrong it was, how she was using it for something it was never meant for.
“They’ll be calling me, calling me…”
Then a pulse against the bond she had locked away.
It throbbed beneath her ribs… not words, just feeling.
A pounding in her head, in her chest… not her own.
Her knees buckled slightly, but she straightened, her voice rising above the chaos.
She couldn’t turn around.
Instead, she looked ahead… to the creatures of shadow and nightmare, to the darkness she was determined to crush.
“They’ll be calling me royalty.”
A chorus of shrieks and howls filled the air as the battlefield erupted into chaos.
But her body, her bones, her mind…
The strain. The unraveling. It was like fire from within, burning her... its own light against her, consuming her.
She staggered, the edges of her vision blurring, the weight of the song still tearing from her throat even as her mind fractured.
She felt it before it happened… her knees giving out, the song cracking in her throat, the darkness rushing in to claim her.