"MORTILOS JAQUIRANDO!"
A torrent of emotion rushed through the new royal wizard as light erupted from the end of his tamborita like a beacon.
It worked! The spell had finally worked!
It was as if something inside him had been unlocked. Hope? Confidence? Elena had been right, no amount of studying magical theory could have accomplished this.
It was extraordinary, really. He'd been trying to master that spell for weeks but had failed time and time again.
"Do what you're meant to do and let your magic fly…"
As he watched his spell unfolding above them, he was hyper aware of Elena's arms around him, her face so close to his own, they were nearly cheek to cheek. He'd been studying magic alone in his dark basement for so many years, he'd never really known what it was like to have someone believe in him so fully. He'd never understood what having another person—a person who truly cared about this precious secret part of him—come alongside him would be like.
It was as if the light from his tamborita had sparked inside him, filling him with hope.
Mateo gasped as in that moment of realization, his shimmering jaquin illusion split into two—two jaquins spiraling together in perfect harmony in the air above their heads. He understood then that he was no longer alone and in the dark.
No, he had the unwavering faith of the crown princess beside him shining brightly, like a comet shooting across the night sky.
And that was a powerful thing.