“Thank you” seemed like the wrong thing to say somehow, the words both inadequate and not entirely true. There were other words, however, that might end up meaning more. “You could write.” Illiana pushed the words out in a rush, worried her resolve would fail her. “The castle gets very good letter service.”
Ariadne froze, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, then closed her eyes. “Yes,” she breathed, squeezing her sister’s hands painfully tight. “I will write you.”
When she slipped away, Illiana to watch her go. Once Ariadne was gone, the queen let herself smile at the wonderfully familiar presence behind her. “I didn’t intend to pull you away from the celebration,” she said, turning to look at the man who had come to mean so much to her
“I know,” Bishop said quietly, his voice happier than she had ever heard it. “But I prefer to be near you always.”
Tears that had barely had time to dry welled up again, and she took him in her arms in a way she hadn’t been brave enough to do for so long. His arms came around her as well, as steady as the mountains that surrounded the kingdom.
“As I would prefer to be near you, my love,” Illiana whispered against his shirt, marveling that she had been granted such a gift twice in her life. She wondered, at times, if Thomas had sent him to her. “Stay with me.”
He pressed a kiss against her hair. “There is nowhere else I would be.”
Epilogue
Many Happy Returns
They waited until the day after Elena turned eighteen to officially celebrate her birthday. It was Elena’s idea, but no argument had been needed to persuade everyone else. Cam himself hadn’t slept very well that night, finally giving up an hour or so before dawn. He debated whether or not sneaking into Elena’s room to check her breathing was allowed per the unofficial fiancé rules and regulations. Before he could decide, her door opened.
Cam let himself just stare at her for a minute, knowing he was grinning like an idiot but not caring. He hadn’t ever let himself think too much about this last, lingering bit of shadow in his heart, the fear that they had somehow missed something. But with the deadline safely behind them, he felt like dancing. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself.” She closed her bedroom door behind her, moving closer. Her smile was bright as the sunlight. “You look uncommonly cheerful for a man who sounded like he spent most of the night pacing.”
“You’re exaggerating. I only spent a third of the night pacing. I was tossing and turning for the rest of it.” He moved toward her, sliding an arm around her waist. “Of course, I notice you’re up ridiculously early yourself.”
“Maybe I simply wanted to put my overprotective but somehow oddly adorable fiancé out of his misery.” She laid one hand on his shoulder and wiggled the fingers of the other. “Dance with me?”
Taking her hand in his, he twirled the woman he loved around the room.
~
“This is your fault, you know,” Elena said under her breath later that morning, waving at the crowds of people lining the streets. Her smile was taking on a faintly homicidal edge, but Cam was pretty sure no one else recognized it. “No one in their right mind says the word ‘parade’ at a committee meeting.”
“I didn’t think they’d take me seriously,” Cam whispered back, pushing an enormous papier-mâché flower back into place before it fell and gave one of them a head injury. They were on a float that looked like an enormous mutant garden, the words “spring into hope” emblazoned on the side in ornate, glittery script. Sadly, it was far from the most ridiculous float in the parade. “What I really want to know is how you talked them into letting you drag me along for the ride. We haven’t officially announced the engagement yet!”
“I told them you’re going to be king one day,” she murmured, giving him an amused glance before turning her attention back to her subjects. He should really not enjoy the wicked gleam in her eye so much, especially when the torment was being directed at him. “You need the publicity practice.”
“Are you sure I can’t just be a consort or something?” he asked, the same question he’d tried a hundred different times since he’d heard about this particular quirk in local law. The only person who seemed to understand how he felt was Bishop, who would get saddled with a kingship himself as soon as he and Elena’s mother officially tied the knot. “Her Majesty’s Royal Muscle and Personal Houseboy?”
Elena pressed her lips together, eyes dancing as she fought the urge to laugh. “My mother wasn’t royal, and she ruled the kingdom single-handed for six years. We’d have to dismantle centuries of tradition to keep you from having to sit next to me on the throne.” She reached over with her free hand, squeezing his. “So man up, Merrick. You’re not going to get out of policy meetings quite that easily.”
“I don’t mind the policy meetings, as long as they keep letting us go to the same ones,” he murmured. “I will make you laugh in the middle of a tax debate, one of these days.”
She smiled again, but this one was genuine. “And you wonder why I dragged you up on the float with me. Now start waving, Royal Muscle and Personal Houseboy. My arm is getting tired.”
~
Dinner, thankfully, was just for family.
“This table is exactly fifty-five footsteps long,” Gabby announced, having decided sometime in the last week that her destined career was going to involve measuring things. She wasn’t entirely certain what real job would allow her to do that, but Bishop was trying valiantly to help her with the research. “And the room is three hundred and fifty footsteps long.” She looked at the queen. “I always thought this room was really big. Why do you have such a big room?”
The queen looked amused as she took a careful spoonful of soup. “I’m not sure, exactly. It was already here when I moved in.”
“I believe it was built this big to accommodate state dinners,” Bishop offered. “There hasn’t been one here for decades, but the records suggest that Elena’s great-grandfather was particularly fond of them.”
Cam eyed the room. The ten of them were bunched together on one side of the table, with a lot of empty space left on the other side. And if you brought in enough tables to actually fill the room, “That’s a lot of mouths to feed.”
“Oh, they probably didn’t fill it,” Mason offered, reaching for a particularly complicated looking salad and passing it over to their mother. “Anything ridiculously large is good at intimidating the enemy. It’s basic battle tactics, used at the dinner table.”
“Which is why Laurel’s so terrifying to the enemy, I’m sure,” Elena offered, smiling syrupy-sweet at Cam’s oldest sister. “Her swollen head would be enough to frighten anyone.”
“We should get you out on the field some time,” Laurel shot back, matching Elena’s smile. “With your ego and my swollen head, we could conquer the world.”
Both women laughed as both Marie and the queen aimed a chiding look at their respective offspring. Robbie, shaking his head in a gesture that looked far too old and wise for his actual years, passed Cam the basket of rolls. “You do realize you have surrounded yourself with women who are scarier than you are, right?” he asked his brother.
Cam took a roll, then passed the basket on to Gabby’s eagerly reaching fingers. “I had picked up on the subtle signs,” he replied cheerfully, not at all bothered by Robbie’s smirk. “Not my fault, though. Dad passed the gene onto all of us.”
Alan shrugged. “It’s true. Merrick men are instinctively drawn to women who will run them ragged.” He smiled a little. “Your future wife will probably blow things up as a hobby.”
As Robbie looked horrified, Cam grinned. “Elena’s already taken that slot, remember?”
“It was one pair of socks. One!”
~
Cam finally got Elena alone again later that night. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite as excited by the activity as he was by the
company.
“It’s like you don’t trust me,” Elena chided, adjusting the straps of his harness one more time. “I used the exact same routine to make your harness that I did to make my own. I am starting you in a safe, well-protected clearing, where you won’t have to worry about either falling from a great height or the potential mockery of others. And you still look as though I have a loaded crossbow pointed at your head.”
Cam took a deep breath. “It’s not you I don’t trust.” He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, helplessly calculating all the ways he could make himself look like an idiot over the next few hours. “Are you really sure I can’t just stay on the ground and watch you be magnificent?”
“I will never understand why this is the one thing you think you won’t be able to do,” she murmured, stepping back and giving the harness’s fit a critical once-over. She tightened one of the leather bracelets,.
Cam watched her work, letting himself be distracted by the concentration on her face. “There has to be something. The odds against me get stacked higher with each new thing I try.”
“Somehow, I think you’ll survive the experience.” She kissed his cheek, stepping back as he pulled his shirt back over his head. The disappointment in her eyes was extremely gratifying, but the nights were getting cold and there was nothing less sexy than hypothermia. “Just follow my lead, don’t get ahead of yourself, and you’ll be flying just like a cute little bird.”
“You know you’re the only person in the world who I’d let get away with calling me something like that, right?”
Elena raised her eyebrow. “I think your mother could manage it.”
Cam considered this, then nodded. “Okay. One of only two people who could call me something like that.”
She laughed. “I’m honored.”
They took each other’s hands, holding on tight as Elena murmured the words of the spell. Cam could practically feel the magic gathering in the harness and bracelets, a subtle lift that suggested they were now holding themselves up completely independent of gravity. Even after all the magic he’d seen, it was both amazing and just the slightest bit terrifying.
Seeing something in his face, Elena squeezed his hands. “Just trust me.”
“I do.” He lifted her fingers to his lips, the same silent promise they’d made to each other dozens of times over the last several months. “I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t.”
“Good.” She smiled, taking a step back without letting go of him. “Now, we’re going to jump on the count of three. One . . . two . . .”
Together, they flew.
Acknowledgements
It takes a village to make a story. First, thank you so much to my fans. You guys are amazing, and I love each and every one of you. My eternal thanks to my mother, who will always be my first and best editor. This time, though, I had extra help. Heather De Puy, Noie Duckgeischel, and GhostWriterLost were with me from the first chapter to the last, giving me an invaluable perspective outside of my own head.
And for Rachel, both a thank you and an acknowledgement of your suffering. I know you went further inside your head than you ever wanted to for this one, but I think I can safely say that it won’t happen again.
Jenniffer Wardell is a fantasy author and fairy godmother extraordinaire who thinks the world needs more happily-ever-afters (and a better sense of humor). She’s written two previous books, Fairy Godmothers, Inc. and Beast Charming, and in her free time is an award-winning arts and entertainment journalist. She lives in Salt Lake.
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