by Anna Sheehan
‘Don’t thank me,’ he said. ‘It was what I had to do.’
‘I know,’ she said. ‘And that was how I knew.’
Reynard closed his eyes, ashamed of himself. He knew so much about himself now, and so much of it was unsavoury. Yes, he had saved her – he saved everyone, if he could. But he was shadowed and still angry, and he always would be. To think she’d known it all before he did … and still she didn’t hate him. Or did she? In the end, she knew him to the core, but he had no idea what went on in her odd, Witty, Wise, Merciful head. ‘Why have you come?’ he said at last.
‘I came to ask you to come back with me,’ Will said. ‘The ban on spinning has been revoked, and the ban on magic was only Lesli’s. We want you at the palace.’
He looked at her then. ‘We?’
‘I want you,’ she said, and then realized how strange that sounded. ‘I’d like to learn more magic. I asked if you could come, and Mother agreed. There’s still the thorns, and they’re still dangerous. And I think you owe me that, at least.’
His expression changed to incredulity. ‘You want gold?’
‘Spin the wretched things into straw for all I care, just something less deadly.’ She smiled. ‘Seven-year contract as you help us rid the palace of Cait’s briars. After that there’ll be land and a title. Huge flock of sheep. Fields of flax.’
He smiled then, a real smile, as he looked down at his knees. She knew what he’d always wanted. She knew everything. But he licked his lips and looked out over the water. Seven years beside her, and unable to hold her. It would be torture. ‘I’m sorry, Will. I can’t.’
‘Would it make any difference if I told you I loved you too?’
He froze in shock. It was as astonishing, in its way, as the moment she said his name. He knew she had known – she knew everything – but that she might feel the same about the vengeful, angry puppy who had nearly destroyed her kingdom, tortured her family, and almost gotten her killed? He hated himself. How could she possibly love him? He turned to her, too amazed to even reach for her, and she smiled. ‘I know you,’ she whispered.
‘You do,’ he breathed. He reached out then, and touched her cheek, letting his hand trace down her throat to rest at the little briar above her heart. It beat strong and steady in her mortal chest, a lifetime of strength and Bravery, cleverness and Wit, Wisdom and knowledge, Honesty and passion, Mercy, and love. All her gifts, and herself besides. ‘Will,’ he said. Not Willow, not the false name of her parents’ title, but herself. Her own powerful strength of Will.
‘Reynard,’ she whispered, and the name didn’t hurt so badly. He would never forget his lifetime of shadow, never feel fully at ease in his own light. But if she could know and accept him … maybe he could accept himself, too.
He kissed her then, as he’d dreamed a hundred times, as he did in his mind every night before he could sleep, and never thought he would again. She was drowning in autumn sunshine, wicked laughter, soft spun fleece. As she melted into his arms the final walnut fell from her pocket to the ground, where it cracked open. It was some time before they knew that it held a beautiful red wood spinning wheel, exquisite in its craftsmanship, and like her cherry wood boat, able to sneak back into the shell and be carried anywhere. Roux abandoned his squirrels and curled up beneath it, waiting for them.
And that was really all. Will would have liked to say they lived happily ever after, if she wasn’t cursed with both Wit and Honesty. But there was no such thing as happily ever after, no matter how much she loved her faerie tales. But they lived. And they were often happy. And it was always possible for each of them to banish the shadows from each other’s lives. And that really is all anyone can hope for.
Also by Anna Sheehan from Gollancz:
A Long, Long Sleep
No Life But This
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Copyright
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Anna Sheehan 2015
All rights reserved.
The right of Anna Sheehan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2015 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 0 575 10482 2
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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