by Chii Rempel
But there are specks of light suddenly floating before me. Little shiny spheres, that snap open their eyes.
They settle on Xander. On his hair, on his cheeks, over his heart. They illuminate his whole body. He’s glowing. It takes my breath away.
They are heaving him upright. Not his body, but him. He’s light and moves easily, like there’s nothing there to hold him back anymore.
I stare at the spirits and there’s only one thing left to do.
“Let me follow him,” I whisper.
“follow him”
“Yes,” I breathe, “I would follow him anywhere.”
Arcadia
The fog is thick and clouds everything in a strange light. It doesn’t feel frightening, it feels like something you lost and have long forgotten.
I spot Xander and Xavier in the middle of the fog and I know this will be the last time I see them. They are shining like stars.
They take each other’s hand. Before they disappear, they turn and look at me.
I smile.
The End.
“Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”
Acknowledgements
This book is so different from everything I’ve written before. I never thought I would write a romance novel but look what happened.
I had a lot of fun working on this story and I can only hope I was able to convey that feeling. Shakespeare is one of my all-time favourite writers and Hamlet is one of the plays I adore most, so the idea to TRiS came very naturally to me. From the very beginning, I knew the essence of the characters, I was familiar with the story … it was just about putting my voice into it. And a few more ghosts.
There are a lot of people I have to thank, who have helped me on this journey.
First of all, thank you Julia. You helped with so many twists and turns of this story, whenever I felt stuck or moved into a wrong direction. You were there to lift me up when I doubted myself. Thank you. This story is as much yours as it is mine.
Another big thank you goes to my best and longest friend Nina. I don’t have words to describe what you mean to me, always and forever.
Thank you to my amazing cover artist Marie Graßhoff. As always, I am blown away by your work.
And to Aico, Carry and Jay, who always have my back and support me wherever they can. Thank you, my darlings, I would be lost without you.
And of course, thank you to my wonderful fiancé, for supporting my dream. I love you.
