by Jessica Daw
Hope bloomed in my chest, effervescent and brilliant. “Am I reinstated?” My voice came out high. I didn’t care.
“Of course you are,” Father said with a smile. “The Council wholeheartedly supported my decision.”
I was blinking back tears again for the second time in a minute. “Thank you.”
“You earned it, Lena,” he said, and his smile made me remember why Edeleste was home.
“Excellent. Now, more importantly, when can we be married?” Kristian asked, his polite voice mixing poorly with his impatience. I did laugh at that, as did Mother and Father.
We were married a week after our arrival in Edeleste. The only thing I remembered from that day was Kristian’s face, and how very pleased I was to Bind myself to him for the rest of my life.
The only mar was August, who sent an incredibly short note, stating that regretfully he could not attend my wedding. I wondered if he suspected anyone knew his hand in Espen’s death. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to see him, but it still hurt a little that he didn’t come.
It didn’t matter, though. I had Kristian, and Kristian had me. We didn’t know everything, or anything, it felt like sometimes. But we were together, no matter what.
And it turned out that the plants in our castle were all still blooming.
Epilogue
Niviaq
Espen and I walked back into the castle after our patrol, during which, not for the first time since our marriage, we had done a very poor job of protecting Neria’s city walls. I still could hardly bear to be separated from him, and he felt the same about me. It was a strange feeling, and I savored it. I was most definitely in heaven.
Hands linked, we made our way to our rooms to dress for dinner, but we were intercepted by a servant.
“Delivery for His Grace, Espen,” the servant said with a bow, handing Espen a package.
He read the attached letter and then laughed out loud.
“What is it?” I asked, taking it from his hands.
Espen,
You will be pleased to know that Kristian and I have had a safe journey home. We had a few adventures on the way, but don’t worry, I protected Kristian very well. I wrote this to say that I hope we can be friends, and that if you ever treat Niviaq like you planned to treat me, Vansland will declare war on Sikuvok. With hope that you’re as happy with Niviaq as I am with Kristian (which I don’t think is very likely, because you are not Kristian and Niviaq is not me and the castle at Neria is terrible compared to ours),
Your friend,
Lena Bjørnes
