Epilogue
ALIX
“ T ake a deep breath. Crossing over can be disorienting.”
Nana glares up at me from where she landed on the muddy ground. She swats away my outstretched hand and pushes herself to her feet. “Stop treating me like an old lady. I’m not dead yet.”
I purse my lips. “And we’d like to keep it that way. Don’t you think?—”
Nana holds up one finger to silence me. Only then do I notice the stiffness in her posture and her wide eyes as she stares dazedly around the garden. You’d think she’d never seen roses before.
Then again, the garden looks especially beautiful during the day, and I suppose Nana has never seen much of Vernallis in the sunlight.
“Um, this is just the yard,” I tell her quickly. “Wait until you see the house. Come on, let's get you some dry clothes.”
I grab Nana’s hand and pull her through the overgrown garden. It’s taken me a few tries to get used to navigating the endless maze of flowers, but I can do it almost perfectly now. It helps that Sushi has no trouble getting lost in the garden and often greets me when I move back and forth through the portals.
Since moving to Ellender permanently, I’ve passed back through the portals several times—mostly just to use my phone and so my mother doesn’t think I died. This time, it was to pick up Nana and bring her back here for Christmas.
It turns out that humans can’t usually access the portals on their own—at least, not on purpose—but that was another welcome side effect of King Thorne’s necklace. I’m wearing so much magic on my chest that I can pass back and forth whenever I want. Thorne was useless in almost every way, but his necklace has really turned out to be a lifesaver— literally.
“It’s warm here,” Nana comments, glancing down at the soaking wet winter coat clinging to her slight frame.
“Yeah. It’s been warmer since the curse broke. I’m not sure if it’s going to stay that way forever, but I’ve honestly just been enjoying being outside in the sun. So has all of Vernallis, with the sun back their magic is getting stronger by the day.”
“Interesting,” Nana comments. “I can’t wait to see that.”
Nana peels her coat off and throws it over her arm as we march through the garden. Ahead of us, an enormous gray cat prances out of the bushes and bounds straight for Nana. He rubs up on her leg and she squeals in delight, sounding at least thirty years younger than she is. I pause and watch as she picks him up and he barely squirms in her arms.
“Oh Pooka,” she coos, bouncing Sushi up and down in her arms. “I think he’s gained weight, Ali. What have you been feeding him?”
I roll my eyes. “That’s not our fault, believe me. The house had so many mice when we moved in he was having a gourmet feast every single day.”
Nana puts Sushi down and raises a brow at me. “Alright then, let’s see this rodent infested mansion of yours.”
I flush.“There’s no mice anymore. We’re still working on fixing the house up, but it’s been going pretty quickly. Especially now that we’ve officially moved out of the palace.”
It only took hours after King Thorne’s death before Daemon and I realized that we didn’t want to live at the Winter Palace, where every winding hall felt haunted by the curse and Thorne’s horrible reign of terror. Still, it took us over a month to disentangle ourselves from the noble court and move into the Ashwater estate.
Nearly as soon as Daemon became king, we realized there’s a whole lot more to running a functioning country than having the blessing of the court. Clearly Thorne hadn’t been doing anything for the country for over a century and the kingdom had stagnated under the effects of the curse. With the end of the darkness however, came a new dawn for Vernallis–literally.
All of a sudden advisors and courtiers popped out of the woodwork looking to cement their places in the new court. Letters and messengers started arriving from the other courts, and soon we had to bring in some advisors if only to help take on the workload. Officially, Kastian, Odessa, Jett and Fox became the first and only members of the King and Queen's inner circle, and the first thing on our agenda was to move the capital of Vernallis to Storia.
The second thing on the agenda was opening a music store in the village.
“This is the estate,” I announce proudly, pushingthrough the last of the rose bushes until we’re standing on the edge of the patio. “So, what do you think?”
Nana looks awed. “I think it’s the perfect place for your fairytale ending. Are you going to show me around?”
I grin and grab her hand. “Yes of course, come on, we’ll start in the kitchen.”
I gently guide Nana out of the garden and across the patio to the house where Beatrix is busy preparing afternoon tea. As we approach, I catch Beatrix's eye through the window. She sets down a delicate teacup and waves enthusiastically. Her gaze shifts to Nana, and her face lights up with delight. She dashes to the back door and bursts out onto the patio. “Belle!”
Nana gives Beatrix a warm hug, her eyes crinkling. I hover in the background while they catch up.
Before Ellender I never could have imagined living in the same house as my mother-in-law. But then, I never had a mother-in-law like Beatrix, who was overjoyed to welcome me into her family from the very moment I arrived. She loves having her house full again, and is constantly hinting that she’d like a grandchild or two to dote on.
Soon , I always think. Soon, but not yet.
Thanks to my necklace I no longer feel like I’m on a deadline and I’m excited to spend a few years just getting to know myself and my new life.
“Have you seen Odessa, yet?” Beatrix asks Nana excitedly. “I’m sure she’ll be ecstatic that you’re here.”
“We just arrived,” I explain. “But I bet Dessa is outside. Come on, Nana, I can show you the rest of the property while we look for her.”
“I’ll have tea ready for all of you when you come back inside,” Beatrix calls after us, waving merrily and bustling back into her kitchen.
I take my time looking for Dessa, showing Nana around the entire property first.
We stop by the stables, where my horse, Marie, now has the best kept stall on the premises and gets to enjoy taking me out for daily trail rides. Then we walk through the courtyard, where we find Fox and Jett play-fighting with long wooden swords. They have quite the audience—a dozen or so blue-jacketed soldiers, and Aurelia who is sitting under a nearby tree with a book in her lap and pretending not to watch. I smirk when I see her shoot a sideways glance at Jett who lifts the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat off his brow.
“Explain the tin men,” Nana mutters, jerking her head toward the soldiers.
“We couldn’t get rid of the guards completely,” I explain, as we both stop to watch the sparring match. “I don’t have any doubt Daemon and the guys could handle any threat, but we didn’t want to put hundreds of soldiers out of work. Now we have them on a rotation and there’s never more than twelve guards here at a time.”
Nana’s eyes widen. “Twelve? That’s a lot, especially when you already have so many people living with you.”
“I like living with so many people. The house is obviously big enough for all of us and I’m never lonely anymore. It’s like constantly being at summer camp.” I shrug. “And don’t worry about the guards you’ll hardly notice them. Now that Fox is in charge of the army everyone has gotten really quiet.”
“Fox?” Nana raises a brow.
I gesture across the courtyard. “The tall blonde guy who looks like that Viking vampire from True Blood . He doesn’t talk much. Don’t take it personally.”
We wave to Fox, Jett and Aurelia and continue our walk around the property searching for Odessa.
We don’t have to search very hard.
On the opposite side of the house from the rose garden sprawls a vast lawn, now so overgrown with a riot of wildflowers that it resembles a vibrant meadow. At the far edge of this meadow is a serene lake, far larger the tiny portal-pond nestled in the garden. I know that the lake is exactly where we’ll find Dessa, lying on the grassy bank and soaking in the sun.
I lead Nana through the meadow, stopping occasionally so she can admire an unusual flower or insect. When we’re thirty yards back from the rocky shore of the lake, I raise a finger to point out Odessa’s hair, which shines practically ruby red in the sun. Before I can say anything, I’m drowned out by an enormous splash and a roar of water. An enormous geyser jets up from the center of the still water, splashing back down with enough force to flood half the lawn. Moments later, Dessa's piercing scream echoes violently across the property, slicing through the air like a sharp blade.
I stop short. “Oh, no…”
Nana stops beside me. “Trouble?” she asks, her lip curling with a mischievous smile.
“No…not trouble. Just?—”
I don’t have to explain. As we watch, the surface of the lake shifts again, this time forming a giant wave which crashes down hard, soaking everything in a ten foot radius.
Odessa jumps up, spitting mad and soaking wet. She storms across the small beach screaming something in a language I don’t understand. My gaze darts in the direction she’s heading and I’m unsurprised to find Kastian, leaning casually against a tree.
“Oooph,” I murmur, reaching for Nana’s shoulder and turning her gently back toward the house. “Let’s wait and talk to Dessa later. When the magical language filter can’t even pick up what she’s shouting that means she’s really mad.”
Nana cracks a smile. “I take it those two don’t get along?”
“Um…I’m not really sure, actually.” I answer, quickly ushering us away in case Kastian decides to floor the entire property… again. “I think it’s more like she hates him and he likes upsetting her.”
“Pulling her pigtails on the playground?”
“Yeah, I think so. I guess all we can do is wait and see.”
“This place is beautiful, Ali, truly,” Nana gushes as we return to the house. “I might just be inspired to write another book.”
I grin. “Maybe this one will be a halfway decent movie.”
Nana scowls and swats playfully at my arm. “Hush. The movie might have been garbage, but it paid for the cruise I sent your mother on so she wouldn’t notice I came here for Christmas.”
We walk up to the front door of the house and two blue-jacketed guards step aside to let us pass. One nods at me and I nod back, recognizing him as one of the guards who was at the gate when I first arrived at the Winter Palace a thousand years ago.
Nana waits for us to step into the foyer, then turns to me. “Should they bow to you or something?” she asks, shooting me a playful glance.
“You just want them to bow to you since you’re with me.”
“A woman can dream, alright? But really, why don’t they call you the queen?”
“Because I’m not the queen. Not yet, anyway. Daemon is the king by birth, so he doesn’t have to wait for an official coronation to be the king,” I explain. “We haven’t even had time to plan a ceremony yet, but the advisors say that’s not unusual. I guess coronations usually happen up to a year after the last king dies, plus we’ve confused them all by moving in here instead of the palace, so it’s taking some time to sort itself out. The villagers love having us here, though. It’s brought tons of new people to the town and they’re finally expanding.”
“But what about you? Will you also have a coronation?”
“I’m not royal so I’ll have to wait for our wedding before anyone calls me queen. I’m not in any hurry, though. I’m already doing the job and it’s not like I’ll get any extra benefits by having the title. I know the people respect me, I don’t need anyone to bow.”
“Does that mean you’ve decided to get married?” Nana asks, a twinkle in her eyes.
I shrug. “Eventually.”
“Not to overstep, hon, but you literally moved across worlds. You’re renovating a house together. What else is there to wait for?”
“You’re relentless.” I give her shoulder a playful nudge. “We’re waiting for my divorce to be finalized, which is taking longer than it should because I’m living ‘ in Europe ’ with bad cell reception.”
She furrows her brow. “Why bother? I can’t imagine that matters here.”
“Because I want it finalized.”
Daemon’s voice echos through the house and I turn in a circle before I finally spot him. Daemon is striding down the stairs toward us. He’s smiling and dressed casually in a loose white shirt and black trousers.
“Or really?” Nana asks.
Daemon’s tone remains flat, but his eyes dance with humor. “I don’t want anyone claiming rights to what’s mine, in this world or any other.”
As if to illustrate his point, he stops beside me and throws his arm over my shoulder, pulling me in for a quick kiss.
Nana shakes her head, her mouth tipping up slightly. “As long as you’re happy, Ali.”
I smile and lean my head against Daemon’s chest. “I am.”
“Well then that’s what counts, but I still expect a wedding. It should be a big dramatic affair, like Princess Diana. I don’t have forever to wait, you know.”
I roll my eyes. She’s always telling me she’s got endless time left, but then the moment she wants something it’s all “I’m mortal, I’ll be dead before you know it.”
“How about you write another book and then we’ll get married.” I state, hoping she’ll just drop the whole idea.
“What?” Nana squawks. “That’s unfair! You can’t put that kind of deadline on creativity.”
“We’re in no rush,” Daemon says, smiling against my ear. “The deadline is your choice.”
“Here, I’ll even help you,” I laugh, watching Nana fret. “You can start with ‘Once upon a time’ and stop when you hit ‘And they all lived happily ever after.”
THE END