CHAPTER FOURTEEN
brAN
I feel her before I see her, the shift in the air near Bee's door, and I straighten from where I've been leaning against an oak older than most of the kingdoms I've watched rise and fall.
Alexandra comes out the door with her eyes a little red, her cheeks rosy, and the biggest grin on her face.
Immediately I know bringing her to see her friend was the right decision.
Perhaps a tad self-serving on my part, but I think I’m allowed to be selfish every once in a while.
Besides, she has been missing her friend terribly.
“I want to stay,” she says before I can ask how the visit went. “I don't want to make you wait for it. I've decided. I'm staying.”
For a moment frozen in time, I worry I misheard her because I've waited so long to hear those words that some old, cautious part of me needs to confirm they're real before I let myself believe them. “You want to stay?”
She nods. “I want to stay with you, Bran.”
I fairly fly as I cover the distance that separates us and catch her around the waist, lifting her off the ground.
Startled, she laughs, her fingers gripping my shoulders. I crush my mouth to hers, holding her tightly to me. She tastes sweet and like happiness. It’s something I’ve been chasing for more centuries than I want to think about.
Our lips part, and then I’m kissing her again, feeling lighter and freer than I ever have before.
Me, a lord who has raced through the forests, who has swam in endless seas, and who has climbed to impossible heights.
This woman has freed me by filling my heart with a happiness so wondrous that I don’t know how I existed before now.
She pulls back and pats my shoulders. “Okay, you can put me down now. I get it that you’re happy.”
“I am considerably more than happy.” I slowly lower her to her feet.
Alexandra grins. “Yeah, I noticed.”
I keep one hand at the small of her back, unwilling to let the contact break entirely.
“Do you have loose ends?” I ask, feeling impatient to begin our lives here. “Things in your world you need to tidy before this becomes permanent.”
She worries her lower lip. “My condo. My job, I guess, though nobody's going to miss an insurance adjuster who vanishes.” She sighs. “And my mom, she’s in her seventies, and I’m her only child.”
“You do not have to lose any of it entirely. We can travel between realms whenever you like, as long as you are with me. Once we are properly joined, you will be able to make the crossing on your own, without needing me at all.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “So I could just pop back to Pennsylvania for a weekend if I wanted?”
“If you wanted.”
She goes quiet before a touch of sadness fills her eyes. “Will it be like it was with Bee?” she asks. “Will everyone just forget I existed?”
I don't soften it because I promised myself early on that I would never lie to her by omission, not even the kind gentle lies that would be easier on her. “It will.”
Alexandra looks down at the ground. “Oh.”
“It is the truth. I am sorry. I could try to make it less harsh, but it would still be the truth underneath.”
She nods slowly and I can feel the sadness in her. Our love should never cause her pain. What good is it being the Lord of the Woods if I don’t use my powers to prevent this? The decision is an easy one. I will bend the rules for her.
“Your mother will not forget you.”
Her eyes jump up to meet mine. “Bran?”
“The rest of the world will think you might not have existed, but your mother’s memories of you will remain.”
Alexandra leaps into my arms, peppering my face with kisses before she finally lands on my mouth.
My arms go around her immediately, and I taste the joy on her lips as we kiss.
When our lips part, we are both smiling. “Do you want to see anyone before we go?” I ask. “Friends from work?”
“Do you want me to?” she asks breathlessly.
“I want whatever makes this easiest for you.” I cup her chin. “But I will tell you honestly, I do not think it will be easier to say goodbye to people who will not remember you said it. I think it will only be harder, and then you will carry that hardness with you, regardless.”
She nods. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Besides, it’s not like I was close friends with any of my coworkers, and Bee is here.”
“There are people I would like to thank, however, before we settle anywhere.”
She tilts her head at me, and I watch the exact moment she puts it together, a smile breaking loose before I've said another word. “The elves.”
“Yes,” I say it flatly, but there's no real heat in it, not anymore. “Those troublesome, meddling, entirely too pleased with themselves matchmaking elves. Santa truly should give them more work to occupy their time.”
“Hush.” She swats my arm, grinning. “They're the reason you're stuck with me.”
“That is precisely my point.”
***
The workshop smells the way I remember it always smelling: pine, peppermint and magic. The magic worked into the walls so old it's simply become part of the air.
Heads turn the moment we cross the threshold. Elves freeze mid-task, hammers stilled, a string of lights left dangling half-strung between two rafters. I am not an unfamiliar presence in these halls, not exactly, but I am rarely a welcome one, and the wariness in the room is old and well-earned.
Then a delighted shriek fills the air, and a red and white missile of movement weaves between the workbenches, coming to a dead stop in front of us.
Mistletoe stands with her hands on her hips looking between me and Alexandra with a smug expression as her bells jingle merrily. “Look who finally came around!” she cries out in glee.
“Mistletoe.” I formally incline my head in greeting.
“Oh, don't you Mistletoe me.” Her eyes go bright, and before I can register what's happening, she throws both arms around my legs in an exuberant hug.
The entire workshop goes dead silent.
I feel it more than hear it: every hammer stopping at once, every elf within eyeline freezing mid-motion, a dropped spool of ribbon rolling unheeded across the floor.
They were nervous enough having the Lord of the Woods standing in their midst. An elf touching him, hugging him is apparently a different category of alarming entirely.
I stand very still and let her do it, because I owe her considerably more than a hug. Bending and feeling awkward about it, I gently hug her back. “Thank you,” I say, quietly for her ears alone. “For all of it.”
She pulls back and pats my arm twice, giving me a serene nod. “That's what we do.” She turns to Alexandra, beaming and extends her hand. “Now come here, I want to hear everything, and I do mean everything.”
Alexandra glances at me before taking the elf’s hand. Mistletoe pulls her further into the workshop, past workbenches slowly starting to move again as the rest of the elves remember they have jobs to do.
I watch her go, seeing her laugh at whatever nonsense Mistletoe is telling her.
More importantly, I observe her fitting into this world of mine like she was always meant to end up here, and I think, not for the first time this week, that I have never in all my centuries been quite this grateful for meddlesome elves.
We leave before the workshop empties for the evening, hand in hand, returning to my realm and the condo full of her things surrounded by my trees.
***
At the Sugar Plum Fairy Café, Mistletoe is beaming from pointed ear to pointed ear. An expression she’s been wearing for days.
“I have to admit,” Winter says, elf enough to admit when he was wrong, “that went amazingly well.”
“Well?!” Mistletoe’s grin morphs into an outraged scowl. “That went perfectly. Nobody else could have done what I-”
“Ahem,” Carol cuts in, giving her a pointed look.
Sheepishly, Mistletoe nods. “Right. Nobody else could have done what WE have.”
Carol smiles and nods, instantly forgiving Mistletoe “They're perfect together.”
“Obviously,” Ice says, though he's smiling in spite of himself. “I said from the beginning it would work.”
Mary peers over her mug of hot chocolate at him. “You absolutely did not say that.”
He waves a hand dismissively. “I implied it.”
Winter laughs. “You said he'd probably eat someone before the week was out.”
“And he didn't! So, in a sense, I was being optimistic.” Ice takes a very dignified sip of cider. “You're welcome.”
Carol leans forward, bells jingling with barely contained shock. “I still cannot believe you hugged the Lord of the Woods!”
The table goes still, and Mistletoe beams.
“That will be burned into my memory forever,” Mary says.
“And he allowed it,” Winter whispers with wonder.
Mistletoe’s smile becomes positively smug. “He didn’t just allow it, he hugged me back. He’s thankful for everything.”
Ice gets even more serious than usual. “Is he going to start joining us at the café?”
Mary and Carol look positively horrified at that idea, while Winter mulls it over.
“Probably not, but I invited Alexandra to come sometime,” Mistletoe states proudly.
The other elves exchange looks and then smile. Okay, they can handle Alexandra.
Talk turns to the reindeer, who is going to be on the next season of Elf Bachelor, and why the most recent batch of candy canes turned out sour.
Mistletoe isn’t listening, she’s wrapped up in her own thoughts.
Winter notices, and normally that would worry him, but after successfully matching up the Lord of the Woods, Winter reasons whatever Mistletoe thinks up next can’t possibly be as scary.
Mistletoe sets her mug down with a decisive click. “So,” she says casually. “Who's next?”
The table goes quiet, incredulous eyes turning to her.
“We just finished one,” Mary says.
“And it was outstanding.” Mistletoe's bells jingle with cheerful purpose. “Which is exactly why we shouldn't waste the momentum.”
“Nope. Not happening,” Ice speaks up.
Mary gasps. Nobody has ever outright said no before.
Mistletoe’s bells don’t even jingle. She ignores Ice. “I already have someone in mind,” she says cheerfully.
Ice groans.
Her grin turns positively smug. “It will be way easier than all the others. I promise.”
“You can’t possibly promise that!” Carol argues.
“The only thing you can promise is that it's going to be chaos,” Ice mutters.
“Fun, it’s going to be fun.”
“What’s one more time?” Mary says.
“It’s never only one more,” Ice sighs.
Knowing there’s no stopping Mistletoe, the other elves wearily nod their heads and raise their mugs.
“To Operation Spring Forward,” Mistletoe declares.
Winter freezes in the act of clicking his mug with the others. “Wait? You can’t mean…” he trails off.
Grinning, Mistletoe nods. “Oh, yes, I can.”
Ice groans. “Like I said, a total disaster.”