EPILOGUE
brAN
Over my long-lived life, I have performed countless bindings, each one personal, each one sacred in its own right. But none more so than the one I perform now, binding Alexandra and myself together for all time.
We walk to the clearing together, hand in hand, the path worn smooth beneath our feet from. She's quiet beside me, which isn't like her.
“You're nervous,” I say.
“I'm not nervous.” She blows out a frustrated breath. “Okay, I'm a little nervous.” She peers up at me. “Is that normal? For this?”
I smile. “I wouldn't know. I've never done this for myself before.”
Her expression softens. “Right. I keep forgetting you're new at this part too.”
“I am considerably better at officiating other people's happiness than I am at navigating my own.”
“You're doing fine so far.” She squeezes my hand. “Better than fine, actually.”
The trees open ahead of us, and there it is, a clearing where in the center the old willow stands, its long, graceful branches swaying gently in the breeze.
Months have passed since she agreed to come and be my mate.
Though Alexandra prefers the title of wife.
Her condo sits transplanted into the trees not far from here, she has visited her mother twice, and she and Bee are practically joined at the hip.
That means I’ve been invited to a lot of meals at Declan and Bee’s house.
The leprechaun isn’t a bad sort, and one day perhaps, dare I say it, we might be friends.
But today there is only Alexandra and me. She wears a green dress, with her blonde hair back in a ponytail with a matching green scrunchie.
My own long hair flows freely down my back with the wild ivy vines intermingled among the strands of hair.
My natural appearance took Alexandra by surprise the first time she saw it, and I immediately changed back into the human form I had when I was on Earth with her.
She insisted that she liked my real form better; it was just a shock.
And when she looked down and saw my bare feet she laughed, saying she had already anticipated them.
One day she too will be barefooted and racing through the woods with me. She rolls her eyes at that, but I am certain it will be so.
I take both her hands in mine.
Her palms are warm and a little damp, which she would be embarrassed by if she noticed me noticing, so I don't mention it.
I know the old words. I have known them for longer than I can properly account for, spoken over other joined hands in other clearings not unlike this one.
Opening my mouth, nothing comes out.
Alexandra's fingers tighten around mine, but she doesn’t rush or hurry me.
Digging my toes into the rich earth helps, and I try again.
The first word catches slightly, but by the third, the rhythm of the ancient words moves through me, and the magic stirs in the air.
The ground answers before I finish.
I feel it move through the soles of my feet first, up through hers a heartbeat later, roots stirring somewhere far below us, patient, enormous, and as ancient as I am. Light shifts across Alexandra’s face, pale yellow deepening to something warmer and richer.
Her breath catches and she sways slightly, though her fingers continue to clutch mine.
I keep speaking. The words coming easier now, carried along by something bigger than my own voice, and I watch her blue eyes as I say them, and see the exact moment the magic reaches her.
She grips my hands hard enough to hurt.
I don't stop. I couldn't if I wanted to.
Then it reaches me too, and my vision blurs as warmth fills my eyes.
I blink and the warmth and blurriness clear briefly before things blur again.
Alexandra's brow furrows as she looks at me. “Are you crying, Bran?”
I refuse to answer.
Smiling, she reaches up and brushes moisture from my cheek. “Lords are allowed to cry,” she says gently.
“Then I am crying,” I whisper as more tears trickle from my eyes.
Our hands join once more, and I speak the final words of the binding. The connection between us is woven into the very fabric of our souls, bringing us closer and extending Alexandra’s life to match my own.
I pull her against me, and she comes without hesitation, both of us smiling, and I notice some tears in her eyes as well.
Kissing her I feel a surge of life traveling through me into the ground and out into the surrounding area.
Flowers pop up everywhere and quickly bloom.
Insects immediately converge on them, and from a burrow bunnies emerge to hop about and munch on the new plants.
When we break apart, her forehead rests against mine. Neither of us says anything for a long moment. There isn't anything that needs saying.
“So,” she says eventually, voice still a little rough. “Was that everything you imagined?”
“No,” I press my lips to her temple. “It was better.”
She laughs and tucks herself against my side, where she fits perfectly.
We walk back toward the condo together, her hand in mine, with countless centuries stretching out ahead of us that no longer feel like something to simply endure.
I spent longer than I can properly measure believing merely existing and watching others being happy was the closest I could ever get to finding my own happiness.
I was wrong about that. I have been given the greatest gift I will ever know, Alexandra’s love.
Together, our love will be everlasting, and for the first time in my entire existence, I know true happiness.
THE END
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