Epilogue #3
Living in Aldon, Pip would be separated from the rest of her family.
But Estyra was a much shorter train ride than the western rail terminal, and the trip would be even shorter if Fieran could requisition a two-seater and fly them.
Besides, Fieran’s job would demand travel back and forth, as would her parents’ jobs.
And when they were pressed for time, they could always meet up halfway in Bridgetown and Calafaren.
While she might live away from her family, she wouldn’t be cut off from them.
After the two of them eased the poster from the wall, Fieran carefully rolled it for her while she found a ribbon to tie around it.
As they finished, there came a knock on the open door. A worker stood there, holding a crate. “Where do you want it?”
“Just set it there by the door.” Pip pointed to the open space on the floor.
Once the worker left, Fieran helped her pack the crate with the things she wanted shipped to Aldon. As they did, Pip found herself talking about the miscellaneous items, reliving her childhood even as she dismantled it.
Yet Fieran listened with a smile, laughing at the right moments, giving her space to cry when needed. Holding her close when she wanted.
As they finished packing the bulk of it, her muka’s shout drifted up the stairs. “Supper is ready!”
Fieran grabbed his bag from where he’d set it on her bed next to hers. “Good. I was beginning to worry.”
“No need. Dwarves never skimp on food.” Pip straightened, brushed her hands off on her trousers, and crossed the room to him. “You can drop your bag off in the guest room, then we can head down.”
“Actually, I need…I need to take my bag to dinner. It’s…” The tips of Fieran’s ears turned pink as he looked away from her, hefting the bag higher on his shoulder.
Oh. Pip’s face heated. He was going to do it. Tonight. The elven gift-giving tradition where he asked her family for their blessing on his coming proposal.
“I see.” Pip took his hand and tilted her head toward the door.
As she and Fieran left her childhood room, her heart was far lighter than it had been a few minutes ago.
Yes, she was shutting the door on her childhood. On life in this home. But a new future stretched before her, bright and happy, filled with family and friends, mechanics and magic, new dreams and new adventures. All with Fieran at her side as she was at his.
Fieran sat on the roof of Pip’s family home, the sun rising at his back and casting long shadows through the trees and over the broad, rippling waters of the Milnissi River. His swords rested in their sheaths across his back, a familiar and comforting weight.
He’d come up here to work off his restlessness this morning, only to realize that his exercising would likely wake everyone still sleeping in the rooms below. Yes, he had elven grace. But even that grace couldn’t prevent the thumps of his weight landing on the roof branches.
Instead, he’d forced himself to simply sit and breathe, releasing the restlessness into the peace of the morning.
A faint scuffing and scratching came from below a moment before Pip’s head appeared above the roof. She grinned at Fieran as she clambered the rest of the way onto the roof. “I thought I’d find you here.”
“You know me well.” Fieran returned her grin, shifting to the side to provide more space on the seat of interlacing branches. This nook formed a surprisingly comfortable seat, almost as if someone had purposely crafted it to be that way.
Pip settled in next to him with a slight sigh. After a moment of silence, she gripped the edge of the branch beneath them. “A year ago, I sat in this very spot and decided to join the Mechanics Auxiliary. Well, Mak convinced me I should.”
“Something he might mildly regret, but I’m glad he did.” Fieran smiled at her, but he resisted the urge to reach for her hand. Not yet.
Instead, he slipped a hand into his pocket, fingering the object there. His heart pounded harder in his chest, his magic burning inside him, as he gathered his courage.
“He regrets it less now that the war is over, and I’m no longer in danger.” Pip propped her elbows on her knees, her gaze focused on the river and the western plains spread before them. She shot him a smile. “I certainly don’t regret it.”
“Good. That’s…good.” His voice was tight in his throat.
Pip looked at him, her brow furrowed. “Are you all right?”
“Fine. I’m fine.” He swallowed, grasping the item in his pocket in his hand. This shouldn’t be scary. Especially not after asking her family for their blessing the night before. It wasn’t like this would be a surprise, nor would Pip say no.
Yet his heart was throbbing in his chest, his magic crackling through his veins. With his palms sweaty, his fingers shaky, he had images of dropping the ring and losing it among the network of branches on the roof.
Perhaps proposing here wasn’t the smartest idea. But this seemed like the moment. He just had to go for it.
“Pip…” He clasped her hand with his free one as he turned toward her. “I love you. I’ve been falling in love with you from the moment we met. You are the most talented, amazing, lovely woman, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Pip pressed her free hand over her mouth, a small squeak escaping her, as she gazed up at him.
That trusting, hope-filled look in her dark brown eyes strengthened him as he held her gaze. “I want to celebrate your every achievement and dream alongside you. I want to look to the sky with you as we build a life together.”
Somehow, he didn’t fumble the ring as he pulled it from his pocket and held it out between them. The three gems—a diamond, a ruby, and an emerald—winked in the morning sunlight where they were set in a silver band etched with the same dwarven designs as the dwarven bracers she’d purchased for him.
“Will you marry me, Pip?” He held her gaze, his heart there between them in that ring.
She made another inarticulate noise in the back of her throat, but other than that she didn’t move or speak.
He managed a slight smile, despite his hammering heart. “Just to be clear, this is a proposal. And an answer is generally expected eventually.”
“Yes!” The word was a high-pitched squeak. Pip flung herself across the space between them, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes! Of course I’ll marry you!”
Fieran wrapped one arm around her, keeping a hold of the ring in his other hand.
Before he could gather his thoughts enough to speak, she pulled back, holding out her hand between them. He slipped the ring on her finger, and she reached up to touch the wrench necklace he’d given her with her non-ring hand. “It matches.”
“Hope that’s okay?” Fieran didn’t release her hand.
“Yes. I love it. It’s perfect.” Pip’s smile beamed in the morning sunlight, her eyes twinkling.
Fieran might have murmured something mushy about how she was perfect. Then he was kissing her, cradling her face as the light of dawn highlighted the strands of her dark hair and played across her skin.
Before them spread the western plains and beyond them, the far dwarven mountains. Adventure lay before him as wide and enticing as the trackless blue sky arching overhead, yet everything he could ever want was already in his arms.