Epilogue
Revel, Sylvans, though danger lurks under our roots! Remind yourselves of joy, though our enemies rise with the full moon.
—EXCHARIAS, SYLVAN POET
Two months later, Thea stared at the dress on her hearth.
Her heartbeat doubled, but not from fear.
She moved forward, her fingers tingling with anticipation even before she lifted the soft fabric.
The dress was black, fitted, and completely plain.
No frills. No ribbons or ruffles. No adornment whatsoever.
She smiled as she realized the adornment would be her shadows. Currently, her butterflies filled her bedchamber, covering the walls, wardrobe, curtains, and window.
She took her time getting ready. First, a bath. Then, she brushed out her hair. When her skin had dried, she slid on the filmy undergarments. Next, the silky gown. Then a pair of black lace gloves.
Before putting on the boots, Thea took a moment to check the looking glass.
Her cheeks were rosy with excitement, her hair a few shades lighter than the dress but dark in contrast to her skin, which had lost some of its summer tan.
She didn’t know what she was anymore—Huntsman, Sylvan king’s daughter, or patroness of shadows—but she felt more herself than she had in a long time.
The tension coiled inside her as she realized she would be returning to Iluna for the first time since she’d escaped. Would her memories come rushing back? Would she hate it there?
What she did know was that Damon had managed to persuade the Sylvan king and queen that he was trustworthy.
He had made several trips to Scarhamm over the past two months, and discussed his efforts to reinforce the walls of Iluna.
At first, the meetings had been tense, full of suspicion and questioning.
But the Sylvan queen clearly had a soft spot for him and smoothed over the worst moments.
The most frustrating part was that Thea had not been alone with Damon once.
However, the fact that this dress had appeared on Thea’s hearth meant that the Sylvan king had instructed Veleda to make an exception to her wards.
For tonight only? Thea shook her head. She didn’t know.
Of course, he hadn’t bothered to tell her about his change of heart.
She supposed that was typical of her father, and she couldn’t expect any different.
As she sat on her bed to put on the black leather knee-high boots with heels, her door burst open. “Thea, I got a dress on my fireplace!” Rozie hopped inside, waving a yellow gown in the air like a prize. “Did you get one? Enora and Cassia—”
Cassia peeked her head in. “Did you ask if she got a dress? Never mind, I can see she did.” She grinned.
The door opened wider, and Enora traipsed in, spinning so the skirt of her teal dress widened out in a bell shape. “I want to know how this thing was tailored to my exact size. It’s slightly eerie. Who made this? I mean, it’s lovely. Honestly, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever worn.”
“Thea got one, too!” Rozie cried. “It looks magnificent!”
Thea had to catch her breath at this sudden tumult. “Enora, really? You received a magical item out of nowhere and just put it on?”
“We knew who it must be from,” Enora said haughtily. “It’s an invitation to dance. You explained that to us. Remember?”
“Yes.” She swallowed, uncertain how her sisters felt about Damon and the shadow realm, even though he had spoken to them all several times over the past months, and the interactions had been polite. “Do you want to go?”
“Obviously!” Rozie cried. “Give me a minute to put it on. Be right back.” And she left in a yellow blur.
Once they were all clothed, Thea gathered her butterflies, inviting them to alight on her dress.
“That looks stunning,” Enora said, and Cassia nodded. Rozie blinked in awe.
Thea instructed her sisters to put their slippers on at the same time. “As soon as they’re on, they’ll lead us to the root that will take us to Iluna,” she said, wondering if this was a good idea.
They each put their slippers on. Nothing happened.
Had Damon left enchantment out of these new clothes, perhaps to give them a choice over whether they accepted his invitation? “I suppose they don’t need to be enchanted now that I know the way.”
The four daughters of the Sylvan king walked in silence from the gates of Scarhamm.
When they reached the walnut tree, Thea stepped onto the root without hesitation. The portal formed, grew, and she entered, holding Rozie’s hand and drawing her along.
The boat ride was quiet, her sisters taking in their surroundings. “If I’d come here alone, I would have been terrified,” Rozie whispered. “But I guess it’s kind of pretty.”
“Yes,” Thea said. It was quite beautiful in its way.
The river reflected the lanterns in the distance.
The moon sprites wheeled freely over the black castle.
For the first time, Thea realized that Damon had never put the sprites in cages the way his father had.
Another sign that he had never been meant to follow in his father’s footsteps.
When they reached the gravel shore, Thea stepped out first, helping each of her sisters alight. Music filtered from the castle, a lilting Sylvan melody.
“Next time,” she said quietly to Cassia, “you can bring Zeru. Does he like to dance?”
“I’m teaching him,” Cassia said shyly, her smile full of gratitude. “Will there be a next time?”
Before Thea could answer, a golden-brown shape materialized in the air behind Cassia.
Rozie shouted and pointed. Thea gasped, her hand going to the knife she had brought just in case she needed it.
What was it? She’d never seen anything like that here or…
anywhere. It looked like a flying… fox? Thea drew her blade.
“Don’t!” Cassia cried out, her lips stretching into a wide grin.
“It’s Voz! Remember I told you about the Vozarra from the welkins?
She can only appear in spirit realms like Welkincaster.
And I guess, like Iluna.” She laughed, looking delighted as the creature came close, alighting next to Cassia. “How did you find me?”
The fox didn’t speak, but Cassia behaved as if it had. “Oh, that’s clever. I’m so glad you’re here. You can come with us to the dance.”
Thea shook her head, marveling at this strange turn of events. But if her sister was happy, so was she. “Welcome, Voz,” she said, realizing how beautiful the creature was with its golden eyes and the copper in its brown fur. Its wings were lovely, almost like Cassia’s.
When they reached the castle, Thea was the first to enter.
Her breath stopped as she saw that Damon stood alone in the center of the ballroom.
He was wearing an ebony jacket in the same fabric as her dress, his shirt and trousers also black.
His face looked pale, his expression formal.
He made a low, elegant bow and swept his hand to the side.
“Welcome, daughters of the Sylvan king. Would you care to dance?”
There were no other dancers, and the ballroom echoed with the emptiness. It was quite different from a Sylvan revel.
Enora composed herself first. “Thank you for the beautiful dress! Your seamstress is incredibly talented.”
Damon inclined his head. “My mother. She is nearby if you want to meet her. I asked her to wait until I’d welcomed you.”
“Of course we want to meet her!” Cassia said, moving forward to clasp Damon’s hands in greeting.
Damon raised his brows at the flying fox who was making herself at home exploring the ballroom, but he said nothing.
“I love my gown, too.” Hers was emerald, the same shade as Zeru’s eyes, which had to be a thoughtful touch on Damon’s part based on what he’d heard about Cassia’s Dracu.
Rozie was uncharacteristically quiet. Thea wondered if she was finding herself a little dazzled by all this. The ballroom was brighter than ever, its silver and black furnishings rich and stately.
Finally, Thea could no longer stall. She stepped up to Damon, inclining her head to him. Her shadows swirled around her, a few of them flitting over to Damon to rest on his shoulders. “Thank you for inviting us.”
He bowed again at the waist, his face set in formal lines. “Thank you for accepting. You look stunning, as I knew you would.”
Thea tried to smile. This was more awkward than she’d thought it would be. It felt strange to be back in this place under such different circumstances. She couldn’t shake off the past so quickly.
Enora and Cassia took Rozie around the room, talking and laughing, probably to give her time alone with Damon.
But a pulse jumping in Damon’s throat showed that he was not as unruffled as he appeared.
Thea thought of everything he had done to make amends, freeing the scuccas as well as many of the silver trees, and finally winning her parents’ approval.
She decided she was ready to offer him another morsel of hope.
“I have a problem you might be able to help me with,” she said casually, or as calmly as she could manage.
“Oh?” He took a step closer, his eyes keen on hers. “What is it?”
“My butterflies need more excitement than they’re getting in Scarhamm. I’m afraid there’s not much going on in my bedchamber of late.”
Damon’s lips curved up in a slow grin. “Can I admit I’m relieved to hear that?”
Thea couldn’t help but fight a smile. “I’m wondering if I can bring them here from time to time. If you invite anyone here, that is. For revels.”
He nodded, the intensity in his eyes warm and fixed on her. “I wanted you to see that it’s not like it was before. I believe this realm still needs folk to come here to lend power to it, but no one will ever be forced to stay. I promise you that.”
“I had already figured as much.” She reached out and took his hand, noting his indrawn breath as their skin touched.
His eyes shone with admiration. “I’m in awe of you, Thea.”
The way he looked at her… nothing made her feel more powerful. Not even her shadows. “I have to warn you, I’m not the type who changes my mind. Once I commit to something, I stick it out. And if I want something, I go after it.”
Damon nodded, his eyes clinging to hers. “And what is it that you want, Thea?”
She stepped into his arms, pressing herself to him chest to thigh, and felt his heart slamming against hers. “I’d like to come back here tomorrow night.” She put her lips to his ear. “Alone.”
Damon’s unsteady chuckle stirred the hair at her temple, sending a pleasant tickle down her spine. “I would like that, too.” His raspy voice made her shiver. “I already have your dress in mind.”
“Oh?”
“It will be”—his lips slid along her cheek, his head bending to press a kiss to the side of her neck—“minimal.”
Thea turned her head and caught his lips with hers, taking his face in her hands and running her fingers through his hair. For the next few minutes, she had no thought for anyone but Damon.
Rozie’s titter made them split apart. “You call that dancing?”
Thea turned her head to see Enora was teaching Rozie steps in the dance, and Cassia was talking with Azra, who was grinning at them. Thea nodded a greeting, her cheeks heating to think they’d had an audience.
As Damon took Thea’s hand, she suddenly remembered why he had to stay here.
Sensing her change of mood, he leaned in and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Thea hated to bring up something serious when her sisters were enjoying themselves, but it was better to face the darkness. “What do we do if we can’t stop the thinning of the walls between my world and the primordials? What if the Old Ones do wake?”
“If they do,” Damon said, “can you imagine a better group of folk to deal with them?” He tilted his head to indicate her sisters, chuckling as his gaze fell on Rozie.
“Your youngest sister alone could probably take them on. She’d order the Old Ones back to sleep, and they’d be terrified enough to obey. ”
Thea laughed, relaxing into Damon’s arms and letting the problems of tomorrow fade to the back of her mind.
As they danced, Thea’s butterflies flew in a cloud over the ballroom, wheeling to the music like blackbirds on a clear morning. Cassia’s winged fox cavorted with them, chasing them in a game they all seemed to enjoy.
And the silver candles flared like shooting stars, their brightness making the darkness more beautiful.