Epilogue
One Year Later
The City of Traumstead, Formerly the Grimnight Forest
Building a New Life Together
Waking up with Treasure in my bed never got old.
He was still asleep, softly snoring, mouth hanging slightly open with a little bit of drool on his lips.
I grinned and tucked in closer to his side.
Without missing a beat, as if he’d been awake the whole time, his arm wrapped around me and held me tighter.
I closed my eyes, happy to drift back to sleep for a few more hours—
Bang!
Thump!
Rat-tat-tat.
Clang-ching-clang-ching-clang-ching.
Treasure’s chest rose and fell in a deep sigh. “Eight o’clock already? I suppose we should get up.”
“No,” I protested, burying my head against his chest.
A low laugh rumbled through him. “It’ll just continue all morning.”
I raised one hand and waved it dismissively through the air.
Nothing happened. Frowning, I did the motion again, adding a twisted sigil.
Nothing. I finally raised my head and glared at my right hand before remembering it wasn’t the culprit, but my left hand—and the black anti-magic crystal ring—was currently slipped under Treasure’s shirt, pressed against his warm skin, and I wasn’t ready to part from him yet just to glare at an inanimate object.
Treasure rubbed my back in soothing circles. “What were you trying to do?”
“Sound barrier,” I said, letting my head drop back to his chest. Even this close to him, the damned construction noise outside blocked out his soft heartbeat.
“We’ll have to soundproof the walls the old-fashioned way.”
I pursed my lips in thought. “There’s an idea. Then I can make you scream all night long without worrying about the neighbors.”
He chuckled and nuzzled my neck. “You weren’t very worried last night. Maybe because you were the one—”
I clamped a hand over his mouth. “Not another word.”
He childishly licked my palm. I narrowed my eyes and shifted my grip, sliding my thumb between his lips.
“I’m not worried now, either,” I murmured. “Since no one will hear us over that racket anyway.”
Treasure gazed at me, blue eyes half-hooded, and closed his lips around my thumb, sucking it to demonstrate how we could spend our morning—
“How can you possibly sleep through this noise?” a cheery voice shouted from the hallway.
“Godsdammit, Delilah!” Trey yelped, teeth scraping against my skin as he jerked his head away to speak. “Learn to knock!”
“I did! It’s not my fault the construction is so loud!”
“Get out of here!”
“But we have breakfast plans!” she insisted.
Trey sighed and glanced down at me. “Later.”
My lips pinched to the side in disappointment, but I inhaled slowly and released the annoyance with my exhale. “We shouldn’t keep our guests waiting.” I started to disentangle myself from Treasure, but he tightened his arms around me and threw a leg over my hips for good measure.
“We can keep them waiting for a few minutes,” he murmured before kissing me.
I parted my lips, inviting his tongue inside, always eager for another taste of him. He shifted his hips, pressing the firm length of his own eagerness against me.
Knock, knock, knock. “Treeeey, Willlldee, I’m hungry!”
“Fuck,” Trey growled.
“Not this morning, apparently.”
He scowled and pinched my ass before finally separating from me.
He sat up on the bed, displaying a full, broad back covered in red scratch marks, both fresh and faded.
I only had a few seconds to appreciate them before he stood up and walked to his wardrobe and slowly covered up all his naked glory.
I sighed and pushed myself up to follow him, grabbing clothes at random. Unlike Treasure, who had to worry about whether the jewel-tones clashed, all my clothes were white, gray, or black, which made dressing easier.
“One of these days,” he said, wrapping a hand around my waist and toying with a button on my gray trousers, “I’ll dress you head to toe in rainbows.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t threaten me unless you’re prepared to deal with the consequences.”
He laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Your punishments are practically incentives.”
“Brat.” I reached for him to show him, but he danced out of range, still laughing.
When he opened the door, Delilah’s raised fist collided with his chest hard enough to make him grunt. “Finally!” she exclaimed, not apologizing for the accidental punch. “We’ve been waiting for ages—”
“Delilah,” another voice scolded from the kitchen. “Give them a little space.”
“Or they’ll lock themselves back in the bedroom,” someone else added.
I stepped out from behind Trey to see two princes sitting at our kitchen table.
“Good morning, Wilde,” Rick said, raising a mug to me. They’d helped themselves to coffee while waiting on us.
“Good morning,” I murmured, bowing my head politely.
Rick sighed and turned to Brendon. “One of these days he’ll call me Dad.”
“As long as he doesn’t call either of us ‘Daddy,’” Brendon said with a straight face. He stood up to greet us, hugging his son hello and giving me a polite nod. A handshake was too formal, a hug too uncomfortable, so that was what we’d settled on between us.
Rick also hugged Trey, then slipped his hand into Brendon’s. “So, where are we eating this morning?”
Delilah rolled her eyes. “There’s only one restaurant, Uncle Rick.”
“And half the reason you visit is to eat at Gleb’s,” I said with a straight face.
“Only a quarter of the reason,” she argued, then started counting off reasons on her fingers. “There’s also watching the imps torture Angelica, climbing the trees, helping the new librarian choose the best books—”
She continued listing things she liked about the redevelopment of Traumstead as we walked through the bustling streets.
After fifty years of darkness and silence, the city was thriving again. People now outnumbered the trees, all working toward a brighter future as they cleared away debris, fixed the roads, and renovated old buildings.
Ahead of us was the old city hall, my former lair, turned into an official marketplace.
It started with Gleb’s Kitchen, where he cooked hot meals for ex-minions and ex-bandits and anyone else who ventured into the old city.
Then a jewelry stall had popped up, a clothing merchant, a small bakery, until all the old offices had been transformed.
Even after some of the other buildings had been renovated, city hall remained a popular place for traders to set up shop and find new clientele.
Though it was still early morning, the halls of the marketplace were already crowded. Trey and I quickly lost track of his fathers and Delilah, but it didn’t matter since we were all going to the same place.
On our way toward the restaurant, we passed the former throne room. A few months ago, someone had installed a stage and turned it into a place for gatherings and announcements.
Angelica stood on that stage now, addressing the crowd.
“The Minion Employment Reform Office is on the second floor of the marketplace,” she announced.
The shape of the room amplified her voice so her audience could hear every word.
“Businesses currently seeking new employees: The Orc Institute of Weapon’s Training for All Ages needs a new archery instructor.
Sisyphean Construction needs a new scheduler.
Gleb’s Kitchen needs a new host and new line cook.
Imps Anonymous needs a new butt-muncher—Mimsy! ”
The imp’s giggling echoed throughout the room.
Angelica stopped the announcements to berate first the imp for its prank, then her assistant—a young orc—for letting the slip pass. Fyodor placed a placating hand on her shoulder. Since he stood behind her, Angelica couldn’t see the conspiratorial grin he shot the little green imp.
When Angelica had started her employment reform crusade, she’d made it clear to Trey and me that she was not visiting Traumstead to see us, but if we both ended up at Gleb’s for a meal, she deigned to share our table.
Though I often wished she wouldn’t as it meant watching Angelica and Fyodor hold hands on top of the table, gaze at each other lovingly, and feed each other from the same spoon.
“Let’s get out of here before they notice us,” Trey whispered in my ear, sharing my opinion on their company.
When we arrived at Gleb’s, Rick and Brendon were already waiting in line. Despite her complaints of hunger, Delilah had scampered off to explore the marketplace. Trey and I had barely joined his fathers when an excited voice called out, “Master Wilde!”
Bitsy floated at the host stand, waving energetically at us. “Master Wilde, you don’t have to wait in line! We have your table ready for you!”
The other people in line eyed us with a mix of curiosity, jealousy, and weariness as we slipped toward the front. “I’m not your master anymore,” I told Bitsy. “I was defeated, remember?”
Bitsy’s round cheeks puffed up in indignation. “You’ll always be my master.” Then it fluttered away, leading us to a table in the back that could easily seat ten people, waiting for a day when all the royal champions visited us at the same time, as unlikely as that was.
So far, Fitz had visited only once, though I suspected he was there more to fix up the Library of Dreams than to see us. Still, he’d stopped by the house Treasure and I had claimed for ourselves to enjoy an awkward dinner. If he’d returned to Traumstead since then, I hadn’t seen him.
After the day of my big defeat, none of us ever saw Maximus again.
He’d slipped away during the cleanup without even saying goodbye.
We heard a few rumors, stories of him exploring the world outside of the Desolated Lands, trying to learn about good and evil.
Despite everything, I hoped he was happy.
There would be no big reunion at this table, but Gleb reserved it for us anyway, and at least today Trey’s family helped fill it out.
A fluffy brown cat arrived at the same time as our food, hopping up into one of the chairs.
The cat shook itself, its pink collar jangling, until Delilah sat in its place.
Rick had been the one to fix her collar in the end, since I couldn’t work magic while wearing the crystal ring, and I never took it off.
Even if it wasn’t keeping the Good Wizard at bay, it was a sign of my defeat, of Trey’s love, and it was the most precious thing I owned.
“A toast,” Rick declared, raising his coffee mug like a goblet. “To a new city and a new life.” He smiled at everyone in turn—his husband, his son, his niece, and finally me, eyes crinkling at the corners in welcome. “And happy days with everyone we love.”
After we finished eating, everyone split up: Brendon and Rick to explore the city and see what had changed from their last visit; Delilah to scamper through the trees; and Trey and I to return home.
As we walked, he slipped his hand into mine and said casually, “You know, there’s one problem we never solved. ”
I furrowed my brow and looked around the city. “I can count five just on this street.”
“Not that,” he replied with a fond huff. “It’s the matter of your last name. Specifically, the fact you don’t have one.”
I shrugged. “When I named myself, I could only think of the one.”
A soft sadness filled his eyes, the same look he got every time we talked about my past. “I think it’s time you take a new one. Officially.”
I stopped in the middle of the street, staring at him in wonder. “Are you asking me to marry you, Treasure Banes?”
“We’re already married, as far as I’m concerned,” he said flippantly. “Don’t you remember my impassioned proposal?”
“That was not a proposal. That was a crushing defeat of good triumphing over evil.”
He waved away my protest. “The point is …” His expression suddenly became serious as he rubbed a thumb gently over the black wedding band. “You deserve one. You deserve everything.”
I smiled and cupped his face in my hand. The rest of the world faded away because all that was important was the man in front of me. “As long as I’m with you, I already have everything.”