42. Epilogue
42
Epilogue
T he forest blinked with the season’s last remaining fireflies, and the wind smelled like a recent rain. On the breeze, I thought I could smell the faintest hint of salt; the winds always rushed in from the sea this time of year. In the distance, I could see the lights of my father’s house.
Beside me, Casimiro walked with his hands clasped behind his back, his brow faintly pinched in deep thought. His dark hair was swept back beneath a simple onyx crown carved to look like twining curls of smoke. His black suit shone faintly when the moonlight touched his shoulders.
The fluttering in my chest turned to a full-fledged shake as relief and sadness crashed like opposing waves inside me. As soon as the Shadow King had died, every bargain he’d made dissolved, releasing me and all the other mortals from our confinement to the Shadow Court. Cas had sent a fae messenger to find Alba and let her know it was safe to return, though he wasn’t certain how long it would take to find a fae trying to hide. I hoped Ivy and the others were all okay, and that I might see her again one day.
At my request, Casimiro had brought me here. But this place was no longer my home.
In the dim light, I reached for his arm, sliding my hand under his elbow. He sensed my shaking and cleared his throat.
“I can give you as long as you like. If you need a month, a year even, to consider my offer, I will wait.”
I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Don’t be silly. I’ve given you my answer.”
He’d explained to me when he’d proposed that marrying a fae involved becoming one in more ways than I’d imagined. I would take on a portion of his magic as well as a portion of his extremely long life, and in return, he’d take on some of my mortal weakness and my shorter life span, making us both stronger than a mortal and yet not eternal like the fae.
“But it is customary for a woman’s father to give consent before the wedding,” I teased, pulling him down the path.
As we approached the golden windows of my childhood home, the gemstone on my finger caught the light. I smiled down at it, imagining how my father would gawk at the ring and its preposterous size when he saw it.
“Thank you,” I said, wiggling the finger that held the glittering stone. I spotted Ignacio making his rounds past the garden, past my old balcony. He couldn’t see us, thanks to Casimiro’s magic pressing the darkness to us like a veil. “My father will appreciate this.”
Cas chuckled. “I didn’t give it to you for his sake.” He jabbed me with his elbow, and I shoved him playfully away. The diamond I wore kept a magical shield around me at all times, Cas had explained. Just in case. “But if a large diamond makes your father happy, he’s not that different from a lot of my courtiers.”
“We aren’t that different from the fae, Cas.”
He pulled me in front of him and pressed my chest to his. “I know. You showed me that.” He planted a deep kiss on my mouth before releasing me.
Cheeks flushed and heart racing, I walked arm-in-arm with Casimiro toward the grand fa?ade.
“Oh, did I tell you?” he asked as we climbed the front steps. “Your friend Talia’s husband—prince of the Sun Court—has agreed to your requested meeting.”
I flashed a wide grin and kissed his cheek.
“Apparently, he only agreed to it at the behest of his wife. Sun and Shadow don’t normally meet for tea.” He raised his brows. “You have only been in the fae realm for a matter of months, and you’ve already upset our entire world, wildfire. Whatever am I going to do with you?”
“Make me your queen, of course,” I said with a dramatic shrug.
On the top step, Cas wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off my feet so that my face was level with his. “Then you’ll really set the world ablaze.”
And then, after setting me down with a wink, the King of Shadows knocked on my father’s front door.
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