Epilogue
RANA
Two weeks later…
Rana looked up from her needle and frowned at Kamaran’s empty chair. Twilight was well past, which meant he was officially late.
“He’s going to be in for a rude awakening,” she said to Zade, who was curled in front of the crackling fire. “We don’t reward tardiness with either cuddles or kisses. Don’t let him charm you into forgiving him too easily.”
Though they had been married a week before, as dictated by the conditions of the Queen’s Contest, Kamaran had insisted that he wanted to continue taking things slow in getting to know one another, and their nightly meetings by the fire had easily become her favorite part of the day.
Jasper knocked on the door. “A message from His Majesty!”
Rana set down her work and crossed the room, taking the tiny piece of rolled parchment he offered her. She opened it.
Meet me in the garden outside your old room.
- K
Her brows lifted. “What’s this about?”
Jasper shrugged. “I’m just the messenger. He said to make sure that you come right away and don’t get distracted trying to finish whatever you’re working on.”
Rana laughed as she followed Jasper from the room. “He knows me so well.”
“Well, yeah. You’re married.”
Something I still can’t believe. I will forever be grateful that Dan decided to send me in his place. I never would have met Kamaran otherwise, and I never would have known just how wrong I was about him.
Her thoughts stuttered to a halt as Jasper led her into the garden. Flickering lamps hung from tree branches, bathing the small courtyard in a warm glow. The fountain bubbled and sparkled in the low light, and the scent of flowers enveloped Rana as she stepped into the garden.
It was nothing short of magical—doubly so when Kamaran stepped out from the shadows and offered her his hand. He was dressed in the same clothes he had worn for the ball, and the smile he gave her made her weak in the knees.
She smiled broadly as she accepted his hand. “What’s all this?”
“I realized that we never actually got to dance together at the ball.” He pulled her closer.
“A shame,” she mused. “I was looking forward to it.”
“So was I.” The heat in his gaze made her stomach swoop.
Her pulse quickened as he set a hand on her waist, drawing her to him until there was hardly any room between them, and she wished she could memorize the moment forever.
If she could, she would immortalize it in embroidery, but not even the most perfect of her stitches could compare to the way their hands fit together, to the way his smile weaved itself around her heart.
“Would you like me to sing or something?”
Kamaran sighed loudly and dropped his head onto Rana’s shoulder. “Why are you still here, Jasper?”
“You never dismissed me—a fact that is rather unfortunate as the sappy look in your eyes makes me think that things are about to get very awkward for me.”
He lifted his head and gave Jasper a dry look. “This is your permission to, whenever you see a sappy look, take the initiative and dismiss yourself.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The page saluted and turned on his heel, disappearing quickly into the night.
Kamaran turned his attention back to her. “Where were we?” He took a small step and she followed his lead, swaying softly to the music of the fountain and the wind in the leaves. Rana leaned into him, resting her cheek against his shoulder.
“You know,” her husband murmured softly in her ear, sending warm shivers down her spine. “We never did finish that story about Prince Kamden.”
“Huh. I guess we didn’t.” Over the course of their many long, cozy conversations, Rana had shared several of her favorite stories that Teta had told her as she was growing up, but Prince Kamden had somehow remained abandoned. “Though I think we both know how it ends.”
“I have my theories.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “But I’d like to offer a possible ending.”
“Be my guest.”
“Rain carried Prince Kamden into the palace as she had promised. However, his presence was not as easy to conceal as she had first thought. The rest of the palace staff was disgusted—how could she possibly want to share her plate with a lizard?
“Rain, however, ignored their commentary that she would be much better off with a smarter, more responsible, and nobler companion—”
Rana lifted her head in indignation. “No one said Prince Kamden wasn’t smart.”
Kamaran pushed her back down to his shoulder and held her there by resting his cheek against her head.
“Rule number one, love. As I was saying, Rain ignored them, somehow able to see that, despite his scaly exterior, her new lizard friend had a heart that was damaged and scarred. He wanted desperately to be loved, but didn’t know how to make himself worthy of her when faced with the truth of all his past decisions and mistakes. ”
A tear escaped and fell down Rana’s cheek, but she didn’t interrupt.
“Kamden, not wanting to take advantage of the kindness of the first real friend he had made, did not ask to share her bed that night.
It was enough, he decided, to be allowed to share a meal with her.
As the days wore on and they did everything together, the prince began to fall in love.
His days were marked by long conversations and laughter, but still there was the fear hanging over him that if Rain knew the truth, she would leave him.
“One night, when he could bear it no longer, the truth came spilling out. Kamden braced himself for the inevitable rejection. Instead, Rain scooped him up and kissed the top of his head.
“‘You silly prince,’ she said. ‘The solution has been here the whole time, and you didn’t ask?’
“With that, she set him on her pillow, snuffed out the light, and went to bed. The next morning, as the woman had said, Prince Kamden’s curse was broken.”
Rana smiled softly. “And they lived happily ever after.”
Kamaran hummed. “Not quite. You’re jumping ahead a little.”
“Really? What else is there?”
“The part where Kamden, now fully human and able to speak his heart freely, took Rain’s hands and fell to his knees.”
Rana let out a tiny gasp of surprise as Kamaran stopped moving and slowly sank down to one knee, and she knew it was no longer simply a story he was talking about.
“The part where he looked at her and said, ‘I’ve spent my entire life wearing a mask, convinced that the only way to be loved is to hide my imperfections beneath a show of indolence and shallow relationships. Then you came along—a woman able to see the man beneath the lizard and unwilling to let me be content in my scales. You refused to let me hide behind my crown, and you offered friendship even when you weren’t certain I deserved it.
You witnessed all my imperfections, and you chose to love me anyway.
’” He took a deep breath. “I can’t pretend to know why, but I also know that I will do everything in my power to ensure that you spend every day knowing that I love you unconditionally, unwaveringly, unendingly in return. Will you marry me?”
Rana laughed through the tears that had slowly begun leaking down her face during his speech. “We’re already married.”
“But I’m asking anyway.”
“Yes,” she whispered, tugging on his hand. He stood swiftly, wrapping her in his arms and claiming her mouth in a kiss just as passionate and full of love as his words had been.
When the necessity for air became too much to ignore, she broke away, smiling, and slipped her arms around his neck. “That was a commendable effort in storytelling, by the way. Your skills are coming along.”
Kamaran’s jaw dropped. “Coming along? I think you mean it was an excellent, emotional, nail-biting conclusion.”
“Mmm, yes,” she continued to tease him. “Except for the part where she kissed him while he was a lizard. Audiences aren’t going to buy it. I love you, but if you looked like a lizard, I wouldn’t kiss you.”
He gave an exaggerated pout, which only drew her attention back to how very kissable he was as a man. “Not even a little bit?”
“Sorry, no. But if you looked like my husband…” Rana leaned in until she was speaking against his lips. “Well, that’s another story.”