Epilogue A Promise is a Promise
Damien
“You promised me a wedding, and by the goddess, you will give me the wedding of my dreams,” Ariadne says.
I adjust the gold-embellished sash on the red velvet tunic she’s dressed me in, feeling like it’s far too pretentious, considering Eloise and I are now elected officials and not royals.
“May I remind you, only a few weeks ago, you said that designing Eloise’s gown for her coronation was your life’s greatest achievement.
She didn’t have to have one, you know, considering she was elected. ”
She tosses up her hands. “The people want what the people want!”
“And they—you—got it. Didn’t that settle any debt between us?”
She smooths her blond hair, glossy now that she is well-fed. Although her features are as sharp as ever, they are softened by rounder cheeks and a teasing smile. “A coronation is a coronation. A wedding is a wedding. You promised me a wedding.”
“We are already married.”
“That wedding in Dimhollow was a rushed tragedy of unfashionable and coerced vows. They barely count.”
“They count. There was nothing coerced about them.”
“Other than you thought you might die.”
I purse my lips. “No sash.” I move to remove it.
“You must wear the sash!” she protests. “It coordinates with Eloise’s gown perfectly!”
I rub my forehead and groan as she physically adjusts the sash back into place and smooths it with her hands. “Can I ask you something, Damien?”
“Why do I feel you are only asking to distract me from all the glittery bits hanging off my chest?”
She folds her arms. “Was any part of you jealous when she won? Did you feel like your legacy had been stolen from you? Did part of you want to snatch it back, out of her hands?”
I rub my jaw. Ariadne hasn’t kept a secret her entire life. If I tell her the truth, it will definitely get back to Eloise and circulate across Tenebris by the end of the week. Fuck it all. Do I really care who knows?
“I voted for her,” I say truthfully.
Ariadne’s eyes narrow. “What?”
“The morning of the vote, I woke up to find her feeding our people, sandwiched between my mother and the king of the Rivertoads, and it all became clear to me. Eloise was the catalyst for everything that occurred to save Tenebris. She recognized my brother’s treachery before I did.
She saved me from assassination. She befriended the witches and convinced them to help when they did.
She was the reason the Rivertoads engaged with us and the vampires who fought for us were here at all.
She killed King Entrydal, and her best friend used her powers as a witch to defeat the dark elf army.
Eloise is the reason we are all here today.
And so, I. Voted. For. Her. I was relieved when she won.
The people love her. She is the best choice to rule. ”
She snorts. “But doesn’t it make you feel like less of a—”
“Man? Shade? Warrior?” I laugh. “No, Ariadne. Serving this kingdom at her side is everything I wanted. It isn’t easy loving a dragon, you know.
Keeping her alive has been a hobby of mine for some time now.
That day we died together, the day we were married, I would have given away the kingdom a hundred times over to save her.
” I spare Ariadne the memory I hold of the Darklands, of my father whispering to Eloise that the kingdom needed her.
“Believe me when I say to you, it takes being a man—a strong one—to love Eloise the way she needs to be loved. I don’t need to dominate her to possess her.
I don’t need to be a king to tolerate her being my queen. I am not so weak as that.”
Ariadne wipes a stray tear from under her eye. “You are a rare male, indeed, and will always be a king to me.” She smiles. “That’s why I voted for you, and I would do it again.”
“You’ll have another chance in ten years. Eloise was adamant about term limits.”
She shakes her head. “I do have to hand it to her. She’s very open-minded and creative when it comes to this new form of government.”
“I must agree.”
Trumpets blare, and Ariadne shoves me toward the door. “It’s time!”
I hurry out of the dressing room and advance to the dais, where the officiant stands ready to marry us.
Hands folded in front of my hips, I lift my gaze to the head of the aisle.
Eloise appears, and I’m glad I wore the sash.
She’s dressed in a sleeveless ball gown the color of blood, so dark it’s almost black.
Her bright-red hair is curled and woven through her crown.
Her lips match the fabric. Her skin is the color of poured cream.
The day I met Eloise, I compared her to a tree that’d lost all its branches, all its leaves, everything but its will to live. But from the beginning, she looked at me as if I were the sun and all she needed to grow. How could I have known then what she would grow into? What we both would.
I think back to the last vision served to me as I left the passage out of Mount Perilon, the one I never told Eloise about. I saw a vision of Stygarde Castle falling around her. I thought she was being crushed by the stones. But I was wrong. She wasn’t being crushed. She was tearing it all down.
Not to destroy it. No. My little dragon would rebuild it.
Eloise
The throne room is overflowing with guests as Damien and I say our vows, which are remarkably similar to the ones we made in Dimhollow.
I wonder what Catarina thinks of it. She’s here today, as are all the lords and ladies of the regions and the friends we made along the way.
Seamus and Amala are beaming at us from the second row.
Ariadne and Warbill both look like they will burst with pride.
Children and servants and warriors and farmers all smile at us from their seats.
My crown feels heavy, but my heart is light.
Last night, after we made love, Damien asked me what I thought of everything that had happened, if I’d expected the outcome in some deeply hidden region of my mind.
I hadn’t, of course. What human woman could have predicted the twists and turns in the road that I have walked.
But, I told him, I had learned a few lessons along the way.
After everything, I know one thing for sure.
The day you decide you’re worth more, and you step out from under the abuse you always took for granted and into your confidence, into your power, you have to be prepared to say yes to how the universe rewards you.
The shadows we call to help us with our problems aren’t half as important as the shadows we cast. The shadows we grow into.
The shadows inside ourselves that we come to love.
I crawled away from Tony, bruised and broken, weak and powerless. But there was always a shadow in me, deep within the walls of my heart. The shadow of a queen. All I had to do was love her. All I had to do was meet another shadow who would teach me how.
As Damien kisses me and the crowd roars with applause, I am grateful to every god above or below us that our fates are entwined.
Grateful to my ancestors for helping me along the way.
And yes, grateful even to Tony, without whose cruelty I would never know true kindness, and without whose abuse, I would never have called upon the monster who awoke the monster in me.
A monster who would love.
A monster who would save a kingdom.
A monster who would rule.
Thank you readers for joining me on Damien and Eloise’s journey.