Epilogue
Alina’s heart sang with the sheer joy of motion as her horse galloped along a route that had once been familiar.
She was absolutely besotted with the mare, which Xavier had given her for a betrothal gift.
The creature had warmed to her as well, and the Dust stirred up by its pounding hooves and flicking tail called out to Alina, eager to lend itself to her purposes.
She anticipated a lot of very enjoyable rides on the mare.
Alina harnessed some of the Dust just for the delight of it, letting it out in the form of tiny sparks that showered around her.
“Show off.” Her companion called the words from a horse racing just alongside her.
“You’re one to talk!” she said.
Zuzu swooped between their two horses just as the sound of rushing water lifted Alina’s spirits even further. They were almost there. In minutes they were pulling their mounts up, gazing up at the beautiful waterfall thundering from a cliff into the pool before them.
“Our waterfall,” Xavier said fondly.
“It’s as beautiful as I remember,” Alina told him.
“And as dangerous,” Xavier said, his eyes full of mischief. “Are you going to race behind the waterfall with me?”
“I am not,” she said comfortably.
“What?” Xavier protested. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t have anything to prove,” she informed him. “And because we’re not fourteen anymore.”
“I suppose we are too old for fun,” he sighed.
“I happen to be enjoying myself,” Alina protested. Not really fooled by his complaints, she turned a beaming smile on her betrothed. “I’m so glad we finally found an afternoon to sneak away.”
“So am I.” Xavier glanced back at the guards hovering at a discreet distance. They were eyeing Zuzu, who was circling in a way that told Alina she was contemplating using one of their heads as a perch. “It’s been pretty hard to snatch a moment, hasn’t it?”
It was an understatement. The weeks since the incident at the refinement site had been nonstop chaos.
And it wasn’t just the aftermath of the investigation, either.
Xavier’s announcement that he wished to marry and had chosen his bride came as a shock to his parents, to put it mildly.
Miriam hadn’t been at all surprised, and Theo had taken it in stride.
Alina suspected that his sister and wife had given him some insight after Xavier’s most recent time in the capital.
The history with Alina’s parents inevitably had to be brought to the surface, and the discussions surrounding that hadn’t been easy.
Captain Mitchell had been gracious enough to apologize for his suspicion of her.
He told her that when Benji was taken, he’d begun to realize he must have been wrong about her, because he didn’t believe she would hurt Benji.
But it wasn’t until the whole operation was exposed, with Alina clearly one of the victims, that he was fully persuaded she wasn’t in league with the continent as he’d heard her father had been.
Alina bore him no grudge. Truthfully, his disapproval was the least of her concerns. It was the sovereigns she was worried about.
When King Madoc raised the issue, he allowed Alina to see certain records which, while not conclusive, convinced her that her father really had flirted with treason—at the very least—in his trade with the continent.
She wouldn’t have been surprised if that alone had been enough to set the king and queen irrevocably against her.
It helped her cause that the allegations had never been proven.
She was grateful to Xavier for saying what she was too wary to express to the monarch, and pointing out that it had been a harsh response for the crown to bring the family’s business to ruin based solely on allegations.
King Madoc had surprised her by not reacting defensively to his son’s accusation.
He’d explained that when questions were raised, instead of responding to them, Alina’s father had become angry and promptly left the capital.
His refusal to respond to further official communication was what led to the seizing of his assets.
There had been avenues for him to fight this decision, but he’d never taken them.
The investigation had yet to find anything conclusive to escalate the matter further when Alina’s father died, and it was dropped.
Alina didn’t doubt that the reason her father hadn’t fought the seizure of his assets was that he was guilty of what he’d been accused of, and he knew that if he pushed, the truth would likely be exposed.
Instead he’d told his daughter nothing of the reasons for their drastic change in circumstances, and nursed his bitterness in the shadows until his sudden death.
It was all a big mess, and she knew Xavier was right when he pointed out to his parents that she had been the one to suffer most for it, in spite of having no involvement.
But she didn’t see much to be gained now from assigning blame, either to her parents or the crown.
She would rather look to the future than resent the past.
The king and queen evidently felt the same way.
They told her that they knew she’d been little more than a child at the time, and they held none of it against her.
She suspected that their willingness to approve of her betrothal to Xavier also sprang from relief that their son and heir actually wanted to settle down.
And that the woman of his choosing was well-educated and raised in a wealthy household rather than the tawdry tavern wench certain rumors had suggested Xavier was dallying with.
Convincing the king and queen that he was serious this time hadn’t been Xavier’s only challenge.
He’d also overseen the transport of the kidnapping victims to the capital, no easy feat when most of them couldn’t lift a finger without risking their lives.
Only a few had been tied to talismans that were destroyed during the fight, and therefore had their energy restored at the time.
The rest were tied to talismans far away, and while physically free, were magically just as bound as ever during the journey to the capital.
Alina had cried from relief when the Craftsman’s Guild had found a way to break the connection between each person and the talismans that bound them.
After that, they’d all had their energy restored to them, although some took longer to recover to normal levels than others.
Somewhere, possibly as far away as the continent, a lot of people would suddenly have found themselves with useless talismans.
Alina could only be grateful that she and Benji had been too recently captured for their talismans to have been shipped away for sale or other use.
That was the least of Benji’s causes for celebration, of course.
When Captain Mitchell retracted the warning he’d felt compelled to give the Craftsman’s Guild, the guild immediately offered Benji a position in their training program.
He and Lilah were happily settled in the capital, in housing provided as part of the scholarship.
From the general admiration she’d seen Lilah attracting since their arrival, Alina had a feeling her friend would have other options than living with her brother before long.
Charles in particular was most certainly paying attention.
Xavier was wickedly delighted, and the good-natured, upright servant had Alina’s sympathy.
If he fell as hard as he was showing signs of doing, his master wouldn’t go easy on him.
“I hate how little time I have to give you,” Xavier said.
Alina pulled her gaze from the waterfall. “I managed ten years without you, Xavier. I can deal with a busy patch here and there.”
“I don’t know if I’d say managed,” Xavier said unchivalrously. “You were barely scraping by as a tavern wench.”
If anything had been to hand, Alina would have thrown it at her impossible fiancé’s head.
“Are you ever going to stop calling me a tavern wench?”
He grinned impudently at her. “Only if you stop giving me such a great reaction.”
“How about I just call you the deadliest blade in the kingdom?” she asked innocently.
Xavier pulled in a hiss of air through his teeth. “Yes, that’ll work,” he admitted. “I shrivel up inside every time.”
“In all seriousness, it won’t always be like this,” Alina said. “I have plenty to get my head around while you’re busy, anyway.”
“As long as you don’t feel oppressed by it all,” Xavier said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be training with the guild?”
“I’m sure.” Alina pulled her horse closer so she could squeeze his hand reassuringly. “I like your idea of a private tutor once things have settled down, after the wedding. That sounds much more manageable to me.”
Xavier nodded, satisfied. After a moment, Alina realized he was looking sideways at her, and she once again pulled her eyes from the waterfall.
“What is it?”
“I just…” Xavier fiddled with the reins. “With all the time we’re apart right now, I hope you don’t ever worry. About how I behave around other women when you’re not there.”
“I don’t,” she told him. “I know you’re busy with duty, not with flirtation.”