Epilogue
Sage’s enormous wings beat strongly against the sky, carrying them both upward, toward the clouds. Forgetting entirely about her new, elevated rank, Chloe threw her head back and whooped with abandon.
Ranger swooped close, maneuvering skillfully to stay out of Sage’s way.
“Enjoying your first flight, Duchess?” Harrison called, his proud, satisfied smile visible even across the distance between them.
“It’s incredible!” she called back, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt.
She wasn’t used to the new title yet. It still gave her a jolt every time someone said it. But it was a jolt of joy. Harrison was hers now, for the rest of her life, and she felt so full of joy she might burst and turn into sunshine and air.
Sage swooped, and she gasped, grabbing at her feathers before relaxing and letting out another whoop.
After her help locating the egg thieves, she had been fully accepted by the griffins, beyond just her role as Sage’s bond partner.
She now had a place in the squad, even if it was only honorary.
Griffins paid no heed to human titles, but they had given her a griffin title.
Egg Protector. She wore it with as much pride as Duchess of Everard.
“Chloe!”
“Chloe!”
“Woooooo!!”
The excited screams from the ground made her laugh, and she nudged Sage’s side. The griffin instantly understood her suggestion, and she wheeled around, swooping low to fresh cries from the three girls on the ground.
Claire only waved, a grin on her face, but Ivy and Flora both jumped up and down, dancing on the spot as they cheered for their sister. Sending for the three of them had been the first thing Chloe did the morning after her betrothal to Harrison.
The Dowager Duchess had welcomed all four girls into the manor house, accommodating them in two guest rooms so that none of the girls had to be alone in a strange place.
Chloe wasn’t sure if her sisters had been more astonished to learn she was going to become a duchess or that she’d been chosen by a griffin.
But they had been united in their joy of being free from Cousin Gertrude.
And not even the domineering Gertrude had been able to protest their removal from her home when they were going to a ducal manor to live with their sister under the care of the Dowager Duchess.
Flora was already insisting that she would soon be chosen by a griffin as well, but Harrison had told them that he could make no promises. It was entirely up to the griffins, not him.
He had accepted the presence in his home of three younger sisters with astonishing equanimity, but he was a little more dismayed at their invasion of the mews.
But Chloe turned his own words against him, reminding him that it wasn’t up to him but the griffins, and they seemed to like the three girls.
Chloe had gifted the signed mortgage papers to Maddie, insisting that the other girl take her share of the building as well.
And since Maddie had also made Chloe’s entire new wardrobe—a string of magnificent gowns that made her feel like a duchess on the outside if not the inside—Maddie’s business was now booming.
The effect of her new popularity on Maddie’s confidence had been so significant that Chloe confidently expected a proposal from Maddie’s apothecary at any moment.
Although she had told Maddie that she hoped her friend would make dresses for the Duchess of Everard forever, regardless of her married status, Chloe certainly intended to make all her own hats.
Not that she could wear a hat while riding Sage. The best hat pins in the world wouldn’t keep it on her head.
Ranger swooped close again, and Harrison gestured toward the ground. “We don’t want to tire Sage on your first flight,” he called, and Chloe instantly nudged her mount toward the ground.
I’m not tired. Sage sounded sour, but Chloe merely laid her cheek against the griffin’s neck.
“You’re magnificent,” she assured her. “And we can fly every day if you like.”
She hadn’t been able to spend enough time with her griffin friend during the frantically busy lead-up to the wedding. But thankfully Sage had been busy honing her flying skills with Ranger and the rest of the flock, so she hadn’t been too grumpy with Chloe.
Now that the wedding was behind them, Chloe planned to spend a lot more time with Sage. And the more of it that was spent in the air, the better. She didn’t think she would ever get tired of flying.
When they hit the ground, Chloe slid down, turning to smile at Harrison who had alighted more smoothly. She could see her sisters running across the garden toward them, but Harrison moved more quickly.
Reaching her side, he pulled her against him, gazing down into her eyes. “Well done, Duchess.”
She smiled up at him. “Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”
“Maybe when I finally stop marveling that I have you for my wife. If that day ever comes.”
He kissed her hard and long, while her sisters whooped and screamed behind them, and Chloe melted against him as she had the first time. When she kissed Harrison, her heart soared as high as a griffin, and she hoped it would never come back down.