Epilogue - Annalisa
When I was young, I was Lady Hyton. When I married, I thought I would be Princess Annalisa.
But as I stood in Bloodstone Fortress with a goblet of mead in my hand, I had earned a new title I had never heard of before: Divorced.
The word only existed outside of Lycaster, but it had still crept through the party and strangled me like a vine.
Soldiers and maids danced to celebrate their new Baron in the cavernous dining hall, but a few eyes occasionally tossed me a look as I stood to the side. No one really knew what to make of me, the divorced woman.
And even though I had chosen to claim the House of Ravenwood as my new home, I was not sure what to make of myself either.
Without being a wife…who was I?
I drained my goblet and looked across the hall. Endre sat atop the feasting table, filling goblets of mead from the spout of a barrel and handing them to the starry-eyed women who gathered around him.
I licked my lips. His dancing was delightful…until the touch of his skin sent a screech through my body like nails on slate and I ran away.
Endre’s wide smile as he chatted with the other women might have been evidence that I had not hurt his pride, but I knew better.
A calming breath blew over my lips as I tucked a curl behind my ear. I needed to talk to him again, at least to convince him that I never wanted to reject him.
I just…was scared of being touched.
I clutched my goblet and gathered my skirt to walk across the crowded hall.
“We need to talk,” said a stern voice.
I yelped and dropped my goblet. I whipped around, my heart pounding against my ribs only to find Erik standing next to me. His hands were tightly folded behind his back as he looked at me expectantly.
The judging looks of the crowd pricked the back of my neck. Embarrassment from my sudden outburst flared across my cheeks, but I shoved it down.
“Why the fuck would you sneak up on me?” I hissed in a whisper.
His black eyes scanned the crowd behind me. “How can anyone sneak up on you at a party? I merely walked to you.”
I quickly bent over and picked up my goblet, pretending I had never dropped it in the first place. “Fuck off, Erik. Can you not see that I am busy?”
“You can make a fool of yourself with the others later,” he said dryly. “We have matters to discuss.
I furrowed my brows and scoffed. Make a fool of myself?
“Who are you to judge me?” I poked him in the center of the chest. “Maybe you did not hear me in the hall earlier, but I get to choose who I am and what I do with my life.”
He looked down his crooked nose at me and did not even blink. “And all I am asking you to do is choose when you move into Ravenwood Manor.”
Move into Ravenwood Manor? With him?
I folded my arms. “I am not moving into the manor.”
A small crease appeared between his dark eyebrows. “You are a Ravenwood now, where else do you intend to stay?”
I was not going to let him win. I stood my ground, clawing through my deepest memories. “My grandmother had a house at the base of the mountain. I shall stay there and be the lady of my own house.”
“You cannot manage an entire house alone,” he countered.
“Oh, I will not be alone,” I said with a confident smile. I quickly scanned the crowd of drunken faces. “I will have…only the best…”
My eyes settled on a curvy woman with chestnut braids speaking to Evereon Mydina.
“Rosaline!” I snapped my eyes back to Erik’s and smiled. “Now that Fraleigh has disappeared, she needs someone to employ her. It is the perfect situation.”
I thought Erik would accept defeat and finally leave me be, but no, he was a stone wall. He was worse than his damn sister!
His chin dipped slightly and his voice dropped. “That house has been abandoned for decades.”
I held back a shudder at the thought of cobwebs stringing through my living space, but I could not back down now. “You doubt my ability as lady of the house?”
“Not in the summer.” He leaned closer, as if invading my space was going to convince me of anything. “But in the winter, you will freeze.”
I kept my smile on and leaned in. “Then I will just need to find someone to keep me warm.” I pointedly flicked my gaze over his shoulder. “And if you will excuse me, I need to have a drink with your brother.”
His face was all granite. I won.
I turned away, victorious, when he caught my arm.
My head snapped toward him. A scathing curse sat on my tongue, but the weight of his gaze silenced me.
Erik’s voice dropped so low that only I could hear him. “When are you going to stop pretending you are all right?”
I tried to swallow, remembering the golden light that had poured out of my mouth and left me with nothing inside. My choice was supposed to be my freedom, but I was still chained to a deep craving, one that plagued my thoughts, my dreams, and each time I glanced in a mirror and found dark brown eyes glaring back at me.
But I would never admit that to a nosy, overgrown bird.
I glanced down at the flash of black markings on Erik’s knuckles that his sleeves failed to hide. I looked back into his charcoal eyes and a smile crept across my lips. “When are you going to stop pretending you were merely lost on the mountain for seven years, Bird Brain?”
His face blanched and I yanked my arm out of his grip. I turned before he could say any more and marched into the swirling crowd.
The cackles of the dancers blared in my ears like a tidal wave, so I kept my eyes on the floor as I walked. My hand floated up to my chest, my fingertips gliding along my bare clavicle.
When my blood bond with Grigory had vanished, I tore off my golden Thornebow pendant and shoved it in a drawer in Astrid’s room. Now all I could think about was that Thornebow fox sitting amongst Astrid’s linens with my old, useless name etched beneath its tail.
I could run to an abandoned house in the most northern part of Ravenwood, hide in the dust of the past, and shut out every man in my life…but that craving at the bottom of my chest could still pull me back.
And Grigory’s words, dripping with tainted love, caressed the back of my mind again, “ Fate will always bring you back to me. ”
“Well, look who came back!” said a merry voice.
I snapped my head up to find Endre’s smiling face. He shot me a wink. “You here for another dance?”
I forced on a smile and smoothed my voice. “How could I stay away?” I delicately raised my empty goblet. “But first, I need a drink.”