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“It will ensure it’s a coronation to remember for the ages,” Draven said. “That’s for certain.”
He came up behind me and lifted my hair to kiss the back of my neck. “What made you change your mind?”
“He is rather cute, I suppose,” I said lamely.
But the truth was... now that I had seen the cub, I could hardly stand the idea of letting him out of my sight.
“When his mother’s back from her hunt, we’ll have to return him, you know,” Draven whispered in my ear.
“I know,” I snapped. “It’s not as if I were going to catnap him. This is just for Kaye. I’m doing it for Kaye.”
“Of course you are, silver one. Of course you are.” He nipped at the back of my neck and I let out a tiny shriek.
Across the room, Kaye grimaced. “Ugh. If you’re going to start that, I’d better go.” He came over to where the cub was rolling around on the carpet, then stopped. “Do you want me to take him, or should I leave him?”
The tapping at my door was growing louder. I suddenly imagined carrying the Rose Court scepter in one hand and a mewling exmoor kitten in the other as Lady Eve looked on aghast.
“Leave him,” I said decidedly. “What’s the cub’s name?”
Kaye and Draven looked at one another.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Sunstrike wanted to leave his name up to you,” Draven said quietly.
It was an honor. A great one.
A lump had immediately formed in my throat.
“Oh.” My voice was small. “I see.”
“Well, I’d better go,” Kaye said, stepping over to the door. He smiled encouragingly at me. “Maybe we can think of a list of names at dinner after the ceremony.”
I nodded. “I’d like that.” Especially as it would be a four-hour-long event with sixteen courses.
“You just have to get through the next few hours. Now get that thing on.” Draven nodded towards the dress on the bed. “I have my own instruments of torture to don.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you at the temple soon.”
I looked at the retreating backs of the two men I loved more than anything else in the world and then at the little cat attacking its own shadow on the carpet.
In a moment, a group of well-meaning women would burst in to dress me to become their queen.
But in this instant—in this split-second of freedom—there was only love.
Love, the one force in the universe that no one could ever fully explain. Love, the candle in the dark that led us through the night and softened all our sorrows. Without love, life was a starved and empty thing, for there was no hope, no joy without it. My father had never, ever learned that lesson.
But with love, there was strength. Love held us up and kept us from falling. When we found it, we clung to it and we never let go.
Love made us strive to be better than we were. Love lifted us. Love carried us. Love made our flaws forgettable.
Love was our saving grace. Love was the greatest adventure.
“I love you both,” I called just as Draven yanked the door open. My brother and my husband turned back to me. Their faces shone. They were so beautiful, it made my heart ache. “So much. Don’t ever forget it.”
And then the room was full of women and noise and their replies were drowned out in the din, and they were gone.
EPILOGUE - MORGAN
I breathed in the crisp autumn air as I stood alone on the stone terrace at the edge of the lake. Autumn had fallen, and the city of Noctasia had been transformed into a tapestry of fiery hues, falling leaves, and the soft glow of harvest lanterns.
