Page 38 of Bought By the Revenant

When I look at her, though, I still see the fierce young woman who stood in that crowded market square, pointed at me and said, “Sold.” I see the midwife who risked everything to save a mother and child when the rest would have let them die. I see the bride who chose me even though my face was a thing of horror and nightmares. The beauty of who she is has never faded, not once in all our decades together.

Our family waits downstairs to say their goodbyes. We raised four children together, two sons and two daughters, all of them old now, with children and grandchildren of their own. They understand their mother won’t be with us much longer and have gathered here one last time. Of our original household, only Fria remains, too aged now for regular duties but refusing to leave us until the end comes. Nell, Tomas, and Olaf passed away years ago, though we still speak of them often and remember them with love and gratitude.

Over our years together, I’ve extended Amity’s life whenever I could. When she cut herself working in the garden, when she fell from a ladder and broke her arm, when winter fever threatened to steal her away too early… I added a stitch here or worked a small enchantment there. Each time, I gave her just enough magic to heal her and keep her strong, but she always refused to let me do more, to cover her in the black threads that would have given her centuries instead of decades.

“I want to remain myself,” she would tell me firmly. “Even if that means growing old. Even if that means leaving you someday.”

That someday has arrived at last, and I can do nothing to stop it.

Her eyes open slowly, still as blue as the sky. When she finds me watching her, she smiles the same smile that has been my greatest joy for eighty years.

“Riven,” she whispers.

“I’m here, my love.” Tears run down my face, following the lines of my stitches as they fall.

Her hand shakes as she lifts it to my cheek and brushes them away.

“Don’t cry for me. I’ve had such a wonderful life with you.”

“I know.”

“Our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren… So much joy, Riven. So much love. You gave me all of it.”

I press her palm against my face and hold it there, feeling its warmth while I still can.

“You gave it to me,” I say. “I was nothing before you.”

“It’s time for me to go,” she says. “But please, don’t follow me. Not yet. The family still needs you.”

I shake my head. “I won’t go on without you, Amity. You’ve known this. When you leave, I’ll release my soul back to the universe. Perhaps we’ll find each other there.”

She sighs, but I see acceptance in her eyes because after eighty years together, she knows me too well.

“Such a stubborn monster,” she murmurs.

“Your monster,” I remind her, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Always yours.”

She smiles again while her eyes grow heavy. “I love you, Riven.”

“I love you, Amity.” I lean close and whisper against her ear. “Forever.”

Her eyes close one final time, her chest rises and falls with a final breath, and then she is gone. Her hand in mine goes slack, but her smile remains on her face, peaceful and content.

I sit there for a long time just looking at her face, seeing her as she was when we first met. Then I stretch out beside her on the bed we’ve shared for so many decades, resting my head on her chest where her heart no longer beats.

I close my eyes and turn my attention inward, searching for the essence that has kept this patchwork body moving for centuries. I find it there, the connection between my eternal soul and this physical form made from borrowed parts. One by one, I begin to loosen those connections, feeling the bond between body and soul start to unravel.

The release comes without pain when I finally let go completely. The separation feels gentle and natural, as if I’m drifting away on a soft current of air that carries me up and out. My last physical sensation is the weight of Amity’s body pressed against mine, her warmth fading but her presence still real. Then I leave behind the form that carried me through this life and set my spirit free to search for hers in whatever comes after this world.

We chose each other in a crowded market when we were both desperate and alone. We chose each other every day for eighty years. Now I choose her again, following where she leads, my soul seeking hers in the beyond.

THE END