It was the same smile. The incandescent one, the one that made the world tilt. Only now it was brighter, because there were tears tracking down his cheeks and dahlias in his hair and he was mine. Legally, magically, resonantly mine.
He launched himself at me.
I caught him and his arms went around my neck and his mouth found mine and the kiss was warm and fierce, sweet with the wine they had given us during the vow exchange. I wrapped my arms around him and deepened the kiss.
The silver buzzed. The iron in the altar above the dais sang. And Lyriel burst into fresh sobs. Thyren whistled. Periwinkle snorted. Bram, I imagined, looked horrified.
I held him there, one arm under his thighs, his body curled against mine, and I kissed him until the world was this—his heartbeat against my chest, his fingers in my hair, the hum of the resonance binding us together in a way that no dimension or distance could undo.
Epilogue
Pip
Iwasridingmyown horse, on my own, and I’d never been more proud of myself in my life. Periwinkle was pretty thrilled, too. I could tell by the arch in his neck.
Aeldryc was ahead of me on Bram, full dress leathers, his cloak snapping behind him in the wind. He looked like something I’d invented in a daydream and somehow gotten lucky enough to keep.
“I see you back there, Crane!” Vaelith called over her shoulder. “Stop staring at your husband and focus on the road!”
“I’m not staring at my husband!” I lied. I’d been staring at my husband for hours. It turned out that Periwinkle could handle going down a road behind other horses without much instruction from me at all, which left me ample time to gaze.
“Aeldryc,” I called, picturing the cramped, careful handwriting on the missive that had arrived yesterday. “The troll who wrote for you to come, the one who saw my posters of Sky. Do you think he’s reliable?”
“His name is Moerrven. He has a solid reputation.”
“You know him?”
“I know of him. He’s a well-known author. Why?”
“I was just wondering... could he be exaggerating? I mean, how dangerous is a dragon, on a scale of one to ten?”
He turned his head a fraction, then slowed Bram to walk beside Periwinkle. “Depends on what you’re comparing it to?”
“Compared to something mildly dangerous, like a spider.”
He smirked at me. “Spiders are not at all dangerous.”
“Some are venomous!”
“Compared to a venomous spider, a dragon is a forest fire with a bad attitude. Imagine that spider was the size of that tree over there, with wings and a mouth full of fire.”
“That tree over there?” I pointed to a very small tree, feeling hopeful.
“No, the one behind it.”
“Oh. Um. Cool.” I did not feel very cool. Fuck. Was Sky even still alive? How had he managed to get himself kidnapped by a dragon? Due to the small amount of information that could be attached to the leg of a carrier pigeon, we had very little information.
Vaelith was laughing, and I turned back and glared at her.
“Thinking a dragon was the size of that tiny bush. Oh, Pip, you make the best jokes,” Vaelith said, slapping her thigh. Ilyndra, riding ahead beside her wife, glanced back at me with the small patient smile.
“I’m sure your friend is quite healthy, or we’d have had another missive,” she said.
“Most dragons don’t eat humans,” Aeldryc added.
“Most?”
“It is statistically rare, but it would be inaccurate to say all. Some do.”
