“I prefer to think of it as a great sense of adventure,” Sky said.
Vaelith burst out laughing, clapping Sky on the back so hard he stumbled forward. “I think I like this one.”
Ilyndra cleared her throat. “What of the timeline discrepancy?”
“There’s a distinct possibility that time moves differently in our two realms,” Moerrven suggested. “Perhaps we should sit down at the cafe, have a nice bowl of soup, and I’ll tell you all where my research has led me thus far.”
Epilogue
Aldryc
Myfingerstracedidlepatterns on Pip’s bare shoulder, and I smiled when I felt him shiver.
“You good?” I asked.
“Mm, yeah. The bath was perfect after a long ride, and this bed is so cozy,” he said. “I’m glad Sky’s okay, too. It’s wild, the time discrepancy Moerrven explained. If it’s true, it’s possible hardly any time at all has passed since we fell through.”
“It’ll be hard to know for sure until we get more answers about how it is happening,” I said. “I still cannot believe we raced all the way out to Stonedeep to rescue Sky from that dragon, only to discover he’d already rescued himself.”
“All that soup with Moerrven got me thinking, though. How much time do you suppose has passed back home? In San Jose?”
“Moerrven did the arithmetic—rough arithmetic, he was careful to say—somewhere around his third bowl. He believes an hour in your realm is close to two days in ours.” I traced a slow line down his spine. “By that reckoning, you have been gone barely a day.”
He went quiet, which was rare enough that I propped myself up to look at him. Then a smile broke slow across his face. “My coffee’s probably still warm.” He was quiet another moment. “I keep waiting to feel torn about it. Like I should be scrambling for a way back. But I’m not. The mirror can stay a mystery for a while. My story’s here now.”
“Then let the scholars have their puzzle,” I said, and pulled him close.
Pip laughed. “That dragon should have known better than to trifle with Sky.”
“Your friend has a startling capacity for talking his way out of trouble.”
He nuzzled my shoulder, his smile against my skin. “You have no idea. That’s Sky in a nutshell.”
“Since he’s my husband’s good friend, I suppose I’ll end up knowing him quite well, won’t I?”
Pip sighed. “Unless he finds a way home, of course.”
“Well, Moerrven seemed very determined to help him with that. Would you miss him?”
“It was fun to have a friend here who gets it, but he deserves to go home if he can. Sky has a much larger family than I do, with more people who would miss him.”
“Are there not people back in San Jose you’ll wish you could see?” I asked, slightly afraid of the answer.
“Maybe. But the people who matter? They’re right here. You, Lyriel… hell, even Vaelith, who apparently ran a betting pool on us.”
I frowned. “A betting pool?”
“All in good fun. Said she put her money on us from the start.”
“She’d better have.”
“Of course she did! It’s… nice. Having people in my corner.”
I smiled, pulling him closer until he lay half-sprawled across my chest. I thought about how Pip had quietly taken people like Vaelith, people who I’d spent my life training and working with, and somehow brought them closer, made them feel more like family.
Pip braced himself on one elbow to study me, his pretty blue eyes bright. He shifted, frown knitting his brows. “So now that Sky’s safe and we’re here in… whatever this town is called, maybe we could stay a few days. Have a honeymoon.”
I frowned. “A honeymoon?”
