I hardly remembered drying off or getting back into bed, but I was awake enough to tuck myself under Penny’s arm and drape across him when he crawled under the covers. With my ear pressed to his chest, I could hear the steady beat of his heart. It was better than any lullaby.
For so long I was sure that I would grow old alone. I couldn’t imagine finding someone who could know me fully and not also think me a monster. And then there was Penny, and everything changed.
Now, I was looking forward to spending every night for the rest of my life just like this one. Warm. Safe. Loved. Half of a whole.
I was his.
25
Penny
Icould have stayed in Stagcross forever. I would have done well to die and be buried in that bed with Kit sprawled atop me, drunk on bliss and filled with thoughts of a future that looked brighter than ever. It was hard to leave, but I was hopeful, and a small part of me was eager because every passing day was one day closer to my return home. And now, that return home would be full of good news about my intended.
Mother would love him. After he spent half of his last visit patching up the farm, she already thought fondly of him. And Sayla, well… As she pointed out, Kit had strong shoulders, and I had eyes. And lips. And hands. And all of those were all over Kit, which he tolerated with only a bit of annoyance while trying to pack our things the next morning.
Despite my giddy interference, we loaded the wagon and made it onto the road in decent time. The journey back to Ashpoint might otherwise have been sobering, but I was elated, thinking beyond the Bone Men’s cold, snowy city to the spring flowers and sights of Eastcliff. I would still ask Warren to make a chain for Kit, and when we came back in the fall for harvest, I would put it on him, and we would have a beautiful weddingceremony. We would be husbands—family—and we could stay there. Home at last.
I was still a bit afraid of scaring Kit off with my thoughts and plans but, after a few hours of travel, I could hold my tongue no longer. I’d grown up on the farm uncertain of my future, doubtful of the likelihood of wedded bliss, but that hadn’t stopped me from imagining exchanging vows in front of a wall of sunflowers, or sharing a first dance beside the pond while sunset painted the sky.
Kit held the reins and directed the horse while I spouted off with my sketchbook open across my lap, half-sketched with the sights I described to him, vividly recalling how stunning the farm was in autumn with the leaves turning and the barn bursting with crops. Kit would look stunning there, too, his skin sun-kissed and his shirt soaked with sweat. I’d glimpsed something similar the day we finished Mother’s chore list, and I hadn’t forgotten.
We made it back to Ashpoint quicker than I was prepared for. As we got closer, I talked less and worried more about another chilly reception. Memories of our arrest and detainment in the Ossuary prison were haunting. It was a reminder of our tenuous position here, and I’d felt so helpless. So weak both physically from the cold, and emotionally while the city guards treated Kit and I like criminals. In some ways, I supposed that’s what we were, plotting the cult’s downfall while fully immersed in its midst.
Fortunately, our return was uneventful. We took the horse and cart all the way to the front door of our little cottage where Kit unloaded our shared bag while I ventured inside.
It was a pleasant surprise to find the house warm and occupied. Thoma sat on the living room floor in front of the fireplace with Ember curled around his neck and Nutmegfrantically chasing the feather on a string he was dragging around for her.
Thoma startled to my entry, but his surprise gave way to excitement as he removed Ember from her perch so he could stand.
Kit crowded in behind me with our bag slung over his shoulder, and Ember scampered past me to scurry up his pant leg. I grinned and shed my cloak before enveloping Thoma in a hug.
“Welcome back, you two,” Thoma said, his voice muffled against my shoulder.
“Thanks,” I replied. After a firm squeeze around his shoulders, I pulled back and held out my cord-tied wrist, smiling so wide I could barely speak. “It was an eventful trip.”
Thoma scrutinized the leather wrap, marveling same as I did over the hand tooled design. Thinking of Kit working on it in secret, planning and plotting weeks in advance, made me giddy all over again.
Finally, Thoma looked past me and winked at Kit. “That doesn’t look like a crate full of rats.”
I snorted and waved my other hand dismissively. “We left the rats,” I replied, then clarified, “andnoton a farm.”
That had been the first of many surprises, the best of which Thoma announced with a smile.
“And you came home engaged.”
Nutmeg trotted across the floor dragging the feather stick to drop beside my boot. I scooped her up and gave her a little side to side swing before tucking her against my chest.
“It was amazing. Kit was…” Blushing, I glanced back as Kit hung his cloak on the hook by the door and tucked Ember in the crook of his arm. “Heisamazing.”
When I faced Thoma again, he had one brow cocked and his lips tipped upward as well. Amused. It came as a relief to see himin good spirits considering that talk of engagements or weddings may have been like salt in his still-fresh wound.
I kept quiet for a moment, trying to gauge his interest or tolerance for such a discussion until he baited me in a teasing tone.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
Kit chuckled as he joined us. His arm draped across my lower back in the same spot it had rested most of our ride home. “I hardly think you could stop him,” he said, then planted a kiss on the side of my head.
I shimmied against him while balancing a squirming Nutmeg and my satchel slung across my chest.
