Caliban and Eloise were closer now. Close enough that I could see Caliban’s phone discreetly raised, the red recording light unmistakable, and Eloise pretending very poorly not to beam.
They knew exactly what was coming.
Artemis turned toward me. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that this is where I want to ask you something.”
She frowned. “Arthur?”
“Come with me,” I said quietly, guiding her a few steps farther toward the edge of the overlook.
The wind lifted her hair again, brushing it across her cheek. She pushed it back absently, eyes never leaving mine.
She didn’t step away or brace herself. She trusted me.
For most of my life, kneeling meant submission or defeat. My father had used the posture to humiliate enemies and demand obedience.
I had never knelt willingly.
I did now.
Not because ritual demanded it, but because I wanted to meet her eyes from a place of chosen devotion.
Wind pressed against my back as I lowered myself onto one knee.
Her breath left her in a stunned exhale. “Arthur,” she whispered.
I reached into my coat and drew out the ring made from old gold, forged centuries ago from my own ancestors—metal that had once symbolized conquest and accumulation. I had melted and reshaped it myself. Reset it with a clean, modern stone that caught the city lights and fractured them into something brighter.
Past remade for future.
I heldit up between us.
“I have spent my life holding myself in check,” I said. “Holding power. Holding temper. Holding expectation. You are the first thing I have ever reached for without restraint.”
The castle loomed behind her.
None of it felt relevant.
“I have never wanted anything the way I want to build a life with you.”
Her eyes filled immediately.
“You changed the way I see the world,” I continued. “The way I see myself. You stabilized what I thought was broken. You chose me when I did not believe I was enough.”
The words did not burn on the way out. They didn’t shame me. The words were simply true.
“I want to stand beside you for our whole lives. To build something that is ours. To watch you become everything you were always meant to be and know I get to witness it.”
The wind roared briefly across the hilltop.
I held her gaze. “Will you marry me, Dr. Ripley?”
Behind her, I could see Caliban standing rigidly still. Eloise’s hand was clasped around his arm so tightly she might have bruised him.
I didn’t look away from Artemis. I didn’t look away from my future.
She stared at me, then she laughed, the sound bright and lovely and so completely wonderful.
