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“About being my queen?”
I half turned and looked at him. “Do you think you can have a queen like me?” I whispered, worriedly.
Even without Agnan being my father, I would still have a dark blood lineage.
Am I going to keep looking for answers about who he was and how this happened?
It wasn’t the time to be asking myself this question. Right now, I just wanted to lie in the safe protection of Jace’s arms and relish the security of my life.
Jace kissed the top of my head. “The kingdom has never been safer,” he told me honestly, and I melted against him.
“Then yes,” I purred. “I want to be your queen.”
Epilogue
ELIX
Two Years Later
Beads of sweat formed on my upper brow, and I moved to wipe them away, but Cirilla’s voice thundered out, forcing me to stop.
“I just got your makeup perfect!” she cried, hurrying forward to dab at my face delicately with a handkerchief, frowning. “Don’t you dare touch it!”
I smiled weakly at the enchantress, who winked a violet iris as I struggled to keep my composure.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Cirilla,” I whispered, turning to look at myself in the full-length mirror of our suite. If I were being honest, I’d never looked lovelier, not even on the day of my and Jace’s wedding, my dark hair piled into a complicated do on my head, punctuated with diamond and pearl pins to catch the lights overhead.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cirilla laughed. “You’ve earned this. You’ve literally been working nonstop to make this happen, and now that it’s here, you can’t chicken out.”
Unexpectedly, the mention of chickens brought me back to the farmhouse in the remote area of Goldhaven, but I instantly shrugged it off.
No. No Agnan. No Lysandra. Not tonight. Not ever again.
“Uh-oh. Where did you go?” Cirilla asked astutely, catching my faraway expression.
“Nowhere,” I lied, smoothing out the front of my evening gown. “Let’s do this.”
“That’s what I want to hear,” Cirilla cackled, clasping her hands together happily. “You wouldn’t want that husband of yours to think that I’m keeping you, would you?”
I offered her a small smile and let her lead me out of my and Jace’s joint suite, the Royal Guards falling into place behind us.
We opted for the glass elevator rather than the stairs, and as we rode down, my breath was stolen to see the crowd that had gathered in the foyer of the palace.
“They’re all here for me?” I gasped, more to myself than Cirilla, but the enchantress took my hand and squeezed gently.
“Of course, Luna. Your work has gained traction all over the continent. Everyone is eager to meet the artist herself.”
‘Luna’ was the formal title given to me when I’d become queen. I’d fully read the book of queenly duties now, of course. Memorized it, really. But I didn’t think I’d ever get used to hearing the queenly form of address from everyone’s lips. I was stilljustElix.
The doors opened, and the first face I saw was Jace’s beaming proudly, his arm extended.
“Good faeries of Goldhaven and beyond!” he called out, silencing the crowd immediately. “May I present my wife and the honoree of tonight’s event, Elix, the Queen of Goldhaven.”
The crowd cheered wildly, and I blushed furiously, accepting Jace’s arm.
“This is a bit much, isn’t it?” I mumbled, looking around nervously as he handed me a glass of champagne.
Without a hint of irony, he raised an eyebrow and shook his head vigorously. “It’s not enough,” he replied flatly. “Your paintings have sold not only across Mystara but worldwide, Elix. For a blossoming artist, your success is virtually unheard of!”
