Page 179 of Her Dark Promise

He nodded at me. “What the queen wants, the queen gets.”

I stopped them. “No. No more titles, no more bowing, no more anything. I am just a girl, traveling with her family.”

They all smiled at me, and I smiled at them. Now was the time to begin my life. My human life.

I wrapped my hands in the crook of Emilia’s arm. With Bastian to my right and Soren to my left, we began to walk forward. I had little idea what was next, but now that I had such little time—I couldn’t possibly waste a moment of it.

Epilogue

7years later

Iawoke to the sounds of crashing waves and soft snoring, one hand wrapped around my waist and the other around my throat. I always smiled when I woke like this. Warm. Safe. Loved. I had to force myself out of the cocoon we had created as I needed to stretch my limbs, sore from the night before, and the night before that.

I walked to the portrait Callum had painted, hanging just above a small table and chair I liked to use for reminiscing. I pulled a piece of parchment from the table before walking out onto the terrace, where the sun barely peaked over the horizon. This time of the day was my favorite as I loved to greet the sun. There was a serene stillness of the morning that called to me. I sat down at the small table with my quill, ink, and parchment.

Dearest Emilia,

We arrived in Italy just last night and I never want to leave. I know I said that about Western Ireland, Northern Scotland, Germany, and, truthfully, every single place we have visited for the past seven years. But this may be my favorite place. The Amalfi Coast of Eastern Italy has the bluest waters I have ever seen in my life. You can see the seafloor miles away from land.

How is little Joséphine? Her birthday is coming up soon and we want to visit and bring her all the gifts we have collected over the past six months. Be sure to tell her that her elder brothers think about her daily and love her very much. Tell Père that the moment he steps out of line I will

Someone wrapped their arms around me, kissed the back of my head, and chuckled. “Will you ever not resort to violence?”

I raised my brows and turned to find Soren smiling down at me. I feigned shock, placing my hand over my heart, and said, “I would never.”

He cocked his head to the side and gave me a look. I rolled my eyes and huffed, lifting my shoulders as I turned back around. “I just want to make sure that Père is treating our Emilia well.”

He set a cup of tea next to the ink bottle and sat down on the daybed to my left. He leaned back on the pillows with a blanket wrapped around the lower part of his body as there was still a slight chill in the air despite it being summer.

He closed his eyes and responded, “You wouldn’t be the woman I fell in love with if you weren’t fiercely loyal.”

I smiled at that and lifted the quill once more.

Soren caught me. He informed me that I shouldn’t resort quickly to violence, but how else can I be sure that Père is treating you well? I digress…

I miss you dearly and am excited to meet your youngest, Philippe. Expect our arrival in a fortnight.

With love,

Calathea

I set the quill down, picked up the parchment, and folded it into thirds. I pulled my shadows forth and thought of Emilia and her home in the South of France on a little patch of land of rolling hills in a quaint meadow. I flicked the paper through the small hole that had formed in front of me and knew it would float to sit neatly on their kitchen table.

My power wasn’t as strong as it was before Circe’s dark promise, but it was still with me. Soren’s theory was that it didn’t disappear because this was the power I was born with. I was thankful when the effects of the blade subsided; it felt like I had lost another part of myself and I cried in relief when some powers returned.

I walked over to the daybed, staring down at Soren. He opened one eye and laughed as he lifted the blanket so that I could crawl in and join him. I situated myself between his legs, resting my back against his front. I closed my eyes as he skimmed his fingers softly over my arms and began humming the same song we danced to on that dreaded birthday.

I wanted him to sing it to me every morning. Even though it reminded me of what happened, I wasn’t as sad as I was before.I wouldn’t allow Circe to ruin yet another memory that I wanted to hold dear to me.

My shadows sang and licked his skin; his chest rumbled from laughter. “Have I told you recently that I love when your shadows dance for me?”

I craned my neck back to look at him. “They adore you, as do I.”

He leaned down and kissed me deeply, our tongues gliding across each other. I almost deepened it further until we felt the bed dip. We broke the kiss to find Bastian lounging at the end of the bed eating a piece of dried pear and brie cheese.

“Good morning, witch.” Bastian loved using the nickname when he was in a playful mood. He smiled, hair messy over his face. His hair had grown over the years and he could now pull it back in a leather strap.

He held out a piece of the cheese to me. I leaned forward as he fed it to me and then licked a piece of crumb from his thumb. “Why do you both insist on waking up so early? It should be a crime to wake before the sun.”

---