Page 147 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Garnet laughed. “I’ll take care of all of that, love. But I think maybe you should go and put on some clothes?”
∞∞∞
Somehow, Eirwen made it up to one of the guest rooms and located some spare clothes. None of them looked like the sort of thing she’d be expected to wear from now on, but she didn’t feel like raiding Bianca’s own wardrobe just yet. Hopefully the crown was embellishment enough for now, she thought as she wrestled into a light blue gown. At least it was in the royal colour.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in?”
Cole marched into the room, still dishevelled, his arm in a sling. “Hi,” he said breathlessly.
“Hi,” said Eirwen back. “I… I’m not properly dressed.”
There was no snort of laughter about how she’d been walking around in her nightclothes all day, or about how he’d seen a great deal more last night.
“How did you know that would work?” he demanded, his eyes dark and solid.
“What?”
“You said you knew I could save you. How did you know?”
“Oh,” she said quietly, “I knew that whatever your mother had laced the apple with, it was some magical concoction. I thought I saw something on the walls in the Underground. A lover reviving someone from a curse of sleeping death.”
“A lover?” he raised an eyebrow. “How did you know that?”
“The, er, the writing, implied it.”
He inched closer. “What did the writing say?”
“That… that… that true love’s kiss would break the spell,” she mumbled.
“True love, huh?” Cole grinned. “You risked your life on that?”
“Iwouldhave risked my life on that,” she said. “If I had had absolutely no other option. It was the right thing to do. To save everyone. But… but I didn’t think Iwasrisking my life. I wouldn’t want to do that, because...”
“Because…?”
“Fool,” she whispered crossly, “because of you. Because I don’t want to leave you alone–”
Cole’s mouth crushed against hers, his free arm wrapping around her back. The weight of a thousand different thoughts and fears was pressed into that kiss, of things he wanted to express but couldn’t, was overwhelmed by. Eirwen knew. She felt the same.
She pulled back gently, dizzy with his kisses, and played with the folds of his clothes as she steadied her breath. “I think that’s why the coffin couldn’t drain me, not completely,” she continued, summoning her courage. “I couldn’t give Janus my heart. It was already yours. It was always yours. It will remain yours forever,if you–”
There was another knock on the door. “Eirwen?” Ivy’s voice. “Mama wants to know if you’re ready? The servants are a bit perplexed and will want to speak to you.”
Eirwen sighed, and slipped her arm into Cole’s. “No rest for the wicked, apparently. Shall we?”
∞∞∞
The list of tasks involved with taking over of a kingdom was borderline ridiculous. Eirwen spent the next week being marched from one meeting to the next, talking to various advisors, greeting the people, re-negotiating deals with surrounding countries, examining budgets, and appointing new guards from the surviving rebels. She quickly installed Onyx as her chief advisor, Wren as the new captain, Oakley as the royal physician, Merry as the chief builder and Garnet as the housekeeper, keeping most of the old staff in the meantime.
“Are… are you sure you’re all right? To live here for a bit? The cottage–”
“Will still be there when you’ve found your feet,” Onyx assured her. “Don’t worry about us. We’ve got your back.”
Eirwen was glad, because the thought of doing any of this without them was quite frankly terrifying.
She had seen very little of Cole during this time, being swamped with responsibilities. He was always there at mealtimes, stealing quick kisses in the corridor, but she was usually so exhausted by the time that night rolled around that she fell into bed without thinking of calling for him.
