There is still dirt under my nails when the crown is placed on my head.
It is a silver tangle of steel, sharp and swirling among my black hair.
Kitt’s golden crown remains with him, still gently resting on his brow beneath the willow tree’s base.
I stare out at the court from the very dais my brother once stood upon. But startlingly, I don’t feel that gaping absence of him anymore. No, he stands at my side, a warm hand on my shoulder and smile in my very soul.
From Enforcer to king. Monster to redeemed.
“I will continue what my brother started,” I inform the court, though they hadn’t known the truth of his plans. And they never will.
I have a promise to keep.
My first decree is steady and sure. “Our borders will remain open. Ordinaries will be welcomed into our city once again. Together, we will rebuild Ilya like Kitt wished.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “And he will be remembered as the greatest king in our history.”
The throne room echoes with applause, but my eyes are on her. I step from the stage, pushing through my people until I meet the only one I truly wish to call mine.
Hand in hand, I pull Paedyn out the castle doors and into the courtyard beyond. That bed of forget-me-not flowers still blooms beside the staircase, family to the one I tucked behind her ear so long ago. And I gladly repeat history now.
Pae laughs as I present her with the bouquet, the petals matching her piercing blue gaze. “Forget-me-nots”—I slide a stem into her hair—“because you always seem to be forgetting who I am.”
She smiles, and I wonder at how something can be so perfect. “You’re the king of Ilya.”
“And what am I to you?”
I tip her chin up so I can watch the words form on her lips. “My fool.”
My fingers flick the tip of her nose lightly. “Don’t forget ‘cocky bastard.’ ”
“You wouldn’t let me, even if I tried,” she says sweetly.
I grin—wider when her eyes flick greedily between my dimples. “And you are forever my undoing, Paedyn Gray.” My knee meets the cobblestone, and her mouth opens in a gasp. “Marry me, Pae. I’m already on one knee, but I’ll get down on both and beg for you, if you like.”
I lift that ring toward her, the one Kitt pressed into my palm with a dying wish.
“Love each other for me.”
Tears well in those blue eyes above. She knows of Kitt’s final moments, every word uttered, every hope laid bare. Now the sight of that familiar ring is freeing. I can see the flood of relief washing over her features, because Kitt Azer—the boy she cared so deeply for—did not hate her in the end. The hurt she felt when he aimed a sword at her chest has begun to melt away beneath the truth of his motives.
“Pae,” I breathe. “I’ll kneel here all day, so long as your answer is yes.”
A hand falls from her mouth to reveal a wide grin. “Good. I quite like the sight of you beneath me.”
“Vicious little thing,” I murmur with all the admiration she deserves.
Her voice grows choked as she spits my own words back at me. “You forgot the ‘my’ in front of that endearing nickname.”
And then she is falling to her knees before me.
Her hands shake against my face before a pair of smiling lips have found mine. She kisses me like forever is fleeting in the face of this moment. My hand finds her hair, tangling in the uneven strands I’d cut in that cave. Her lips taste of love and longing, and I beg for more.
“Is this—” I kiss her deeply. “Is this a yes?”
She laughs against my lips. “This is inevitable.”
I slip Kitt’s gold band onto her thumb, opposite that steel ring of her father’s. “I’ll get you something better—”
“No,” she insists. Her eyes shine as they take in the rings hugging each thumb. “It’s perfect. This is perfect.”
“Good.” My rough palms graze the sides of her neck. “Because I love you, Paedyn Gray. And I will happily spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you.”
“I love you,” she says, suddenly stern. “And I will spend the rest of my life shouting it until even Astrum hears, because it is Death who should fear me if he ever tries to take you away.”
We hold each other atop that uneven cobblestone. Forget-me-nots blow in the warm breeze, encircling us in a hug that feels like our past meeting our forever. Tears sting my eyes for the bittersweetness of this moment.
Paedyn Gray is finally mine. But only because my brother is no longer here.
“We will love for him,” she whispers in my ear.
A tear slips down my cheek.
“You and me.”
