Page 85 of The Fated and the Damned
His kindness only made me cry harder. How did I end up with someone so caring, so selfless? “I already miss her so much.”
“I know.” He pulled me closer, and I tucked myself into his chest, nestling into his warmth and the steady beating of his heart. “I’m not sure I’ll ever forget seeing him like that on the battlefield,” he said, his voice low and haunted. “That look on my brother’s face … I never want to see Lukasz like that again.”
I nodded against his chest, eternally grateful Eszter would never know the horror of today. “You will need each other in the days to come. I’m glad—so damned glad—you have each other to get through this.”
“And the rest of our unlikely little family. You know how much András would sook if you didn’t count him in that equation.”
A smile pulled at my lips, thinking of my dearest friend. Of all the blessed days I’d have with them ahead. It was enough to make my broken heart stitch itself back together, just a little. Just enough. “As if there was ever a chance.”
We lapsed into silence for a few minutes as Dante stroked my hair and I drew little patterns down his shoulder.
“I promise, Kitarni. Everything is going to be all right. We’ll deal with the humans and we’ll excel in our new reign.”
And Gods help me, but I believed him. Despite the darker topic, I shook my head, unable to stop myself from chuckling. “You’re always so sure of yourself. Cocky bastard.”
Dante laughed. “Yourcocky bastard. From this day, until my last.”
I smiled, realising that would hopefully be many, many years from now. A future I’d never really allowed myself to imagine and, although there was certain darkness to come from today’s actions, I could see it being a bright one.
Feeling a little better now, I helped myself to another bejgli, munching away in silent contentment and grinning at Dante when he looked at me with a knowing smirk.
His shoulders started shaking and it took me a second to figure out that he was laughing, the sound booming from his chest. It was so addictive—and so uncontained— I couldn’t stop staring as the sound filled the room. A sound I’d never tire of.
“What?” I asked in confusion and he pointed a trembling finger at me. His joy only made me giggle along, and he started laughing even harder.
“Kitarni,” he wheezed between breaths. “Poppyseed … in your … teeth.”
I frowned, then grinned even wider, leaning forward to spot several stuck in his own teeth. We both laughed until tears streamed down my eyes and a heaviness lifted from my chest. This was why we’d fought so hard. This was but a taste of what was to come.
Dante pulled me closer and kissed me on my brow, then on my lips, holding me close, keeping me safe. This was what dreams were made of. Only now, it had come true.
I looked at my husband, smiling, my heart full.
“Mine,” I agreed with his earlier sentiment. “Until the end of time.”
EPILOGUE
Kitarni
Aweekafterthebattle, I found myself dressing for a coronation. My gown was midnight black in a simple velvet. A mourning gown for the ones we’d lost, and the one I’d miss most on this special day.
We’d burned the dead and held a ceremony in their honour. But for Mama, Eszter and I had held our own private vigil in the gardens nearest my chambers. We’d buried her ashes beneath the loving embrace of a wisteria tree and Eszter had magicked her own small meadow to bloom forever at its feet.
Farkas’s body slept within the stone mausoleum beneath the castle, kept in good company with other rulers past. Never far, should we need their guidance.
My sister had taken Mama’s death surprisingly well upon first glance, but I knew her steps were haunted and she felt our mother’s absence keenly. A big sister could only fill so much space and mothers could never be replaced.
Lukasz, for his part, had hardly left her side. He was a good match for her, one I approved wholeheartedly. I knew my sister would thrive in Mistvellen and I still had high hopes that she’d open her own business. The world needed her gift and she needed to follow her passions.
Eszter tied the silver stays at the back of my dress and I studied her in the mirror, trying hard not to scrutinise every detail. With her brows pinched together and her lips set in concentration, she looked so like our mother. A dull ache throbbed inside my chest as I watched her.
She caught my gaze and smiled. “She’d be so proud of you, you know.”
My stomach dipped. “I know she would. I just wish she were here to see it. I wish I could see her smile, just one last time.”
Eszter nodded in understanding, lifting a hand to squeeze my shoulder. “I bet she’s watching. Somewhere in the beyond, she looks down on you with that smile. Mama was many things, but she was stubborn as hell. She’d not miss this coronation for the world.”
She wrinkled her nose, and I laughed. “You’re right about that.”
