Page 185 of Fortress of Ambrose
“Come back to me,” he whispered, urging her heart closer to her chest.
“Would you?” She handed him the glove with her heart, and she knew it had never been in safer hands. Then she pulled her shoulders back, creating space in her chest.
“Ready?”
She inhaled. He drove her heart back in place. Her lungs swelled with air. A flood of memories rushed through her, every heartless moment she and Yagrin had shared the last few weeks. Tears came strong, gushing down her face.
“How do you feel?” Yagrin held her face in both hands, and it rocked her soul. She felt such adoration in his touch. She could feel her heart twinge with that nostalgic ache of love.
She tangled their fingers together. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you the part of me you deserve most.”
“All you can give is what you have each day. Whatever you give is enough.” His words tended her soul like a garden starved of sunlight. “You are enough. Heart or no heart. I love you, Nore.”
Words rushed through her and sprang out like water from a fountain. “And I love you.”
His lips found hers. His kiss was soft and so tender. She opened up to deepen the kiss, and her mind flooded with their happiest memories. He trailed kisses down her jaw, and she felt her love for him awaken with each thump of her heart. He held her tighter, a bubbly feeling buzzing through her chest. It sparkled and felt like a puzzle piece of her soul just slotted into place.
They held each other close, wriggling in the covers around each other, and the waist of her pants slipped down past her hip bone, exposing the hemlock flowers she’d tattooed there. Yagrin studied the mark.
“I couldn’t fathom this,” she said.
“Oh, how wrong you were.” He pressed his lips to her hip, kissing those poisonous flowers, before bringing his affection back to her neck. He nuzzled her there and then gazed back into her eyes. He looked at her as if he could seethroughher. She was fully clothed and yet felt naked, exposed, vulnerable, and safe.
She urged his body back against her pillows and loved on his neck before pressing kisses all over his bare chest. The chest that held a heartfull of hopefor her when she’d had none. He pulled her mouth up, andthey kissed until time became a montage of sweet memories and happy tears. Until every nerve in her body prickled like a string on a bow strung too taut.
“I love you. I love you so much.” She rested against his chest and let her eyes close, forgetting about everything else. She drifted to sleep free of disguises and lies, free of a life she didn’t want.
She fell asleep who she chose to be.
Listening to the thrum of her love’s heart.
Epilogue
Quell
Three months later
House of Marionne is more magnificent than it’s ever been as all manner of guests stream through its doors.
The estate is fully repaired but also reoriented a bit. The rose garden has been replanted. I replaced the garden of black roses with white lilies, which remind me of new beginnings. The Belles and Gents Wings have been expanded to accommodate twice the number of students. And as the grand entrance doors open, welcoming another announced couple, I spot my favorite addition: a new statue. There are two statues on the grounds now. The one my grandmother had made of her mother and sister, and another of just Grandmom in her old age, holding a single rose, the way I remember her.
Violin and piano notes dance on the lively atmosphere as more seats in the ballroom fill.
“Still surprised you didn’t get rid of the tradition of a formal ceremony and dance altogether.” Jordan lingers beside me, keeping an eye on the guests trailing from the entrance into the grand ballroom, where the ceremony is about to begin. He’s in a dapper white tux. There is no sash across him or heart pendant. He does not wear any vestige of the Order at all. And while he is still bound to toushana and would have it no other way, he has washed his hands of any formal role completely.
“No one gets dibs on ceremonies, dances, or formal dinners. We have to keep creating new traditions. There’s much work to do. But inclusivity means giving access to old traditions to everyone. That’s freedom.” I chuckle. “That was the easy decision. I’m still not sure having the inaugural induction for thenewOrder here at Chateau Soliel made the most sense?”
“Determined to spiral about something, are you?”
“Fair. But nothing worries you these days.”
“Jealous?” He grins an infectious smile that fills his eyes with amusement. Leaving the Order behind was the best decision he ever made. I wasn’t sure where it made the most sense to host our first Induction Ceremony for the new and improved Order, a true—Nova Misa—but the other House leaders insisted it was fitting to host it at mine. There are so many new faces it wriggles my stomach with nerves. Jordan ropes his arm onto mine as I wave at a familiar face coming through the doors: Kedd, from Willam’s old safe house, with a date on his arm. The twins are with them, much bigger than I remember.
As the foyer crowd thins, we follow them inside. There are flower arrangements everywhere, tables draped in every House color, including black. There are pink-and-gold plates with matching flatware, sparkly dark jewels hanging from branches sprouting out of luscious centerpieces. Silks slope along the ceiling in rippling patterns in every House color. Shimmering chandeliers dangle above a center table that runs the length of the room. I spot Dexler and wrangle her over.
“You’ve done a beautiful job on this.” It took her a week to wake up and nearly a month to fully heal. I notice two others behind her. One in particular that makes my heart squeeze. My mother’s arms are open before she reaches me. We hug, and it will never get old. Knox is with them.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without their help,” Dexler says. “It was a team effort.”
