I remembered Wolfe’s warning to me when I refused to marry him. “Matai won’t wait forever, Haydyn.”
She pulled back from me again, hurt in her beautiful and kind gaze. “You were the one who told me to make my own decisions. Now you’re angry because you don’t agree with them!”
I closed my eyes, my shoulders slumping in exasperation. Again… she was right. I glanced up at her through my lashes and nodded. “You are correct.” I tried to shrug off my misgivings. Haydyn wasn’t a little girl anymore. I had to let her make her own choices and believe she could cope with the consequences when they came. “I am glad you’re making your own decisions. Our opinions may differ but… all that matters,” I took her hand again, “Is I have faith in you. I went to the ends of the world because of that faith. I’m not going to give up on it now.”
She grinned back at me, relief thrumming visibly through her.
I squelched my fear at her glad smile. I’d just have to take every day as it came and hope the decisions she made were the kind that ended in her own happily ever after.
Epilogue
Although Haydyn’s happily ever after was uncertain, I knew I was as close to mine as I would ever be as I sat beside Wolfe on the cliffs outside Land’s End Cottage. After weeks of travelling, I wanted nothing more than a little bit of haven out here on the cliffs, away from everyone else. The quiet was wonderful. Back at the palace, Haydyn was arranging my wedding to Wolfe. It was to take place the first day of the Autumn Season and she was turning it into a lavish affair that made my head spin and my ears bleed. Wolfe had finally come to my rescue and absconded with me to the cliffs.
I sighed contentedly, snuggling into his side, loving the drizzle of sea spray that caught on the wind and kissed my cheeks. I knew I would have to deal with all the trappings that came with being a Vikomtesa; the large wedding, getting to know the dowager Vikomtesa. Wolfe’s mother was a bird of a woman, twittering at me nervously, her eyes asking how on earth the two of us had come to fall in love. She was gentle and kind but hated confrontation; I could see how easy it must have been for Syracen to hurt and abuse her. We were a different breed of woman, but for Wolfe’s sake I would try to be a good daughter to her, try to befriend her – even if that meant discussing dress fittings, menus, and sheet music. I’d have plenty of time in which to get to know her better, as Wolfe had agreed to move into the new palace in Vasterya so I could still be close to Haydyn, but only under the condition that we didn’t leave his mother behind in Silvera.
One bright spot in my busy social schedule was L. The two messengers I’d sent into the Alvernian Mountains (two of the Guard well equipped to deal with the harsh hills) had returned two days ago from their visit with the Moss family, with a message from L. They had agreed to come to the wedding and spend a month of the fall with me here in Silvera. I couldn’t believe it. I’d thought it would take blackmail to get L off that mountain of hers. I couldn’t wait for Haydyn to meet her. I wouldn’t push L to meet anyone else in society if she didn’t want to. I knew what their reaction to her rough speech and unladylike ways would be, and she was too good a person to be subjected to that. But, deep down, I secretly hoped that after travelling through the provinces (in style – I was sending a carriage for them that would meet them at the bottom of the mountains) L and her family may come to like my world, and perhaps think of making a new life in Vasterya with me and Wolfe and Haydyn. I smiled inwardly; it was a bit of a fairytale, I knew. But I could hope. And if L and her family did decide to return to the Alvernian Mountains, then I’d make sure they were sent supplies every month, and perhaps have a larger home constructed for them. Wolfe had already told me to rein in my plans for the Moss’ in case I overwhelmed them. But I wanted to overwhelm them. They’d saved my life.
“When does the Princezna plan to move us to Vasterya?” Wolfe asked quietly, stroking my back.
I shivered at his touch, still amazed that he had this effect on me. “As soon as the rookery is depleted and rebuilt as a civilised town. And she has architects overhauling one of the mansions in Pharya for her arrival. She’ll no doubt live in the fanciest mansion we’ve ever seen until palace construction is completed.”
“She seems strong,” Wolfe assured me softly, as if he heard the concern that was in my heart, in my words. “In control. She appears to know what she’s about.”
“She is,” I agreed quietly. She’d surprised me over and over these last weeks. “She really wants to make a difference after everything I told her.”
Wolfe made a huffing noise. “Still annoyed she didn’t take your advice?”
I slapped at him half-heartedly. And then after a minute I shook my head, leaning back on my palms, my fingers digging into the rich grass below us. I smiled into Wolfe’s eyes, feeling lighter, lighter than I’d felt since lazy summer days by a brook in Vasterya. “No.”
He exhaled heavily, reaching up to brush the hair off my face. “I’m glad. You set out to wake the Princezna up… and that’s exactly what you did.”
I grinned, proud and happy; reminding myself that this surreal feeling of contentment was actually real. Months ago I would never have imagined loving Wolfe; how in doing so I was finally putting the past behind me; finally learning that by accepting my future, I wasn’t turning my back on my family’s memory. Moreover, I’d changed. I’d grown up. Never would I have imagined becoming friends with Alvernian Mountain people; or thought I’d have the strength to accept what could and couldn’t be changed; or finally come to terms with who I was as a person; who life had shaped me to be.
“Better yet...”
“What?” Wolfe murmured, seeing the somewhat smug look in my eye.
“…I woke up too.”
The End