CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ambrosia pats my head. “You would have made a lovely pet.”
I roll my eyes at the new troll queen.
“Don’t forget to prepare my gold,” she reminds us.
We stand just outside the palace, in a snow-covered courtyard. It’s frigid, but soon Henri and I will be back in Briadell. Where it’s also frigid.
Oh well.
Ambrosia’s taken the death of her mother better than expected. When the last of Henri’s protective fairy magic sent the death curse back at Amara, I feared we’d have a war on our hands. Mortimer warned the results of the two magics mixing were unpredictable at best. I suppose he was right.
The princess has taken comfort in her mother’s great collection of jewelry. She wears a crown of silver and rubies now, proclaiming that she’s the new ruler of Elsland. Our kingdoms are officially allied, though I don’t believe we’ll be making any roads between the two anytime soon.
“You may come back and see me whenever I feel like it,” Ambrosia says warmly, and yes, I’m sure she meant to say it exactly as she did.
Henri takes her hand and bows over it in respect. “I would say it was a pleasure, Your Majesty, but that would be a lie.”
She grins. “And I could say I like you better with your shirt on, but that would be a lie as well.”
Before Henri can answer, bright light surrounds us, and we’re abruptly dropped onto the terrace outside Henri’s palace.
Sitting there, on a chair smack-dab in the middle of the balcony, knitting, is the fairy from the village. Rynn’s cat sits on her lap. The beast hisses the moment she spots me.
I almost feel bad for the scraggly cat. Here she thought she had this great big palace all to herself.
“I’ve come to return your cat,” the fairy says as she looks up and smiles. “She’s such a sweet creature. I must admit I’m going to miss having her around the cottage.”
The beast lets out a low, angry yowl, leaps from the woman’s lap, and runs down the stairs, toward the sad, snowy kitchen garden.
“Are you sure you don’t want to keep her?” I ask the woman. “It seems the two of you have grown close. I hate to separate you now.”
The fairy lets out a knowing laugh and stands. With a wave of her hand, her knitting and chair both dissapear. “You did well, Sophie.”
Henri narrows his eyes at the woman. “I know you. Why?”
Smiling, she cocks her head to the side, waiting for it to come to him.
“You’re the first fairy the council sent,” he finally says, narrowing his eyes. “What are you doing here now?”
“You don’t really think I’d give up on you just because you told me to, do you?” she asks. “You’ve helped so many people in the village. It was our turn to help you. A handsome, chivalrous young man like yourself couldn’t live under that awful, twisted curse indefinitely.”
“And Mortimer?” I ask her.
“I suggested the council send him to Henri as punishment for—” She pauses. “That doesn’t matter. I told him to find Henri a bride—someone who wouldn’t run the moment she learned the prince was a bear. And look what a surprisingly good job he did.”
She beams at us as she raises her hand, ready to wink out. “No need to thank me. Your happiness is more than enough.”
And then she’s gone.
I turn to Henri, not sure what to say.
A slow smile builds on his face. “Yes, look what a surprisingly good job he did.”
Something has gnawed at my mind since the troll queen’s death. It’s time I get it out in the open.
“You’re free now. You can have anyone.”
He narrows his eyes. “You’re my wife—and believe me when I say I can only handle one.”
I almost laugh. “You know what I mean. Henri, you don’t have to stay with me—”
Before I can finish, he pulls me into his arms. “Enough.”
But I’m bad at taking orders. “I love you.”
I gulp, terrified.
His eyes soften. “And I love you.”
“Do you swear you wouldn’t rather have someone else? Someone who’s more genteel?”
“Do you swear you wouldn’t rather have a man who didn’t prowl the forest as a bear?”
I laugh and stand on my toes, closing some of the distance between us. My heart thrums with the memory of our last kiss.
Henri hovers his lips along mine, teasing, sweetly taunting—most likely purposely tormenting me for questioning his skill. It’s delicious torture, and I close my eyes, trying to wait it out.
Drifting slowly, the prince grazes my temples and cheeks before he finally follows the line of my jaw back to the corner of my mouth.
“What happens now?” I ask, distracting myself.
He loops his arms around my waist, keeping me tucked close. “Now I take control of my kingdom, prepare a ridiculous amount of gold for the new ruler of Elsland, and crown you as my queen. It will be a horrible amount of excitement when all I want to do is spend my time with you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I brush my fingers through the hair at the base of his neck, pulling him just a bit closer. “And I happen to adore excitement.”
“You don’t say.”
Surrounded by pristine, freshly-fallen snow, Henri finally kisses me—and properly at that. The feel of his arms around me, holding me in the middle of the day, fills me with such happiness, I have no idea how I’ll contain it all.
“Henri?” I ask after several minutes of basking in his new humanness.
“Hmmm?”
“Somewhere in our hectic schedule, do you think we could find time to visit my family? I’d like to show them you’re no longer a bear.” I pull back. “Or cursed…or the villain of children’s nightmares.”
His eyes crinkle with disbelief as he grins. “I think we can manage that.”
He sets his forehead against mine, and he sighs. It’s a sound of soft happiness, and it mimics the joy in my own heart.
It’s hard to believe that it was only a few months ago I ran away from home in the middle of the night and Mortimer brought me to Briadell. Someday, I’ll have to write Peter and tell him I did find adventure—one better than I could have imagined.
Startling me out of my reminiscing, Henri scoops me into his arms. I squeal in surprise as the no-longer-cursed prince carries me into the palace.
From above, a songbird sings from its perch on a turret, welcoming us home.