as the door shut, though, I turned to the three men waiting on me. "Well?" I asked, sniffling as I wiped away the snot dripping from my nose with the lacy cuff of my sleeve—which was not as easy as it sounded. "What now?"
Three pairs of eyes landed on me. One cold as ice. One hot as fire. And one as dark as midnight. And one by one, they moved closer.
"Now, Little Bird," Roan said as he leaned down and took one of my hands before lifting it to his lips, "we get married and we live."
"All of us?" I asked, looking between the three of them.
Both Orion and Sorrell nodded. "All of us," they agreed.
Epilogue
Cress
It was over. Well and truly over. After all of the fighting, the years of war, of loss, of hatred, it was almost … impossible to imagine, but here it was. The end of the war that had ripped apart the lives of so many.
Months ago, when I'd been nothing more than an orphan, preparing to age out of the convent’s good graces, I'd known so little about the rest of the world. Back then, even though it was such a short while ago, the idea of war had been a distant one.
Sure, I'd known it was happening. I'd been aware of it, but because it had never affected me—never caused me loss or grief—it'd been almost like a fairytale. Told in whispers before bed. Holding a wealth of warnings and lessons to learn. Do not go too far from the convent. Do not trust the creatures who would use magic to hurt you. Now, here I stood on the balcony of Amnestia's Royal castle overlooking the large courtyard where mere weeks ago, I'd nearly died.
So much had changed.
I had changed.
The world had changed.
And Nellie, too, had changed.
My body turned towards the sound of footsteps on the stone floor as they approached and my best friend rounded the corner, dressed far differently than I'd ever seen her. She looked up and spotted me.
"There you are!" Nellie rushed forward, nearly tripping over the red and gold skirts that appeared massive on her petite frame. As the end of the dress’s train came into view so did the two lady's maids who were attempting to hold it up off the dirty floor. Nellie turned back to them as soon as she realized they were there. "You don't have to do that," she said quickly.
"Your Grace," the older of the two women began, "your gown—it will be—"
"Fine," Nellie insisted. "Please." She gestured to me. "Would you give us a moment?"
The older women frowned, obviously very displeased, but what could they say? Nellie was about to be crowned a Queen. Another thing that I hadn't predicted would ever happen.
As soon as the lady's maids were out of earshot, Nellie whirled back towards me. "Do you believe this thing?" she said with horror as she waved a hand down to the dress she wore.
I bit back a grin. "It's beautiful," I said.
"It's heavy," she complained.
"It's fit for a Queen."
She grimaced and then gestured to my attire. "I'd rather wear what you're wearing," she said.
I glanced down to the mass of dark purple skirts beneath which I wore tight fitting leather trousers that molded to my frame. I shrugged. "Next time find out that you're a Fae rather than a would be Queen," I told her.
"You better be careful," she said. "Or I'll command my new guards to cut off your head."
I lifted a palm and conjured a ball of heated light. It sparked and danced between my fingertips. "Just try it," I challenged with a smile.
There was a beat and then both of us burst out laughing. By the time we managed to calm down, my light had faded and I was wiping the tears from beneath my eyes. For a moment, the two of us just remained silent after catching our breaths. And as I stared into her eyes, I could see the trail of emotions as they collided into one another. I understood it. I was feeling them too.
Nellie's eyes softened and gently—as gently as she'd always been and likely always would be—she reached for my hands and took them in her own. "I want to say something," she said. I waited, but when it appeared she wasn't yet ready for whatever it was that she wished to say, I decided it was an opportunity for me to say what I was thinking.