and vanished.
Roth stalked to the royal dais and swiped the crown from Philipp’s head.
The former king shrank back like the coward he was. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?”
My friend looked to Ashleigh, telling her, “His fate rests in your hands, Queen Skylair.”
“Why is everyone calling me Queen Skylair? We’re only just now engaged,” she remarked, a little dazed.
“I guess I’m not going to ease you into this,” I said, and cringed. “We’re already married. As soon as you voiced your acceptance of me, we were married in the eyes of the avian. But we can have a long postwedding engagement, if you’d like.”
She grinned again. “You can’t get enough of me. You had to get your bracelet on me so you could keep me forever. You want me with you always.”
“I do. I really do.”
She gave me a kiss before telling Roth, “Lock my father in the dungeon.” Turning her focus to her stepsister, she said, “Your mother has no right to the crown. As Philipp’s heir, I’m the new ruler of Fleur. That’s law. But I would like to offer the crown to you and give you the right to choose your own destiny. Your mother can serve as your advisor, if you wish.” I remembered what she’d said, how the woman expected her to be perfect. “Or you can kick her out. Up to you. The avian require a full-time queen, so I’m going to live there. It’s my destiny.” Ashleigh turned toward me, expectant. “I’ll be a good queen this time, I swear it.”
“You’ll be a great one,” I said, more in love with her in that moment than ever before. Strong of heart? Oh, yes. Fast as wind? When she rode on the back of her dragons, there was no one faster. Unwilling to bend? She’d wanted me, and she’d done everything in her power to help us find each other again. “Though you are now considered my wife, I am not fully, technically your husband until you give me a bracelet in return. Which you can do anytime you wish. Whenever you’re sure of—”
She ripped off her blacksmithing bracelet and shoved it on my wrist so quickly, I laughed. “I love you,” she told me. “I meant what I said. I’d like to live with you and our dragons in the Avian Mountains and rule together. Our soldiers could use some manners. I can make my weapons and armor and help you make more of your amour dust.”
“Nothing would make me happier, love.” I would start by banishing the soldiers who’d aided my mother. Hurt my precious queen and suffer. Raven and Tempest would be imprisoned.
Ashleigh kissed the tip of my nose, the corner of my mouth, my jawline. “I miss our dome.”
I groaned. “So much.”
Dior cleared her throat, gaining our attention before we got too intimate. “I accept your offer,” she told Ashleigh, “but I’ll need other advisors. An entire team. And an army. The gold, I’ll be able to handle. I’m the slipper maker, after all.” She laughed, a tinkling sound. “Everyone assumed I was Cinder, but I wasn’t and wasn’t meant to be. All along I was the maker of the slippers.”
“I know just the advisor,” I said. “As a fae prince, Vikander had to learn how to manage a kingdom at a young age. He can answer any questions you might have.” Thus fulfilling the bargain we’d made during our mountaintop breakfast.
Her cheeks reddened, but she nodded eagerly. “Thank you. Yes. I want him—I mean, I need him.”
I peered down at my wife, the love of my lives. “My beloved Cinder,” I said.
“My honorable-dishonorable prince.” She grinned. “The third time, we got it right.”
I grinned right back, and suspected I’d be grinning about something for the rest of this life.
I kissed her deeply, then. True love’s kiss, one of respect and admiration, desire and promise. We hadn’t had the greatest start in life—in any of our lives—but I knew beyond any doubt that we would have the most amazing end.
Her strength infused us both. Weak heart? No. Oh, no. My Asha had the heart of a dragon. She loved fiercely, with a fire of her own burning in her veins. She was a queen who didn’t need a king in order to rule her people—but thankfully she wanted one. It was a role I would happily fill for ever, ever after.
EPILOGUE
Soft music played in the background as Saxon—my beloved husband and the new king of the avian—twirled me