“There’s one way to fix it.” He leans closer. His eyes are bright in the dim light. “Should we see if it works?”
I try not to laugh like a lovesick milkmaid.
“Do you love me, Anwen?” he asks, so close, his breath mingles with mine.
“I do love you.”
My eyes close as we meet in a soft kiss, and I sighagainst him when he wraps his hands around my waist and pulls me closer.
“Elope with me,” he murmurs against my lips. “Tonight.”
I pull back, surprised. “Why must we elope?”
“We must,” he murmurs, “because I’m not spending another day apart from you.”
I laugh, unable to contain my happiness. That laughter fades when he produces a wooden box from behind his back. There’s a secret in his eyes, and I lean forward.
“I’ve already asked your father for permission. In case you’re curious, he said yes.”
He opens the box and offers it to me. I gasp and reach for the ring only to pull my hand back.
The setting takes my breath away. “How is this possible?”
Galinor smiles. “I went back to Triblue after we parted and scoured the streets near the festival grounds for a stray remaining piece. Finally, I found one.”
I gingerly stroke the stone. “You had the changeling stone made into a ring?”
Galinor nods. “A piece of it, at least.”
I stare at him, my heart so full I don’t know how to contain my joy. “You did this for me?”
“I would do anything for you.” He wraps his fingers through mine. “I understand love now. There is no feat I would not perform to be with you—no task too large, no item too obscure to find. Marry me, Anwen.”
I grin, biting my lip because I’m about to cry. “Yes.”
His expression shifts to cryptic. “There’s one more thing.”
Galinor rises and disappears out the door. I gasp when he comes back with a curious, bright-eyed bundle of fur in his arms.
Danver.
I pull the fox to me and rub my face against him. “How?”
Danver sniffs my face in greeting and then pulls away from my tight grasp to explore the bed.
“He wasn’t quite lost.” Galinor sits next to me and squeezes my hand. “Ergmin saved him.”
Galinor waitsfor me at the crossroads just outside the village, and he lowers his hood when I approach.
This time I know I’ve made no mistake.
Mara tosses her head, excited by the promise of a night ride. Behind us, a silent Pika follows, and there is the flash of Danver’s white tail in the woods.
“We will reach Evershorne by early morning,” Galinor says when I join him. “We will marry there and then travel south through Murin into Triblue.”
“Why Triblue?” I ask.
Galinor grins in the moonlight. “We must find your whales. And when I found your stone, I promised Dristan and Bran I would bring my bride back to charm the new wild foals.”
