As if there was any doubt about that.
I’d once feared the sea as I feared myself. I feared what lurked below, in the blackest murk, the farthest depths. I feared peering into its glassy surface and seeing some unrecognizable shell or cast. Somethingforged by Lady Clarisse rather than my own two hands. But water has its nature, just as I have mine. A river always seeks. It must know there is something more, something greater, than the narrow banks of which it is bound.
“I love you, Eurus. All I want is to spend my days with you.” I clasp his face with both hands, marveling at its variance in texture. “That’s all.”
We come together as one. Our mouths and our tongues, our stifled groans and our small huffs of need. The kiss is a hunger and a comfort. For a moment, I swear our souls touch, just briefly.
When we part, he tugs me to my feet, and we wander to the edge of the cliff. The grass is damp underfoot. The island’s crags have crumbled in the aftermath of the storm.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask, angling toward him. His patched cloak flaps around his shins.
As his thumb skates across my knuckles, his eyes sketch the horizon. The storm is no more. Never again will he call forth the clouds. Never again will he dam himself behind lightning and hail. “When I said I wished to stay with you…” And now he hesitates. “I didn’t mean temporarily. I meant it in a more permanent sense.”
I assumed as much. “As in forever?”
“As in husband and wife.”
My throat squeezes to the point of pain.This is real, I think,and so wonderfully, incredibly right. “If you are asking me to marry you, Eurus,” I manage through a watery laugh, “then the answer is yes.”
Now it is his turn to gape. “Really?”
I nod. “Really.”
Gathering me into his arms, the East Wind swings us in a circle, taking care with his injured wings. My laughter peals out, and my heart trills, sweet as birdsong. I can see it now. A quaint ceremony at the estate, just Eurus and I, his brothers, maybe a few acquaintances from town. I will wear Nan’s old wedding dress and weave flowers in my hair. We will promise one another forever.
Hand in hand, we amble toward the manor, where his brothers have gathered in the shadow cast by the towering edifice. Sharp-mindedBoreas with his snowy skin. Devious Zephyrus with his boyish curls. Somber-eyed Notus and his quiet observation. And lastly, Eurus, who is hard yet soft, guarded yet tender. The Four Winds, together again at last.
“So,” the West Wind drawls to Eurus. “Seems like you’re one of us now.” He plucks a speck of dirt from the front of his tunic. Not that it does any good. He, as well as his siblings, are caked head to toe in filth. “How does it feel being…” He glances right, then left, voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. “Mortal?”
Something the East Wind once considered inferior, less than. But Eurus, who has transformed in ways even I could not imagine, gazes down at me with love in his eyes and says, “It feels like home.”
The West Wind pouts impressively. “It’s not fair. Why do you get to keep your wings? All I got was an inclination for gardening.”
“Zephyrus,” the North Wind growls. “Please, for the love of the gods, justshut up.”
The Bringer of Spring doesn’t appear entirely put out by Boreas’ aggression. I assume he is used to it. “Now that all this is done—thank the gods—I’m looking forward to returning to my wife,” he says, smiling wistfully. “I’m sure Brielle has missed me.”
“I imagine she’s enjoying the quiet,” Boreas mutters to no one in particular.
My mouth quirks. I was never gifted the honor of siblings, but I dare say it would never be boring.
“Not to divert from this reunion,” Notus says, “but we really should figure out what to do about those soldiers back in town.”
Right. The soldiers awaiting Prince Balior’s return.
“If you need to get rid of the soldiers, I can help,” Boreas offers. “I have an army at my command in the Gray. But I need to return home first. Eurus, can you still access that enchanted doorway I created for you inside?”
“What door?” Zephyrus frowns, trailing after his siblings. “Is this a secret door? How come I don’t have a secret door?”
As the brothers disappear inside the manor, I turn to Eurus. “What now?”
“Now,” he says, bracing my hips as he peers down at me with soft eyes, “our lives begin.”
My lips quirk with gentle amusement. “Just like that?”
“Wherever you are, bird, that’s where I’ll be. Your happiness is my happiness. Your will is my will.” He lowers his forehead to mine with a contented sigh. Seeing as it is impossible to squash the grin threatening to split my face, I let it come. “What is it you wish to do?”
Over many a month, I have considered this. I have shied from my own potential for far too long. “I want to continue Nan’s work. I want to build my apothecary the way she always intended. And I want to do it with you by my side.”
