"Changed everything." I kiss her forehead. "For better or worse, we changed everything."
She pulls back to look at me. "You said you loved me. In front of the council."
"I did."
"Did you mean it?"
I cup her face in my hands. "Every word. I love you, Primsyn. I don't know when it happened. Might have been the moment you looked at me on that auction block. Might have been when you stayed in my bed that first night. Might have been this morning when you walked into that council chamber ready to risk everything. But yes, I love you."
Tears spill down her cheeks. "I love you too. I think I've loved you from the start, and that terrified me even more than the council ever could."
"Still terrified?"
"Absolutely. But less so with you beside me."
I kiss her, deep, pouring everything I feel into it. When we finally break apart, we're both breathless.
"So what now?" I ask.
"Now? Now we figure it out as we go." She settles against my side, her head on my good shoulder. "We face whatever comes. The gossip, the judgment, all of it."
"And we're...what exactly? To each other?"
She's quiet for a moment. "I don't know. Partners? Lovers? Those words don't quite fit, do they?"
"No. But maybe we don't need a word. Maybe we just...are."
"I like that." She laces her fingers through mine. "We just are."
The carriage pulls through the gates of her estate. Our estate, maybe. I'm not sure how that works now. Not sure how any of this works.
But as we walk inside together, as servants bow and avert their eyes but don't look shocked or disgusted, just...accepting, I feel something settle in my chest.
Hope. Possibility. Future.
Corvask meets us in the entrance hall, relief clear on his face. "I heard the news. The whole city is talking about it. Councilman Thrain arrested, a scandal of epic proportions." He looks between us. "And you two, publicly acknowledged as...together."
"Is that going to be a problem?" I ask. "For the household?"
"Honestly? I don't know." Corvask's expression is troubled. "This is unprecedented. But Madam Primsyn has always been a fair mistress. If she says you're to be treated with respect, then you will be."
"Not as livestock," Primsyn says firmly. "Oliver is my partner. My equal. He lives here by choice, not by force."
"As you say, Madam." Corvask bows. "I'll inform the staff."
He leaves, and we're alone in the entrance hall. Primsyn turns to me.
"By choice," she repeats. "I meant that, Oliver. You're free to leave if you want. To go back to the wild, to live your life however you choose. I won't stop you."
"And if I choose to stay?"
"Then you stay. As my partner. My love. My choice."
I pull her close, breathing her in. "Then I stay. Because I want to."
"Even knowing what we'll face? The gossip, the judgment?"
"Especially knowing that." I tilt her face up to mine. "I'd rather face all of that with you than face freedom without you."
