But there were still so many unknowns. This wasn’t a fairytale—as much as I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and ride off into the sunset. I had no idea what our lives would look like if I uprooted everything Marigold and I had built here.
I had told Clarissa yes. There was just one last piece of the puzzle.
I knocked on Marigold’s door, which was already cracked. I could see the corner of her arm and her dolls moving up and down on the opposite side of the room. “It’s me,” I called.
“Daddy, you’re home!” she squealed.
I pushed the door open wider as she and Mia both ran up to me, one wrapping her arms around my waist and the other circling my feet.
I smiled when I saw Clarissa sitting on the floor, a female doll in her grip and a male one lying on its back, its legs bent at an odd angle.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you girls having…fun?”
“Rissa’s showing me and my dolls how to fight!” Without warning, Marigold jumped back and kicked at my waist. I quickly grabbed her ankle before she could make contact and shot Clarissa a bemused look.
“Good form, but what did we talk about?” Clarissa asked.
Marigold giggled when I tickled her calf. “Only when I feel unsafe.”
“There you go.” Clarissa winked at me. “What? Is this not what they’re teaching little girls nowadays?”
I chuckled and shook my head, releasing Marigold’s leg and ruffling her hair. “You’ll have to show me what else Rissa is teaching you after dinner, yes?”
She nodded eagerly. “Is she staying the night again?”
I glanced over her head toward Clarissa. She’d been sleeping at the mansion ever since her family left four nights ago. “Yes, she is.”
Marigold bounced over to the rest of her discarded toys and began picking them up one by one. She could never stand still for too long. “Okay! And that means Mia gets to stay too.” Mia stopped sniffing at my ankles at the sound of her name. Her ears perked up, and she trotted over to Clarissa and Marigold.
I licked my lips, sharing another look with Clarissa. We’d spent the last few evenings alone together dreaming of the future. I listened to her talk about her empire, of all the provinces and their magic and the sights she wanted to show us. I hung onto her every word, to the way her voice sped up in excitement when she mentioned her friends or the little cottage she grew up in, how a smile peeked at the corners of her lips when she spoke of the south sector that was so close to her heart. The schools, the food, the colors and sounds of Veridia City. She made it come alive. She made what our life could be like feel real.
I’d been avoiding the subject with Marigold all week, but I supposed there would never be a perfect time.
Clarissa seemed to understand, for she eased up onto her feet and stretched. “I’m going to go get ready for dinner,” she said. “Mia, let’s go, girl!” Mia bounded to her, her tail wagging back and forth across the floor.
When they crossed the room, Clarissa brushed the side of her hand against me and wrapped her pinky around mine for a split second—what had become our way of silently giving strength. Of saying “I’m here,” even when we couldn’t always be.
“Marigold, sweetheart, why don’t you come here for a second?” I asked once the door shut behind them, taking a seat at the foot of Marigold’s bed.
With a little dance, she plopped next to me, scooting closer with her doll in hand.
I’d been thinking about this conversation for a while, but sitting here with her made the words a thousand times harder. “Do you remember how sometimes we talk about your mommy?” I began, my voice hoarse.
She nodded as she patted the doll’s hands together. “Yes. And we talk about magic and how she watches us from the stars and loves us very much,” she said all in one breath.
“That’s right. I know you don’t remember much about her, but she took such good care of us. And I will always have love for your mommy. I think about her every day, and how much you look like her. Did you know that?”
Her eyes grew wide. “I do?”
An ache formed in my chest. I brushed back a piece of her hair and curled it around my finger. “You do. She had this same brown hair, and those same big brown eyes. Darker than mine, see?” I leaned down, and she lifted a finger to poke my cheek. “I miss her, just like I’m sure you do. But our hearts are so big that it’s possible to have that much love for someone else too.”
“You mean Rissa?”
I cocked my head.Perceptive little girl. “Yes, I mean Rissa.” I paused, waiting to see if she would say more. “I love her very much, Marigold. And she loves you and me both. She wants to be in our lives for longer than just this tour. That’s why she’s asked if we would come live with her in the Veridian Empire.”
She drank in my words, a small crease appearing between her eyes as she mulled the idea over. “So we’d be…leaving our home? We wouldn’t be here anymore?”
I nodded, moving to kneel in front of her so I could see her face. “That’s right. But there’s so much to see in the empire. You’d get to live in a palace, since Rissa is Empress. We can decorate your newroom however you like, and you’d see Mia every day. You’ll make so many new friends, and Rissa even said there’s a school nearby in Veridia City you could go to soon.”
